Recomendations for a Smart phone that can take some punishment

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Kilack

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#262295 14-Jan-2020 18:17

Hi,

I have a 10 year old boy with Autism.... He loves watching music videos on his phone it is his thing.

Unfortunately with him and part of his autism he has meltdowns and takes it out on whatever he is holding.
His phone takes a beating like thrown around. We have been feeding him old phones but cant keep up now..

All he does is watch youtube music videos, that'the only thing it needs to do and be simple but be able to take a hammering... so case recommendations to go along side appreciated.

Don't mind paying a bit if it means lasting a bit.

Today he threw my old LG G3 which was one of my favourite phones, was sad to see it die.

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#2392169 14-Jan-2020 18:25

What about a ruggedized phone like one of these for example?

https://catshop.co.nz/phones/cat-s41-phone-black.html

OldGeek

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#2392211 14-Jan-2020 20:22

There is also this NZ supplier:

https://investigatemagazine.co.nz/latest-books/

Dont be concerned at the link or the provenance of the supplier. This supply is from a genuine source and I can attest that the phones supplied are as rugged as claimed from a supplier who genuinely meets the market need for phones that take punishment. My son is a truck driver who went through 'rugged' phones supplied through NZ telcos regularly through carelessness. The only problem with the Ulephone we bought through this site is that it is no longer a current brand. The phone itself has lasted several years longer than those used prior by my son. If your son can demolish a phone from this source I am confident that this NZ-based supplier would take on the challenge to find a better phone. Pricing, while not cheap, is not stupid.

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altered-ego
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#2392218 14-Jan-2020 20:39

Yip, the CAT phones are pretty much the only ones that seemed to be ruggedised from the get go. Bought the older S31 for a colleague more than a year ago & it still seems to be going strong. He does handle it roughly, but I don't think he throws it around. 😜

The "rugged" Samsung Galaxy XCover 4 has decent performance but won't last long if not in an additional cover.

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Geektastic

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#2392229 14-Jan-2020 22:09

MackinNZ:

What about a ruggedized phone like one of these for example?

https://catshop.co.nz/phones/cat-s41-phone-black.html

"and a non-removable 5000mAh Li-Ion battery with an outstanding 38h talk time and up to 44 days on stand-by."

Wow. Maybe I would get one just for that!!

gehenna

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#2392248 14-Jan-2020 23:13

Samsung Xcover

lxsw20

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#2392260 15-Jan-2020 00:42

Does it need to be a phone? What about one of the Amazon Fire 7 Kids editions?

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Kilack

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#2392558 15-Jan-2020 12:28

Thanks all for the suggestions, will look into these ASAP as he is now trying to borrow my own phone all the time :(

kiwifidget

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#2392559 15-Jan-2020 12:37

OldGeek:

There is also this NZ supplier:

https://investigatemagazine.co.nz/latest-books/

Dont be concerned at the link or the provenance of the supplier. This supply is from a genuine source and I can attest that the phones supplied are as rugged as claimed from a supplier who genuinely meets the market need for phones that take punishment. My son is a truck driver who went through 'rugged' phones supplied through NZ telcos regularly through carelessness. The only problem with the Ulephone we bought through this site is that it is no longer a current brand. The phone itself has lasted several years longer than those used prior by my son. If your son can demolish a phone from this source I am confident that this NZ-based supplier would take on the challenge to find a better phone. Pricing, while not cheap, is not stupid.

Himself bought a Blackview BV9600Pro from them.

One day on the farm he got soaked, put the phone on the roof of the ute and changed into dry clothes. Got in ute and drove off down the road. At the end of the road you have to stop to turn right. When he stopped the phone flew off the roof and onto the tarseal road where it skidded and bounced for quite some distance before landing in the water-filled drain on the other side. The phone was unmarked, not one scratch or dent, and still works as it did before. It was not particularly cheap but was worth every cent that day.

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FineWine

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#2392598 15-Jan-2020 15:37

Ha Ha - I was half heartedly, looking a few weeks ago on behalf of my sister (unbeknownst to her) looking at this very subject as she is murder on her phones. Came across this site when entering the following google search parameters: military grade phones new zealand

https://investigatemagazine.co.nz/25181/the-best-rugged-phones-for-2019-user-tested-by-outdoor-phone-store/

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

Hammerer

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#2392613 15-Jan-2020 16:21

If you want more options you can search on GSMArena to find MIL-spec phones over and above IP codes. You have to know which tests the phone maker applied to know what you are getting but it is an indicator that they think it is important. Samsung and LG are the two mainstream consumer phones makers who do this.

https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2016&sIPCerts=7,8,9

P.S. I meant to write that these phones need a good cover and screen protection. I often drop my LG G7 onto concrete and in flailing to catch sometimes convert the fall into a a throw. Falling flat onto the exposed screen often breaks the screens but an open-faced Spigen cover providing some clearance between the ground screen. The screen gets dust marks on it where it has touched stones or the concrete but I haven't even got a scratch even without the cover on.

sittingduckz

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#2392614 15-Jan-2020 16:24

I think it was the Nokia 3310... bullet proof :)

I'm not a complete idiot, I still have some parts missing.

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frankv

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#2392735 16-Jan-2020 06:18

I have a Samsung S7 Active which is great. It is guaranteed to survive a 1m drop to a hard surface (have inadvertently tested this a couple of times), waterproof, and as a bonus has a larger battery.

Downside is that it is not officially retailed in NZ (I got mine off TradeMe) and therefore you can't upgrade the OS in NZ.

quickymart

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#2392738 16-Jan-2020 07:25

I bought my (autistic) boy a cheapo Android tablet from the Warehouse. Can't remember the brand but it was only about $100 and he just watched Youtube on it, worked fine for him.

jonathan18

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#2392739 16-Jan-2020 07:38

quickymart:

I bought my (autistic) boy a cheapo Android tablet from the Warehouse. Can't remember the brand but it was only about $100 and he just watched Youtube on it, worked fine for him.

I’m glad that worked out for your son, but does he have a history of throwing his devices in a rage? If he did, a $100 tablet may not stand up to the rigours of such treatment.

quickymart

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#2400236 16-Jan-2020 20:09

Not usually, but it was just a suggestion. Maybe a tablet in a really tough case?

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