Rugged Mobile Phones

[Thumper]

I may have to make the foray into a smart phone as my choices are dwindling for phones that just do what I need.
ATT really p|ssed me off with their explanation and "solution" to why I'm having intermittent texting issues with my current Samsung Rugby.

So I'm doing some research and wondered if anybody had any experience with ruggedized phones that are meet Mil spec for things like shock, vibration, water, dirt and the like. One of my many problems with smart phones is the touch screen, my fingers don't work them. Some of the phones I looked into claim to be usable through a gloved or completely wet hand. I'd take any recommendations from anyone with experience or knowledge. Caterpillar (yeah the heavy equipment and diesel engine company) makes a model called the S60 that has an IR camera that can among other things look at your propane tank and tell you how full it is. A little out of my price range though...

[SciFiFisher]

It's a tough call. Most of the average phones won't meet the standard you are looking for. I have reached a point where I just go with the cheapest thing I can find and/or insure the hell out of the expensive stuff.

[Thumper]

Leaning towards a Caterpillar S41 if I have to go the smartphone route. Heck, I've got Christmas and a birthday coming up.

[SciFiFisher]

Leaning towards a Caterpillar S41 if I have to go the smartphone route. Heck, I've got Christmas and a birthday coming up.

Heck, that's half the price of an IPhone.

[geonuc]

Interesting that the Cat link doesn't say squat about what operating system the phone uses.

Sorry, I have no relevant experience or knowledge.

[Thumper]

The S41 uses Android 7.0 Nougat.
As the owner of a flip phone in a family full of iPhones, I know nothing about Android OS's. I found it mildly amusing that many of the Android versions are named after sweet things like "Kit Kat" "Lollypop" and "Marshmallow." Maybe they think that when your phone drops a call, loses a text or locks up, you won't get near as angry at a scrumptious candy.

[SciFiFisher]

The S41 uses Android 7.0 Nougat.
As the owner of a flip phone in a family full of iPhones, I know nothing about Android OS's. I found it mildly amusing that many of the Android versions are named after sweet things like "Kit Kat" "Lollypop" and "Marshmallow." Maybe they think that when your phone drops a call, loses a text or locks up, you won't get near as angry at a scrumptious candy.

Android OS isn't horrible. It's sort of like the Microsoft of mobile OS.

[Thumper]

I think I have some Android friends. But most of my close friends and family are iOS. That's a factor I'm considering because someone's going to have to teach me how to use a smartphone. But iPhones appear to be about the worst for reliability and holding up against wear and tear. I know some people spend as much on insurance for their beloved phones as they pay for the phones themselves.

[geonuc]

One thing you might want to consider is texting. (I know, maybe you don't think you care about that but it really is a super convenient way to communicate short messages.) Apple doesn't always play well with other OS's when texting. In my golf group, we often share group text messages about the upcoming or past round and some of my iOS texts aren't received by one of the Android users. A little Google University research learned me that Apple has been slow to support group texting across platforms. Perhaps a minor point for you.

I don't know what the reputations for ruggedness are but I've owned two iPhones and they both seemed quite substantial to me. You obviously don't want to drop them on hard surfaces though. I've also had a Samsung Galaxy (Android OS) and actually dropped it onto an asphalt tarmac from the belly of a B-17. It survived without a hitch. Later, I dropped it onto dirt when exiting my car (a drop of like two feet) and the screen shattered. (I had trouble holding onto that phone because of its case).

Apple is incredibly infuriating with all their 'i' applications which seem almost deliberately nonintuitive. I have given up trying to use their iCloud to share photos with my MacBook, for example. The Samsung, conversely, was so loaded with crap software I didn't want that it seriously affected how the phone operated. Getting rid of it was nigh impossible.

You can buy gloves that are designed with index fingers that operate touch screens. They're fairly common and not expensive.

[Thumper]

Funny you should mention texting. That's the reason I apparently need to get a new phone. I've been texting fine with my Samsung Rugby flip phone for years (including group texting). Recently, on occasion, I haven't been able to receive certain group texts from individual users. I see everyone else's texts, everyone can get mine, but for one person in the group, I get a text "notification" but when I go to retrieve it, I get a message about "decoding failed." However, if this person texts me singularly, everything is fine. So I say the problem is with my network, my phone is functioning fine. ATT, however says my phone is woefully obsolete and I need to spend alot of money and buy a newer phone. I've had several nasty conversations with some pompous idiots supposedly in customer service.

Many of the reviews I read about phones complained of the "bloatware" you mentioned. This means very little to me since I only use a phone to make and receive calls and texts. I have thus far had no success with any computing or searching on a smartphone. The interfaces are so clunky and slow and one little accidental touch or swipe and I'm off somewhere that I have no idea how to get back or recover.

I'm not planning on buying special gloves just for using a phone. I have an ample supply of work gloves, waterproof work gloves, and insulated work gloves. I'll find a phone that works with them not vice versa. Most of the ruggedized certified phones are supposed to survive falls of 6 to 8 feet. I've heard and read accounts of people dropping them out of buckets or trees from heights up to 60 feet. Those are the phones for me. Something that you drop in a mud puddle, accidentally step on, pick up and it still works with your gloves on.

[geonuc]

[geonuc]

[Thumper]

That's almost exactly what my first mobile phone looked like and it worked fine.

[SciFiFisher]

I used that phone for many years. It was prone to being a tad clunky and the commo guys were always whinging about people running over the wire.

[Thumper]