RSPCA officers were put on standby as David Cousins and Emily Padfield subjected four rugged mobile phones to all sorts of unpleasantness in a Farmers Weekly test.

Life can be nasty, short and brutish for such a phone on a farm. It bounces around in tractors, gets a regular diet of dust and every so often receives a good soaking. If it falls out of your top pocket (let alone off the top of the combine) there’s usually unforgiving concrete waiting below to shatter its lovingly-crafted components.

The answer to all this cruelty, of course, is a rugged phone. But makers have been curiously slow to come forward with waterproof and shockproof versions. Nokia had its 5210 and 5140 rubberised phones, which went down well with farmers, but stopped making those some time ago.

Then, two years ago, JCB launched its Toughphone, made by Californian rugged phone specialist Sonim. UK firm Durrocomm, meanwhile, launched the LM801 in late 2008.

Sonim then leapt to the head of the class with its even tougher and more waterproof XP3 Enduro at about the same time. Finally, Korean giant Samsung announced it was replacing its Samsung Solid with the new B2700.

So there is now a quartet of rugged phones out there, all designed to take some serious abuse from farmers, builders and other serial phone-killers. We got hold of all four to see just how well they stood up to tough use.

In the line of duty… Mobile phones under wheel pressure in our test

What is a rugged phone?

Good question. Broadly speaking, they are simply ordinary mobile phone innards, but with a tougher shell and some effort made to keep out water and dust.

Most (apart from the Samsung) have a rubbery bung that fits over the headphone and charger sockets to keep water out. A membrane over the keys ensures water doesn’t get through that way, too.

They all have loud ringtones and earpiece volumes, presumably because the makers know that they will often be used in noisy environments. Some of them also have extra gadgets in keeping with the outdoor life, including built-in torches, compasses, altimeters and barometers. One even has a laser pointer, presumably for temporarily blinding pursuing polar bears.

However, if you want a fully-featured phone, with MP3 player, camera and internet access, you may find your choice limited. Only the Samsung has all these, with the others somewhat more Spartan.

Also, with the exception of the Samsung, you’ll find that the screen resolutions, graphics and operating systems are generally adequate, but old school. For most farming users, that’s almost certainly a good thing.

The test

A small-but-determined Farmers Weekly team ferried the quartet of phones to a typical mixed farm in Warwickshire to see just how unpleasant we could make life for them. Here are the tests we devised, and how each phone performed:

1 FREEZER TEST

How would the phones cope with a spray of water then an hour in the freezer? Brrr.

Durrocomm LM801 No problem

JCB Toughphone No problem

Samsung B2700 No problem

Sonim XP3 Enduro No problem

2 RING VOLUME/EARPIECE TEST

How easy was it to hear the ringer (and the other caller’s voice) in a New Holland T7050 running at 1500 engine rpm?

Durrocomm LM801 Loudest ring of them all – easy to hear other person

JCB Toughphone JCB digger ringtone got progressively louder and sound clear from caller

Samsung B2700 Call received loud and clear

Sonim XP3 Enduro Loud but a bit distorted (maybe we had it up too loud!)

3 FAT FINGER TEST

How would a typical farmer’s fingers get on with the phone’s keypad?

Durrocomm LM801 Nice distinct buttons, but quite close together

JCB Toughphone Proper buttons – easy to use

Samsung B2700 Flush panel without raised buttons. Bit of a finger-nail job but OK

Sonim XP3 Enduro Not bad, widely spaced

4 SCREEN DURABILITY TEST

How would the screen cope with a 20-second blast of fat sparks from an angle grinder 18in away?

Durrocomm LM801 No damage (when we’d taken the film off. Oops)

JCB Toughphone No damage

Samsung B2700 No damage

Sonim XP3 Enduro Slight pitting

5 TORCH TEST

How powerful were the dinky torches that are fitted as standard to three of the four phones?

Durrocomm LM801 Weedy, but better than nothing

JCB Toughphone Didn’t have one fitted

Samsung B2700 Impressively bright. Best of the three

Sonim XP3 Enduro Not bad. Second best of the group

6 WATER TEST

How would the phones cope with a good hosing down?

