At the MWC mobile trade fair in Barcelona, Sonim is presenting the new, particularly rugged Sonim XP3300 Force outdoor phone. As with its predecessors, the focus is on the rugged build of the phone. The Sonim XP3300 is not an outdoor smartphone, however, as it does not even have a UMTS module. A GPS module, on the other hand, is part of the rugged phone’s equipment.
Weighing around 185 grams, the rather heavy XP3300 is a quad-band GSM phone. The 2-inch display shows 240 × 320 pixels and is protected against external mechanical impact by 1.5 mm thick Gorilla Glass. The 1750 mAh battery is said to allow up to 20 hours of continuous talk time with the Sonim. To make proper use of the GPS module, the manufacturer promises 17 hours of runtime for navigation.
Besides the GPS receiver, the XP3300 offers Bluetooth and a 2-megapixel camera. Just like UMTS, the phone unfortunately also lacks a Wi-Fi module. Active noise cancellation is said to deliver convincing call quality even in the rough everyday outdoor environment. The Sonim XP3300 supports Java apps and has a media player and turn-by-turn navigation built in.
Temperatures from –20 °C to +55 °C are said to bother the phone as little as spending an hour in water up to 2 metres deep. According to Sonim, the XP3300 is water- and dustproof to the IP-68 standard.
Links:
- submerging it in an antifreeze mixture (www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYbxs6CQJAk);
- dropping it from 30 meters (www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zFhuJ2evvU);
- casting it in concrete (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9369639.stm).”
The XP3300 Force is expected to be available in Germany from the second quarter of 2011 for around 370 euros.
Alternatively, it is also worth taking a look at the current Samsung outdoor phones such as the Samsung B2710 X-treme Edition with GPS. It may not be quite as rugged, but it is definitely much cheaper.
Images: SONIM
