Waterproof phones?

[BOD]

Has anyone used on of these and what did you think?

I keep drowning my normal phones or they succumb to humidity and thought of trying these

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=US&feature=player_embedded&v=uGswAgrrAUg

 

[lavrentyuk]

I use a slightly updated version of the 2100, the 2710 - works great and I am out in all weathers. It isn't a smartphone though it does have a few handy tricks up its sleeve.

 

[tedw]

I agree lavrentyuk's comments - I have the 2100 (and so does a mate who's outdoors all day, every day with the Wildlife Trust) and they are brilliant, tough, waterproof outdoor 'phones you can rely on. Get one!

 

[HagardTrollestia]

Not sure if you can still get ahold of them, but I used to have a Samsung Solid which was about as waterproof as you can get. I used to send texts whilst in the bath (with the phone held under water.) Its also dust and shockproof too, but I think they stopped selling them.

JCB also do some good outdoorsy phones, but to be honest unless you are worried you might need it in an emergancy situation on your own, you could make do with a cheapy job from tesco. I go out with two phones, I take my smart phone for the internet (so long as it an actually get a signal) in an otter box, and a cheap £10 job in my pocket.

 

[dwardo]

Looks pretty good for the money.

 

[Squidders]

I have a lifeproof case for my iPhone - totally waterproof so far and it's been demo'd a good few times.

 

[toilet digger]

just got a samsung c3350 xcover solid. its IP67 rated so its to military spec.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

I have a motorolla defy- android smartphone- had it about a year and a half, very impressed. It still looks like new. When you have a waterproof smartphone, it opens the phone up for all sorts of mapping and GPS uses in the outdoor world.

I'm looking to upgrade at some point soon, so TD, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the the Samsumg Xcover!

 

[toilet digger]

this bit i robbed off tinterweb;

Code breakdown[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TH]IP Indication
[/TH]
[TH]Solid Particle Protection
[/TH]
[TH]Liquid Ingress Protection
[/TH]
[TH]Mechanical impact resistance
[/TH]
[TH]Other Protections
[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]IP
[/TD]
[TD]Single Number: 0-6
[/TD]
[TD]Single Number: 0-8
[/TD]
[TD]Single Number: 0-9
[/TD]
[TD]Single Letter
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mandatory
[/TD]
[TD]Mandatory
[/TD]
[TD]Mandatory
[/TD]
[TD]No longer used
[/TD]
[TD]Optional
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[edit] Solid particle protection

The first digit indicates the level of protection that the enclosure provides against access to hazardous parts (e.g., electrical conductors, moving parts) and the ingress of solid foreign objects.
[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TH]Level
[/TH]
[TH]Object size protected against
[/TH]
[TH]Effective against
[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH][/TH]
[TD]—
[/TD]
[TD]No protection against contact and ingress of objects
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]1
[/TH]
[TD]>50 mm
[/TD]
[TD]Any large surface of the body, such as the back of a hand, but no protection against deliberate contact with a body part
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]2
[/TH]
[TD]>12.5 mm
[/TD]
[TD]Fingers or similar objects
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]3
[/TH]
[TD]>2.5 mm
[/TD]
[TD]Tools, thick wires, etc.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]4
[/TH]
[TD]>1 mm
[/TD]
[TD]Most wires, screws, etc.
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]5
[/TH]
[TD]Dust protected
[/TD]
[TD]Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]6
[/TH]
[TD]Dust tight
[/TD]
[TD]No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[edit] Liquid ingress protection

Protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against harmful ingress of water.[SUP][4][/SUP]
[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TH]Level
[/TH]
[TH]Protected against
[/TH]
[TH]Testing for
[/TH]
[TH="width: 250"]Details
[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH][/TH]
[TD]Not protected
[/TD]
[TD]—
[/TD]
[TD]—
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]1
[/TH]
[TD]Dripping water
[/TD]
[TD]Dripping water (vertically falling drops) shall have no harmful effect.
[/TD]
[TD]Test duration: 10 minutes
Water equivalent to 1mm rainfall per minute