Durrocomm LM801 No damage sustained

JCB Toughphone No damage sustained

Samsung B2700 No damage sustained

Sonim XP3 Enduro Water off a duck’s back (in fact the XP3 is the only phone officially rated to stand 30 minutes at 1m water depth

7 JCB DROP TEST

How would the phones cope with a 6ft drop on to hard-packed mud?

Durrocomm LM801 Bounced harmlessly

JCB Toughphone Didn’t come to harm at all

Samsung B2700 Hardly noticed it

Sonim XP3 Enduro Drop, what drop?

8 POLARIS STRENGTH TEST

Being driven over by a 250kg Polaris ATV. No sweat to these guys.

Durrocomm LM801 Muddy, but unbowed

JCB Toughphone A wipe-down and it was back to normal

Samsung B2700 Shrugged it off

Sonim XP3 Enduro Came through with shining colours

9 LAND ROVER STRENGTH TEST

How would the phones cope being driven over by a 1.7t Land Rover?

Durrocomm LM801 Switched itself off, but came back to life readily

JCB Toughphone Also switched itself off, but fired up again fine

Samsung B2700 No obvious damage

Sonim XP3 Enduro No problems

10 CONCRETE DROP TEST

12ft on to concrete. No prisoners.

Durrocomm LM801 Rear display for compass, altimeter etc broke. Phone itself still working, though

JCB Toughphone Screen stopped working but phone functioned fine

Samsung B2700 No damage sustained

Sonim XP3 Enduro No damage sustained

RUGGED PHONE SPECS COMPARED

1 Durrocomm Condurro LM801

OVERVIEW As the relatively new kid on the block, the Durrocomm is similar in looks to both Sonims and has a tough magnesium frame to protect against shock. It also has extra features on a handy backlit screen on the back, like an altimeter, compass and temperature gauge. Dimensions 115 x 53 x 23 mm Weight 142g Battery life Standby: 450 hours Talk time 4.5 hours

FEATURES • Water, dust and drop resistant • Dual band GSM 900/1800 • Texts, MMS, MP3 Player • Torch, laser, barometer, altimeter, thermometer, compass • FM Radio • Mini SD Flash Card • 2in TFT 176 x 220 pixel screen • Bluetooth

GOOD POINTS • Big buttons • Large screen • Back screen with gadgets • Very loud ringer/speaker • Handy wind-up charger

BAD POINTS • Basic display and screen quality • Harder to navigate • Fragile-looking plastic screws holding back on • Charger socket flap slightly flimsy

WHAT MAKES IT TOUGH? • IP-X4 water proof (soon to be upgraded to IP67 according   to Durrocomm) • IP-4 dust proof •2m drop rated • Magnesium frame and 3.5m wall thickness Colours Green or Yellow Price £160 inc VAT

2 Samsung B2700

OVERVIEW

Smart to look at and compact compared to the others in the test. Replaced the Samsung Solid at the start of 2009. Nice rubbery feel. Several features you don’t get on the other phones, like the 2 megapixel camera.

Dimensions 115 x 52 x 18mm

Weight 119g

Battery life Standby: 350 hours

Talk time 5 hours

FEATURES

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE

• Texts, MMS, Email, WAP browser

• 2MP Camera, video

• 1.9in 256K screen 176×220 pixels

• Torch, compass, altimeter, pedometer

• MP3 Player/Video player

• FM Radio with RDS

• 30MB flash memory, microSD slot

• Bluetooth

GOOD POINTS

• Simple-to-use interface

• Comfortable keypad

• Loud speakerphone

• High quality screen

• Slim

BAD POINTS

• Buttons a bit close together and not distinct

• Non-waterproof battery flap?

WHAT MAKES IT TOUGH?

