Construction Informer

I suspect there are a lot of people on the front lines of construction who find the current crop of cell phones to be, well, lightweights. Especially when it comes to abuse. So, cell phone makers are starting to build cell phones that can take some typical, and some not-so-typical, beatings.

Take the Sonim XP3 Quest and give it to an elephant, drive over it, submerge it in soda, milk and even dust and the company claims it will still work. The buttons are designed to work beyond a half a million pushes and the phone operates in temperatures from -20 C to +60 C (-4 F to 140 F). Bob Plaschke, CEO of Sonim Technologies comments:

When we launched the Sonim XP1 last year, it was with a clear goal in mind. We wanted to create phones for people who work and play in rugged environments. For these people, having a phone is a tool, not a fashion accessory. They need a mobile handset to withstand some of nature’s harshest conditions. We are committed to the rugged consumer, and the XP3 further proves our dedication to this community.

This phone is sold unlocked and works on GSM networks. The XP3 retails at $599 and I bet some companies will justify the price through the savings of time and money associated with regularly replacing broken phones. Lost data might be another factor that people are thinking about as yet another loss related to cell phone use in construction. So, fewer broken phones means less data to recover.

Nokia’s 3720 Classic is billed as a “durable and easy-to-use 2.5G device that comes with a 2 megapixel camera, stereo FM radio, and pre-loaded Nokia maps.” The company’s ads don’t really talk up the durability factor. The 3720 is claimed to be water, dust and shock resistant, although the specifications mention little about that. For example, to what standard is the unit shock resistant? This phone costs €125 ($175) and has an impressive array of functions including GPS, Web browsing, email, messaging, photography, video and music and audio playback with voice recording. The units automatically switch GSM bands (in the US that includes Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile) as needed, and have a seven hour talk time.

Those in North America who want the Sonim XP3 or the Nokia 3720 Classic on a contract from a carrier will have to wait as they are not currently being offered by cell companies in that region. You can however buy them unlocked so that a SIM card from any of the GSM network carriers will work in them.

There is a rugged offering for North America that comes from Samsung and AT&T. It’s the Samsung a657 and it is being billed by AT&T as “built to withstand the harshest conditions and most demanding users.” It comes preloaded with AT&T Navigator that has a downloadable application allowing you to “track your team,” (and I’m sure they aren’t talking about your favorite sports team). The phones have email, text messaging, multimedia messaging, and mobile instant messaging. They support Bluetooth, have USB 2.0 connectivity, memory card support, and something construction types will appreciate is that they are compatible with workforce management tools. Included is an integrated MP3 player and support for multiple audio and video formats. Talk time is three hours. Like the Nokia 3720 there isn’t much in the specs related to the rugged standards the units conform to however once I worked my way through a maize of web pages at AT&T’s site I discovered a page showing the units meet MilSpec Std 810F – that’s the one we are familiar with and that the rugged laptops often conform to. The price offered to me was $99.

There are those who work in construction who are quite happy with standard phones. As one commenter wrote in response to the article that inspired this post:

I had a Nokia 6010 that lasted for a long time while I worked construction. I dropped in off the second story on to a slab. It broke the plastic case, thats it. I dropped it into fresh concrete, I just wiped it off on my pants, it worked just fine. It fell out of my shirt pocket onto a conveyor belt of gravel. It rode to the top of the belt and fell 30 ft on to a gravel pile and got pummeled by gravel to whole time. Works just fine.

Now that’s pretty amazing!