Solid options
The Solid Immerse runs Samsung’s SHP OS and its appearance looks akin to the company’s TouchWiz user interface, but here there’s no touchscreen involved, as you scroll around the icons using the navpad.
Handles the wet, but whether it would survive a bout with washing machine is another matter.
Bizarrely, there’s no map application supplied as standard, however, the phone's apps section provides a link to download Google Maps, if your network doesn’t offer one of its own. Once I’d done that though, it worked well enough, identifying my position in about 20 seconds. The digital compass worked fine too, as did the basic pedometer and you get a timer and stop watch too.
There’s also a nod to social networking with links to Facebook and Twitter sites, but no automatically updated feeds. The 2Mp camera is basic in the extreme, with no flash, just 1.2x digital zoom and white balance the only setting to play with. It will also record video at 15fps but the quality looks so poor you’d have to be pretty desperate.
There’s no Wi-Fi but there is 3G network connectivity and Bluetooth. The media player meanwhile will play back MP3 and MPEG4 files, and there’s an FM radio along with some games to help keep you entertained during quiet moments in the back of beyond. You can sync using Samsung’s Kies software or using simply drag and drop to add your music and other media files. While there’s only a mere 15MB of memory on board, it will take microSD cards up to 16GB.
Next page: Fall from grace
COMMENTS
Washing machine
"whether it would survive a bout with washing machine is another matter"
Shame on you! You should have tried it out!
(Can't think why it wouldn't. 40C isn't too hot. G-force of spin isn't high compared to dropping it on a hard floor. Water pressure is only a few inches. Comes down to whether it can resist soapy water compared to dirty water. Would be unimpressed if it failed).
Thank God for the Defy
I think Motorola makes you compromise a lot less to be rugged and waterproof.
I bought a Defy for my wife after her last phone ran full of water while in her pocket during a Taifoon...
However, its Battery life can't compete with this one.
Flashlight and compass is great though... and the Defy beats my iPhone. smaller case, less weight, bigger screen :)
I think it's a great phone!
I have this and the nexus one.. For usual "office / home" life the nexus is my first choice, but if I'm going away for the weekend or doing something outdoorsy then my SIM goes into the Samsung and I'm happy it can take a bashing and I don't have to care about getting wet, battery life etc etc. It can read email at a stretch, but it's nice to get away from those things every now and then.
In fact... this last weekend I had this phone for "outdoors" and in the backpack the moto xoom and it was a winning combo ... I wonder if that kind of "hardy" phone + more tech tablet combo may catch on ?
But for the camera
This looks aok, pretty much just what I need, except that it has only a 2mp camera. Are there any decent camera'd rugged phones around other than the Motorola Defy, which is a tad too smartphone for my needs?
I think I'll be getting a Defy
As an outdoorsy, horsey, walking-and-riding-around-on-Northumberland-hills-and-beaches, sort of bloke, I've had nearly a decade's service from my once-immortal Nokia 1100, which is now starting to lose call clarity. However, if I was to trade up from it, I'd need to... well... trade up, you know? This is a bit like an expensive Nokia 1100 with a colour screen and an embarrassment of a camera?
No, I think Mr Motorola is going to be getting my money.
