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RSPCA officers are put on standby as David Cousins and Emily Padfield subject four rugged mobile phones to all sorts of unpleasantness
Life can be nasty, short and brutish for a mobile phone on a farm. It bounces around in tractors, gets a regular diet of dust and every so often receives a good soaking. And if it falls out of your top pocket (let alone off the top of the combine) there's usually unforgiving concrete waiting below to shatter its lovinglycrafted components.
The answer to all this cruelty, of course, is a rugged phone. But makers have been curiously slow to come forward with waterproof and shockproof phones. Nokia had its 5210 and 5140 rubberised phones that went down well with farmers, but stopped making those some time ago.
Then, two years ago, JCB launched its Toughphone, made by Califomian rugged phone specialist Sonim. UK firm Durrocomm, meanwhile, launched the LM801 in late 2008.
Sonim then leapt to the head of the class with its even tougher and more waterproof XP3 Enduro at about the same time. And finally Korean giant Samsung announced it was replacing its Samsung Solid witli the new B2700.
So there is now a quartet of rugged phones out there, all designed to take some serious abuse from farmers, builders and other serial phone-killers. We got hold of all four to see just how well they stand up to tough use.
WHAT IS A RUGGED PHONE?
Good question. Broadly speaking, they're simply ordinary mobile phone innards, but with a tougher shell and some effort made to keep out water and dust.
Most (apart from the Samsung) have a rubbery bung that fits over the headphone and charger sockets to keep water out. And a membrane over the keys to ensure water doesn't get through that way, too.
They all have loud ringtones and earpiece volumes, presumably because the makers know that they will often be used in noisy environments. Some of them also have extra gadgets in keeping with the outdoor life, including built-in torches, compasses, altimeters and barometers. One even has a laser pointer, presumably for temporarily blinding pursuing polar bears.
However, if you want a fullyfeatured phone, with MP3 player, camera and internet access, you may find...