Which Android smartphone is tough as nails, ''unbreaable'' ??

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Dutchuncle777

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I am new to Android and stuck with old Nokia's simply because they are indestructible. However, life is moving on and my old E63 does not have enough RAM to do the job.

CRITERIA:

1. Solid build, must withstand Africa's dust, heat, etc.

2. Fast CPU and 512MB - 1GB RAM


3. 16 - 64 GB internal storage.


4. Able to sync either Windows or Outlook contacts/calendar/tasks via USB or Bluetooth as there isn't cloud cover in rural areas. This really is important.


5. Camera: 8mp or better although I carry a good compact with me. This is a non-essential option.

6. I am no gamer but use business apps mostly. I use Quickoffice but have limited experience on Polaris which is more than I need.


Experienced users please respond.


Thanks in anticipation.
 
Dutchuncle777 said:
I am new to Android and stuck with old Nokia's simply because they are indestructible. However, life is moving on and my old E63 does not have enough RAM to do the job.

CRITERIA:

1. Solid build, must withstand Africa's dust, heat, etc.

2. Fast CPU and 512MB - 1GB RAM


3. 16 - 64 GB internal storage.


4. Able to sync either Windows or Outlook contacts/calendar/tasks via USB or Bluetooth as there isn't cloud cover in rural areas. This really is important.


5. Camera: 8mp or better although I carry a good compact with me. This is a non-essential option.

6. I am no gamer but use business apps mostly. I use Quickoffice but have limited experience on Polaris which is more than I need.


Experienced users please respond.


Thanks in anticipation.
Click to expand...

Have a look at JCB Toughphone's range.
http://www.jcbphone.co.za/jcb-toughphone-prosmart.htm
They have an android phone in their line up:

Water resistant | Dust resistant |5MP camera | Android™ 2.3 OS | Bluetooth™ 2.1 | 800MHz processor | Certified to IP67 | Micro SD expandable to 32 GB | Quad-band | 2 year warranty | Front facing camera | Wifi
 
Take a look at the latest Sony tough phones that should reach our shores soon.

See:

http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_go-4782.php

http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_acro_s-4781.php

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&rc...jIDQCw&usg=AFQjCNGqZqW_WHg0wcpsAFpIo5CDx6-Wcg

The Xperia GO should be available by now, it has already been released internationally in July this year, and it is far less expensive than phones like the Samsung Galaxy's etc.

If you would like to buy without a contract or sim, you can try: ( http://www.expansys.co.za/sony-xperia-go-black-233571/ )

I am waiting for them to become available myself, can't wait. :whistle:
 
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Saajid said:
I don't recommend buying from Expansys. You'll wait forever. Read this thread: Expansys - Don't waste your time or money
Click to expand...



Yeah I know thanx, just an exaple. :D

Through my dealings with Expansys I have not had any problems, yes I did wait a month to get all of the stuff I ordered from them, but I was never left in the dark regarding my order, they kept me up to date with the full progress of the order.

Maybe I was just lucky with my purchases.

Would you have any examples of similar yet better online stores?
 
Thanks for all the advice. I will look at all suggestions. As I am on Cell C, buying a phone with cash is easy, as they stock most models.

Thanks again for the friendly advice :)
 
It's actually pretty damn close to impossible to find an Android phone that:

1. Is toughened
2. Has good specs
3. Runs a modern version of Android

Lots of companies make tough Android phones, but they always seem to saddle them with outdated specs and a 2-year old version of the operating system.

OP: Maybe just get a "regular" phone and stick in something like an Otterbox case? That's what I've done with my Nexus, and I find the result to be pretty satisfactory. You end up with a good phone that can nevertheless take a lot of physical abuse.

Alternatively, maybe check out the Motorola RAZR Maxx? It has kevlar construction, and is splash-resistant (though not waterproof). The best thing about the RAZR Maxx is that it has amazing battery life. If you're spending a lot of time in rural areas away from wall chargers and so on, this is probably a really good feature for you. And if it's still not tough enough for you, you can always put it in one of those aforementioned Otterbox cases.

As for your question about Outlook sync, unfortunately this isn't a standard feature on on Android so you'll need a third-party for this. You might need to pay for a good app. But I did a quick search on the Google Play Store, and I did find at least one app that claims to have the functionality you're looking for:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.companionlink.clusbsync

--
EDIT: Here's another app that might suit your needs: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.innov8tion.isharesync

Both of the apps I linked to are free on the Play Store, but unfortunately they both require companion software on your PC that you have to pay for.
 
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I must admit I do not understand the fascination about local sync.

Thats so old school, esp in today's day and age where phones are internet capable. Local sync was good in the old days when phones had almost no internet connectivity and Wifi to expensive to be used by every house.

What I do not understand is that you want to sync with your Outlook, because of the lack of internet in some rural area's but the question is how would your Outlook update if there is no internet? Any case if you abselutly have to have this feature all the Phones do come with it in some mannor from HTC Sync to Samsung's Kies.

As for specs that just what OEM's get you to chase so they can have more of your wallet. My 2 year old Sony Ericsson is just as capable as all the quad cores out today. So I would not go hunting for high performance specs unless you want to run a web server and whatnot off the phone, rather go for features that you want. In my case my next phone will be a Nokia Lumia 920 not because of the CPU or OS smoothness but purely because of the Camera.

