Samsung B2700 Bound rugged mobile phone
Review Anyone who's ever splashed a few drops of water on just the wrong bit of their pricey new phone can see the advantage of rugged design. It's rarely pretty, it's never svelte, but you don't need to venture into a war zone to appreciate the benefit of a more secure approach to portable electronics.
Samsung's Bound: outward
And in the case of the Samsung B2700 Bound, there's considerably more on offer, with 3G connectivity, quad-band GSM/GPRS, music and video player functionality, an FM radio, video-calling, a 2Mp stills and video camera, as well as a compass, pedometer and flash light.
The B2700 Bound is designed with the outdoor life clearly in mind, and is several steps up from its rather basic predecessor, the Samsung Solid SGH-M110. Rugged doesn't mean bullet-proof, of course, or anything like it. The B2700 meets the IEC's IP54 standard, which means it should keep out most of the dust and should be good against splashes, though strictly speaking it's neither dust- nor water-proof.
Measuring 152 x 52 x 18mm and weighing 115g, the B2700 is a chunky little number, slightly bigger than the Solid, with a tough rubberised plastic casing that includes additional hard plastic padding at the sides, top and bottom to protect against knocks. The sides and back also have easy-grip grooves to aid holding with frozen or gloved fingers, though the screen isn't recessed and there are no covers for the camera lenses.
The 1.9in, 176 x 220 display features a respectable 262,000 colours. Usefully, if you're out in the wilds, it's backed by one of the fastest operating systems we've seen, whizzing between menus in a twinkling.
Easy-grip grooves
We made a point of handling the B2700 regularly with wet hands and sure enough, it does what it's supposed to, gripping well in both wet and dry. We didn't actually submerge it in water, but there were no signs of water ingress throughout its time with us. The keypad is of rubberised plastic but feedback from the buttons isn't very pronounced, so hands numb from cold may struggle a bit more than usual.
COMMENTS
I like it
Its a basic phone that will last.
And I like the sexy name.
Will Jennifer Tilley get one?
Re: A complete waste of money.
Got to agree.
For a fleeting moment, this could have been a contender to replace the rather beaten up old PAYG Nokia 6230 that I take with me when I go cycling - its been dropped, ridden over and, after a particularly memorable spill, broke a couple of my ribs when I landed on it but it's still going strong despite a huge chunk gouged out of one corner and a bloody great crack in the screen.
A rubber grip does not a rugged phone make, and most of the 'additional features' are complete bobbins anyway.
But can you
Connect it to your PC to upload contacts. I have a Samsung Solid and rather disappointed to find out it couldn't talk to my PC for contacts (let alone as a modem). As I only use the solid occasionally when I working/plaing in "extreme environments" that is a bit of an omission for me (I just put my main contacts on the sim though) . Mind you I now have a jesus phone in an otterbox case and it survived a 6ft drop onto a concrete barn floor last weekend.
wtf?
Where's the innovation? A rubber grip does not give you balls, contrary to popular belief. This is just polishing a dessicated turd.....solar/hand crank charging? barometer/depth gauge/thermometer anyone? they could have made this a real all in one navigation device for about a tenner more of electronics.....
A complete waste of money.
Since the phone is not sold as dust or water resistant if it breaks because of either you have to buy a new phone -- so you may as well buy any other and keep it safe.
