The Tech Dump charts new ground this week as I made a video (with help from lsureveille.com editor in chief Joshua Jackson) attempting to destroy a seemingly unbreakable phone. Did it break? Click the video to find out.
The phone we tried to destroy is the Sonim XP5, a phone combat-approved phone that is mainly used in the army and construction companies. The phone itself is interesting because of its form factor over the features that it includes. The phone itself is about an inch thick, covered in strong rubber. The screen appears to be protected by double-paned glass or a thick plastic. I refer to it as the spiritual successor to the Nokia 3310. Legend has it that the 3310 is the only known object on Earth stronger than diamond.
In terms of features, the phone lacks heavily. I know that it is a brick phone with a keypad and no touchscreen, but the phone I had from 2005 had a makeshift app store. The phone has an SD card slot so a lack of a music service besides MP3 feels like a wasted opportunity, but that brings me to my next point.
No one should buy this except construction workers or members of the army. The phone is built entirely to be durable and nothing else. On Sonim’s website there is an option to buy them in bulk for a construction company.
Considering the use alone, I cannot give a full review because it is not a consumer phone. It is built for the purpose of being durable and it does the job. We did have fun making the video, though.
If you want to see more videos in the future, let me know at @rkatz94 on Twitter.