• IP-54 certified

• Shock, splash, and dust resistant

• Rubber seal round casing

Colours Black or Blue

Price Not announced yet

3 JCB Toughphone

OVERVIEW It’s the one everyone knows and has a JCB digger engine sound as one of the ringtones. Smaller than the new XP3, the Toughphone is fairly compact and neat, with nicely set out buttons and a simple operating system. But it lacks a camera, MP3 player or torch. Dimensions 96 x 50 x 22mm Weight 130g Battery life Standby: 200 hours Talk time 4 hours

FEATURES • Tri-band GSM/GPRS • Texts, WAP • Bluetooth • Twin speakers • Screen 128 x 160 pixels • 10MB flash memory

GOOD POINTS • Clear and easy-to-use buttons • Loud speakerphone • Durable casing

BAD POINTS • Flimsy battery flap • No torch/camera or radio • Basic graphics

WHAT MAKES IT TOUGH? • IP-54 • 1.65 drop rated • Scratch resistant screen • -20C to +60C rated • Hardened rubber moulding Colours JCB Yellow Price £173 + VAT

4 Sonim XP3 Enduro

OVERVIEW

Dubbed the world’s first fully submersible commercially available mobile phone, the XP3 is the XP1’s (aka JCB Toughphone) bigger, tougher brother.

It’s waterproof to 1m and can withstand a 2m drop on to concrete. Unconditional 3 year guarantee.

Dimensions 119.x 56 x 25 mm

Weight 140g

Battery life Standby: 320 hours

Talk time 5 hours

FEATURES

• Tri-band GSM/GPRS

• Texts, MMS and WAP browser

• 1.77in screen 128 x 160 pixels

• MP3 player

• Bluetooth

• Torch, altimeter, compass

GOOD POINTS

• Robust casing

• Loud

• Good-sized buttons

• Sealed battery connection

BAD POINTS

• Cumbersome; it’s the largest of the pack

• Basic graphics

WHAT MAKES IT TOUGH?

• IP-57 certified

• MIL-810F (Military rating for rain, fog and salt air)

• -20C to +60C rated

• Anti-glare and shock resistant screen

• Rated to 2m drop on concrete

• Back attached by proper screws

Colours Black or Yellow

Price £245 inc VAT

The small print There are a couple of things you should bear in mind about these tests

1 Although the tests were as thorough and fair as we could make them, they weren’t remotely scientific. One phone being run over on concrete by a Land Rover, for instance, may fare worse than another simply because a tyre cleat has come down right on its weakest part. Or because it’s hit at a slightly different angle. Equally, when you drop phones from 12ft on to concrete, it’s the luck of the draw as to whether they land on their front, side or corner, all of which will have an influence on the shock loading they get.

2 The treatment we meted out to the phones was somewhat in excess of what their makers specify. Three of the phones, for example, are rated as splashproof, while only the Sonim XP3 is rated as waterproof for 30 minutes at 1m depth. Yet we gave them all a bit of a soaking. Also, as far as we know, none of the makers specifies that you can run over their phones with a Land Rover. Why did we do it? To find out where their limits were, of course, and to separate the merely great from the really terrific. And because we’re sadists and we don’t get let out very often.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for the latest, most sophisticated graphics and operating systems, give these phones a miss. But if you want a mobile that you can leave out in the rain, drop off the top of the combine or accidentally stand on, these phones are brilliant.

Which is the best?

• If you want the ultimate in toughness and waterproofness, probably the Sonim XP3, though it’s expensive and physically quite large. • If you want a simple, compact, tough phone that doesn’t require a degree in software engineering, the JCB is ideal. But don’t expect lots of bells and whistles. • If you want an MP3 player and lots of gadgets, the Durrocomm could be the one for you. • Samsung has all the kit, a more modern-looking operating system and stood up to everything we threw at it.

Contacts

JCB

• 0845 459 2009
• www.jcbtoughphone.com

Sonim XP3

• www.youpoc.net
• 01252 377 890
• www.sonimxp3.com

Durrocomm

• 01793 602 511
• http://www.durrocomm.com/

Samsung (on sale any day)

• 0844 412 0978
• http://uk.samsungmobile.com/mobile/GT-B2700

WIN A RUGGED PHONE Got a good tale of a mobile that survived appalling abuse around the farm? Or one that come to a spectacularly sticky end? Post a few details explaining what happened to our phone comp and the best story will win a rugged phone. A new one, that is, not one of the ones we ran over. Or you can post your tale of miraculous survival/sad loss to Farmers Weekly at the address on page 3 of the 6 February issue.