Sprint and Verizon offer similar services as plan options. Push to Talk over cellular apps such as Zello allow a phone to work like a walkie-talkie with anyone else running the same app. With fires, power outages, floods and other unusual events becoming more usual, many people are joining local neighborhood response groups or CERT teams, which rely on radio-style communications but not necessarily with actual radios. These caps are tedious in daily use and complicate placing the phone in a desktop charging stand unless you have the Kyocera DuraForce Ultra 5G, which supports Qi wireless charging pad, allowing the port door to stay closed while charging. Note that some of the phones in this roundup have a tethered cap that seals their USB-C jack.
The Kyocera DuraSport 5G may emanate from a lesser known brand but has entered the top ranks in terms of being rugged and stylish, with Ultra Wideband 5G capability on Verizon.
The Sonim XP8 and Cat S62 Pro achieve a high enough IP rating that they can also resist direct sprays of liquid.
Read the tech specs before you buy, but all the phones on our list have some level of IP68 protection. It can denote immersion resistance ranging from 5 feet for 30 minutes for the Samsung XCover Pro, 2 meters for 30 minutes with the Kyocera DuraSport 5G, or 5 feet for 35 minutes with the Cat S62 Pro. That means not all IP68 ratings are the same. agreed between the manufacturer and user," according to the International Electrotechnical Commission, which oversees the standard. The 6 in IP68 means the phone is closed to dust and grit, while the 8 means the phone is protected against water immersion " under conditions. All the phones in our list are rated either 810-G or the newer 810-H.Ī phone's resistance to foreign matter is signified by an IP code, typically IP68. The ruggedness credential for most phones is Military Standard 810-G, which encompasses a lot of specifications but is commonly described as the ability to withstand a 1.5-meter (4.9-foot) drop without damage.
until you drop it and it doesn't shatter.Īll these phones laugh at being dropped on a hard floor, dunked in water or even immersed in liquid cleaner - that last one being a neat trick at a time when we're disinfecting everything. The Samsung XCover Pro looks like any other modern phone. The diminutive UniHertz AtomXL writes a new page in the rugged-phone stylebook, while the Kyocera DuraForce Ultra 5G joins the venerable Sonim XP8 as no-apologies devices aimed straight at the first responder and industrial markets. The bigger Cat S62 Pro offers a powerful FLIR temperature sensor. The Cat S52 is thinner but it's only available in the US as a gray-market device. In my opinion the Samsung XCover Pro and the Kyocera DuraSport 5G best combine serious ruggedness with fashionable slimness. Read more: Best waterproof camera for shooting underwater video Best rugged phones Its arch-rival Samsung Galaxy S21 proved itself not-so-hardy in its own ways. The iPhone 13 has inspired a cottage industry of angst for the daring few who carry it without a case, but that remains a daring proposition for a four-figure device that touts durability "front and center and edge to edge" yet offers no warranty protection for "liquid damage" nor any formal drop or impact rating like truly rugged phones do. The fine print of the iPhone 13 warranty throws cold water on the water resistance touted in the marketing copy.