Ruf & Tuf Mobile

[raghumailbox]

Friends,

I need to buy a economical, ruf & tuf mobile for a careless guy who drops it often.

I had seen on net about Samsung Marine. Samsung claims - water-resistant, dust-proof and shock-proof.

Can any user give me a feedback?

Is there any similar mobile in the market? please advice.

 

[soulforged]

Samsung Marine is not available anywhere. There is Samsung Xcover (B270 I think) but even that is not available.

You can consider iBall Floater that is supposed to be water and dust resistent.

For some reason, Indian markets have not seen these rugged models. If you can get from US, you can try Samsung or Sonim or Casio Gz'One

 

[raghumailbox]

I believe these mobiles are very good for Indian markets.

iBall, Karbaon, Fly, etc - No trust on service

 

[denom]

Hi Raghu,

Samsung Marine is ideal for the person you have described. Friend of mine has used (rather tortured it) & it lived up to its reputation I don't think it is available anymore, but you may check the mobile shops & inquire if they have any NOS pieces lying with them, who knows you may get lucky. Dunno of any current mobile phone available locally that can compete with the marine.

 

[Kittu]

Samsung Marine B2100: Price in India, Reviews, Specification: Flipkart.com

 

[raghumailbox]

Flipkart says - This Item is Permanently discontinued.

 

[Kittu]

Samsung B2100 Xplore Rugged Mobile Phone (Unlocked, IP54, 810F, Black) - EXYS | eBay

Inflated price.

 

[NetFreak]

Motorola Defy Plus:

Motorola Defy OOPS Dirt , water, knife, scratch, Android, Toughness, torture test - YouTube

Cab be submerged in water
Can tolerate lots of dust
Can be dropped from 10 feet
Gorilla glass

 

[hydra]

^^ I've seen the original Defy survive a lot of real life abuse. A friend who lives a very active lifestyle (kayaking, sailing, cycling) uses one. He's fallen into the water while kayaking/sailing with it around his neck, it has fallen off many times while he's been cycling etc etc. And his two young sons are not exactly kind to it. The phone has survived about 2 years of this, and works very well.

 

[dillihifi]

You can try the sony xperia active which can also take photos underwater

 

[theironhorse]

look forwards for the motorola defy+.. one of the most rugged phones...

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I have a Defy+

It might just be mine (in fact other Defy+ owners disagree with me. Hydra's post is encouraging) but I doubt that the USB-port cover would actually stand immersion. Also, the camera is lousy: don't take any notice of mega-pixel specs, it is like a mobile camera from years ago!

Otherwise... I am very happy with it! But then, it is my first Android phone and my first touch-screen phone, so I don't have anything to compare it with.

I haven't dropped it yet, and I still treat it as fragile. If it gets through a shower* I'll be happy. Hopefully tough enough for me.


*I mean of rain; not in the bathroom! :lol:

 

[tirthankar]

I own the defy, and can testify to it's ruggedness.
The gorilla glass can take the daily wear and tear without scratches.. i use it without a screen guard. I have washed it in running water and dropped it (unintentionally) a few times. It has taken all the abuse and functions fine. Only caveats.. the screen smudges a little too easily (common in many implementations of gorilla glass) and the earpiece may stop functioning when wet but works fine when it has dried. Also, if used with wet fingers, the screen sometimes misbehaves with false touches. Easily fixed with a quick wipe.

Edit: Oh yes, the camera is lousy with a very noisy sensor. But otherwise its serving me great. And android is fantastic.

 

[hydra]

OT

... Also, the camera is lousy: don't take any notice of mega-pixel specs, it is like a mobile camera from years ago!

Yup, this is the one thing my friend keeps complaining about. He's "fixed" that now, by using Instagram. The results are quite amazing (considering what the photos started out as).

 

[moktan]

i don't know if the OP has found the phone he has been searching for. it was time for me to replace my much abused Samsung Marine.
The JCB SiteMaster seems to be in the same league.
besides the Sitemaster there are other variants too like the
JCB TradesMan
JCB SiteMaster
JCB Pro Talk
JCB Toughphone Pro
JCB Toughphone
The sitemaster comes with military specification, a laser pointer, torch and the one they show here JCB Sitemaster review -
has a handy wind up charger too. the price is listed at around 6K , the Tradesman is cheaper at about 4K.
but currently these don't seem to be available.
JCB SiteMaster Specifications|JCB SiteMaster Features|JCB SiteMaster Accessories
the only thing is i have no experience of ever buying anything from sulekha...

 

[jk_chaos]

if your friend just wants a phone to make calls and text, get any of those entry level Nokia phones.. You can drop em from a building and still put them back to pieces and use. They can stand abuse like anything..

 

[gobble]

i don't know if the OP has found the phone he has been searching for. it was time for me to replace my much abused Samsung Marine.
The JCB SiteMaster seems to be in the same league.
besides the Sitemaster there are other variants too like the
JCB TradesMan
JCB SiteMaster
JCB Pro Talk
JCB Toughphone Pro
JCB Toughphone
The sitemaster comes with military specification, a laser pointer, torch and the one they show here JCB Sitemaster review -
has a handy wind up charger too. the price is listed at around 6K , the Tradesman is cheaper at about 4K.
but currently these don't seem to be available.
JCB SiteMaster Specifications|JCB SiteMaster Features|JCB SiteMaster Accessories
the only thing is i have no experience of ever buying anything from sulekha...

its not on sale on Sulekha. Only listed. I wanted one too, the moment I saw it. The winding charger was the kicker. Great to have out in the wilderness.

Thanks for the tip.
--G

 

[yuvaraki]

^^ I've seen the original Defy survive a lot of real life abuse. A friend who lives a very active lifestyle (kayaking, sailing, cycling) uses one. He's fallen into the water while kayaking/sailing with it around his neck, it has fallen off many times while he's been cycling etc etc. And his two young sons are not exactly kind to it. The phone has survived about 2 years of this, and works very well.

+1 to Defy series! and yea check out Xperia activ!