XP3 Enduro Torture Test

Boy Genius killed the Sonim XP3 Enduro.

But we're not traumatized -- as noted in BG's excellent review of the XP3 Enduro, the phone died because of, as Boy Genius put it, "user error."

Snipped from the review : (which includes cool videos so do check it out)

"Does it live up to its hype? We would have to answer with an unequivocal yes! The Sonim withstood tests that would have killed any other standard phone and even most ruggedized handsets. We shudder to think what would have become of a standard handset if it were to be so carelessly tossed into the washing machine like the Sonim."

Before its unfortunate end, the XP3 survived a trip through the washing machine ("it was still on when we pulled it out 40 minutes later.") It also battled the elements and survived a freezing night of 18 degree weather and 16 hours being battered by the snow, sleet, and rain. Then it took a 30-minute soak in Mountain Dew -- "...an idea that came to us after some Dew was spilled on an old BlackBerry Curve, which did not fare as well as the Sonim. The Sonim came out a bit sticky but fully functioning while the Curve still has a sticky “0″ key to this day."

"Last but not the least the Sonim somehow managed to survive its battle with our 5,000-pound Chevy Suburban - almost. The first attempt to crush the Sonim with the SUV was not successful. The Sonim survived the weight of that behemoth not once but twice! A second attempt to get better footage of the SUV tires hitting the phone however, proved to be too much for it to bear. A much slower rollover of the phone caused the internal LCD to crack. The phone still worked flawlessly but the LCD, not so good."

"Ultimately, the Sonim died an untimely death and the Achilles heel was not the Sonim’s construction per se, but user error. We washed the phone off by letting it soak for a few minutes in a bucket of water (how liberating it is to be able to do that) but failed to completely close the bottom flap that covers the charging port and headphone jack."

With the flap only loosely closed, water seeped inside the phone and it has failed to work ever since. We would love to be able to tell you that we revived the phone after careful drying in front of a fire but it is too far gone and now sits lifeless in our office."

"Our final impression of the Sonim is that it is far and away one of the most rugged phones currently on the market and does indeed live up to its claim of being waterproof and able to withstand high impact drops. Though extremely durable, it is not infallible. It does have its limits and does require some diligence from its owner. If you want it to be waterproof for example, be sure to close that rubber flap tightly; check it and check it again. The one time you don’t will be the one time it falls overboard."

Comments

[Tom O'Donnell]

Hi There, I work in process gas / oil and need an intrinsically ( non spark ) phone / camera ... are you guy's heading down this road ?? with your phones