Rugged Android phone

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frankv

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#293540 28-Jan-2022 16:14

My Galaxy S7 Active's screen has developed a pink line, and I think it's not going to last much longer, so I'm looking for a replacement. So I'm looking for a replacement with

>= 4000mAh battery
(mostly) sunlight readable screen
built-in ruggedness
IP68 waterproofness
Qi charging
5G
15W charging
fingerprint reader
under $1,000... I'm not a bleeding edge, latest & greatest phone owner
Other features would be nice, but wouldn't swing it much.

Samsung offers the Xcover Pro, but it doesn't do 5G and I don't think does Qi (pogo pins for charging instead?)

Anyone else got a rugged phone they like and/or pointers to phones from other manufacturers that meet my specs?

pc

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#2858177 29-Jan-2022 17:22

nokia xr20?

otherwise something from blackview, doogee or ulefone.

unfortunately not many rugged wireless charging phones from the main brands.

DjShadow

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#2858180 29-Jan-2022 17:45

Its a bit more than $1000 but this could be an option?

https://www.spark.co.nz/shop/mobile/phones/cat-s62-pro.html

SATTV

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#2858182 29-Jan-2022 17:49

These guys used to advertise on Newstalk ZB all the time.

https://ruggedphones.co.nz/shop/

I know enough to be dangerous

gregmcc

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#2858184 29-Jan-2022 18:19

SATTV:

These guys used to advertise on Newstalk ZB all the time.

https://ruggedphones.co.nz/shop/

Work got me one of these Ulefone9, bare bones android, no apps menu, great battery life and a really MEH phone, no wireless charging.

it does some weird things, one drive won't sync unless you bring the app to the front, outlook won't do push notifications.

No way to check for firmware updates....

But it is ruggard, survived been flung from a car bumper at 50kph

frankv

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#2859286 31-Jan-2022 13:15

Thanks for the comments... it does seem that the intersection of 5G, bright screen, rugged, Qi charging is sparsely populated. OTOH fingerprint readers, 15W charging, large battery, and IP68 waterproofness are fairly ubiquitous amongst rugged phones. The best I found was the Nokia XR20 (thanks for the pointer) which ticks all the boxes, except perhaps that its display isn't as bright, so not as sunlight-readable, as my old S7 Active. For anyone interested, other possibilities not mentioned above that I found are the Oukitel WP10 (a whopping 8Ah battery and 380 grams), Motorola Defy (only 4G & lower-res screen), and Aspera R9 (4G and lower-res screen).

"Galaxy Unpacked" is Feb 10 4am NZST and Samsung are teasing that they will "set an epic new standard for smartphones with the most noteworthy S series ever created". 😉 The Xcover 6 Pro, if the pundits' speculation and predictions are to be believed, does hit all my points and is overdue for release, so hopefully that will also be released then. So I'll wait until the 10th (at a civilized hour) before deciding whether to go with the Nokia or the shiny new Samsung.

ratsun81

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#2859401 31-Jan-2022 16:08

I dont have any personal experience in this space, i did for some reason come across this brand which might be worth a look.

https://www.ulefone.com/

frankv

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#2864536 10-Feb-2022 09:51

In case anyone cares...

Nothing of interest to me in the Galaxy Unlpacked. Bought a Ulefone Armor 10 5G for $755 -- hits all my points, will have to see what the screen brightness is like.

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pc

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#2864554 10-Feb-2022 10:34

sweet, let us know how it goes and if it gets the 11 upgrade (had a few rugged phones, blackview/agm, and the s/w upgrades have been pretty grim).

the ulefone is a pretty hefty device maybe too much for my pocket and car phone holder.

i'm still thinking about my next phone, probably going to go for a more mainstream phone with IP53+ rating as opposed to a fully rugged phone at half the $ and just buy another if it gets broken out on my dirt bike rides.

anything put you off the nokia xr20 or just preferred the ulefone?

cheers