Back in Feburary, Google announced the 'Android Enterprise Recommended' program. It's designed to make buying Android phones for business use easier, by only recommending models that comply with a handful of requirements (Android 7.0 or higher, security update for three years, etc). Now the company is expanding the Enterprise Recommended program to rugged devices.
The requirements for rugged phones are slightly different than those for normal Enterprise Recommended devices (now referred to as 'Knowledge Workers Devices'). Android 7.0 is the minimum OS version, and there has to be at least 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. One major OS update is also promised (within 18 months of the board support package release).
The phones must have an Ingress protection rating of IP64 or higher, and survive repeated drops on concrete from a height of four feet (MIL-STD-810G or IEC 62-2-32). They are also guaranteed to have security updates for five years - that's two more years than what is promised for non-rugged devices.
There are 11 rugged devices currently in the program, with more coming soon:
- Zebra TC25, TC51, TC56, TC70X, and TC75X
- Honeywell CT40, CT60, and CN80
- Sonim XP8
- Point Mobile PM45
- Datalogic Memor 10 (launching in October)
More information about each phone can be found on this page.
Source: Google