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]2
[/TH]
[TD]Dripping water when tilted up to 15°
[/TD]
[TD]Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the enclosure is tilted at an angle up to 15° from its normal position.
[/TD]
[TD]Test duration: 10 minutes
Water equivalent to 3mm rainfall per minute
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]3
[/TH]
[TD]Spraying water
[/TD]
[TD]Water falling as a spray at any angle up to 60° from the vertical shall have no harmful effect.
[/TD]
[TD]Test duration: 5 minutes
Water volume: 0.7 litres per minute
Pressure: 80–100 kPa
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]4
[/TH]
[TD]Splashing water
[/TD]
[TD]Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect.
[/TD]
[TD]Test duration: 5 minutes
Water volume: 10 litres per minute
Pressure: 80–100 kPa
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]5
[/TH]
[TD]Water jets
[/TD]
[TD]Water projected by a nozzle (6.3mm) against enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects.
[/TD]
[TD]Test duration: at least 3 minutes
Water volume: 12.5 litres per minute
Pressure: 30 kPa at distance of 3m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]6
[/TH]
[TD]Powerful water jets
[/TD]
[TD]Water projected in powerful jets (12.5mm nozzle) against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects.
[/TD]
[TD]Test duration: at least 3 minutes
Water volume: 100 litres per minute
Pressure: 100 kPa at distance of 3m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]7
[/TH]
[TD]Immersion up to 1 m
[/TD]
[TD]Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion).
[/TD]
[TD]Test duration: 30 minutes
Immersion at depth of 1m
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]8
[/TH]
[TD]Immersion beyond 1 m
[/TD]
[TD]The equipment is suitable for continuous immersion in water under conditions which shall be specified by the manufacturer. Normally, this will mean that the equipment is hermetically sealed. However, with certain types of equipment, it can mean that water can enter but only in such a manner that it produces no harmful effects.
[/TD]
[TD]Test duration: continuous immersion in water
Depth specified by manufacturer
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

additional features for the xcover solid include;
radio (many presets, auto search, good signal)
decent volume to the speaker
really good battery life. that works out at 5 days between charges, including listening to the radio on headphones, and playing solitaire a lot.
stick a micro sd in and you have plenty of space for tunes.
torch- good strong led. only drawback is that it can be switched on (button on the side) when the phone is locked.
hope that helps poncho.

 

[stuey]

My work phone is the exact same model shown in the video. It really is bomb proof and has survived some heavy abuse in bad weather conditions. There are a couple of things that would have put me off buying one however which may have been improved with the release of the new model mentioned elsewhere in the thread... Firstly you have to be very very careful where you position the mouthpeice otherwise the person you are speaking to really can't hear you. Secondly the predictive text system is infuriating to use especally when a word is not recognised so you go ahead and enter it only for it to be entered permananently in the memory in CAPITALS because I didn't press a button multiple times to select non caps. In fairness the mouthpeice issue is a hardwear design issue and the text issue is user incompetence

I often take both my blackberry and my works phone with me out in the wilds as they are on different networks, the works phone has a torch which is very useful if I forget my proper one, and can be out in the lashing rain while the blackberry sits cosy in my bergan wrapped in a plastc bag.

If you want reliability, toughness, waterporoofness (no such word surely!?) with the basic phone functions then you will be happy with one.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Many thanks TD- very informative. I just need to find some way of getting the samsung as an upgrade as Phone 4 U seemed to not do that phone (or the defy) any longer....

 

[Reaps72]

I have a lifeproof case for my iPhone - totally waterproof so far and it's been demo'd a good few times.

This is my option too! Just need one for the iphone 5 as my new one arrives next week hopefully?!
http://www.lifeproof.com/iphone/?path=TopNav