You did mention durability so maybe you should look at the Motorola range as they have water resistant titanium shells and the RAZR MAXX boast extra battery life that might a good idea as you mentioned traveling to rural area's? But at the end reading from all your posts I still have a feeling that a simple blackberry would suite you esp seeing that you coming from an dead old Nokia running Symbian <-- anything would be an upgrade for you :)
 
Thanks, AlphaJohn :)

USB / Bluetooth sync required to sync calendar, contacts, notes & tasks. It keeps my data current on both pc and phone. When I am out of reception, I may want to write an email and defer sending it until such time I get a signal. I don't always have both laptop and phone with me.

Also, as we have seen recently, more than one cloud database has been compromised by crackers and/or malicious software. I do not wish to see my sensitive data strew about; it has happened due to Melissa in 2001. I simply do not trust Google, Yahoo, Microsoft or Apple sufficiently to let my data reside on their servers. I did use cloud sync for a while but had a fraudster access my Yahoo mail despite using extra logic to prevent same.

Real damage was minimal but I like to keep things neat and tidy. Direct sync also acts as an automatic, albeit basic, data backup! It just is sensible.

Thanks for educating me on the RAZR MAXX. The mention of titanium reminds me of higher end Thinkpad; always my favourite.
 
AlphaJohn said:
Just be prepared to wait for your order, my last one took 2 months to get here. Other than the waiting time I have no issue with em.
Click to expand...

I ordered a case and screen protectors for my SIII. Placed the order, paid, phoned them to confirm they had stock and drove through to their offices to collect.
 
Dutchuncle777 said:
Thanks, AlphaJohn :)

USB / Bluetooth sync required to sync calendar, contacts, notes & tasks. It keeps my data current on both pc and phone. When I am out of reception, I may want to write an email and defer sending it until such time I get a signal. I don't always have both laptop and phone with me.
Click to expand...

This doesn't make sense... If you don't have the laptop and phone with you, how exactly would you sync them, using the old-skool methods mentioned then?

And yes, Exchange sync on all Androids works like that, it keeps your messages in the outbox until you are connected again and then sends them. Setting aside the paranoia for a while, your data is never saved on any server except your Exchange, if you use that instead of Google services.

Edit: Also, smartphones aren't really designed to be tough, so you might be out of luck. They're designed to cram as much power and functionality into a small, light device as possible. It's a bit like asking for an F1 car that's also good for 4x4 use and has a boot that takes a whole chest of drawers.
 
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There is a Motorola "tough phone" that is encased in a rubber pouch. Friend has one and drove over it with his Land-Rover (on a sand road) and it was fine
 
Yeah, different strokes for folks, etc.

For what it's worth, I pretty much organise my life through Google's online services. I use Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Tasks and Google Drive. Gmail gets pushed to my phone. Contacts are automatically shared between my phone and Gmail. Google Calendar gets synced with a widget on my homescreen, so every day I can see exactly what my agenda is. The Google Now service runs in the background and keeps track of my appointments, reminds what time I need to leave for them, and offers handy traffic alerts and help with navigation. Google Tasks doesn't have an official app, but I use the Tasks app from the Play Store which looks and functions exactly like a first-party app that Google might have made themselves. Google Drive allows me to create documents, share them with anyone on my contacts list, and collaborate in real-time, irrespective of whether I'm on my PC or my phone.

And all of this gets synchronised automatically, instantly, without ever having to plug in a cable or hit a "sync" button. Quite honestly, it's pretty brilliant. Like this guy on the The Verge said, I'm basically living in a Google commercial.

A side result of this is that yes, I have indeed amassed lots of sensitive data on Google's servers. I can understand why this would make some people uncomfortable. But I do take precautions. I don't use my Google password on any other websites. I have two-level password protection enabled through Google Authenticator. I have pattern unlock enabled on my phone in case it ever gets lost or stolen (and that's a pretty strong security measure). Finally, I have Avast Anti-Theft installed, so I can wipe my phone remotely if I need to.

It's also worth pointing that in eight years that I've been using Gmail, I've had something like five different hard-drives crash on me, but my Gmail data has always been safe and secure. I'm actually quite a bit more confident about trusting my data to the cloud than to local storage solutions.

To be honest, Google clearly wants you to use Android in this manner, as a cloud-synchronised device. Ideally, of course, they want you to sync it with Google's services, but you can add new accounts and you can sync it just as well with with Microsoft or Yahoo's cloud services instead.

Unfortunately, syncing with a local copy of Outlook might be a bit more difficult and less elegant, but it's definitely possible. It just isn't quite what Android was designed for, and it might well necessitate the use of paid third-party software.
 
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To sync Android with Outlook, the easiest method is to go through the cloud, using Gmail is an intermediary.

Sync Android to Gmail (done automatically, except for Tasks, for which there is the free 3rd Party Tasks app).

Then on your PC download and install
- Google Calender Sync to sync Gmail calender to Outlook
- Go Contact Sync Mod to sync Gmail contacts to Outlook

I have not installed a 3rd party app to Sync Google Tasks to Outlook, but you can find one at SyncDroid.net. It lists almost all free and premium syncing apps, for Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, etc in a nice table so that you can compare features, and provides links to the relevant websites.
 
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