Rugged smartphones are made with completely shielded and sealed bodies. Their goal is not to look slim and smart, but to protect the device from water, fall damage, and shocks. Keeping that in mind, we have created a list of the best-rugged smartphones that give you maximum features and quality.
Best Rugged Smartphones – Our Top 7 Picks
| Top Products | Rating | Screen Size |
| 1. CAT PHONES S31 | 3.8 | 4.7 in |
| 2. KYOCERA DuraForce Pro E6820 | 3.5 | 5.0 in |
| 3. KYOCERA DuraForce Pro 2 | 3.4 | 5.0 in |
| 4. iPhone 11 Pro | 4.3 | 5.8 in |
| 5. KYOCERA Brigadier | 3.2 | 4.5 in |
| 6. CASIO G’zOne Commando | 3.5 | 4 in |
| 7. BLACKVIEW BV9700 Pro | 4.3 | 5.8 in |
1. CAT Phones S31
This phone’s powerful 4000mAh lithium battery can provide up to 38 days of standby time and up to 30 hours of talk time.
The waterproof capacity of the phone is 3.9 feet for 35 minutes. Its shock proof body can survive a 6 feet fall, and having a scratch-resistant gorilla glass 3 screen makes it as hard as a brick.
Other features include a 4.7 inch HD screen, an 8 MP Autofocus back camera, 2 MP fixed focus front camera, and an internal storage of 16 GB.
2. KYOCERA DuraForce Pro E6820
This phone is for you if you are looking for a phone with good durability as the KYOCERA DuraForce Pro E6820 is a military-grade phone.
The good thing about this phone is that it can do multitasking really well and it’s hard to find a rugged phone that could do multitasking at this price.
Another thing that I liked about this phone is that the camera is a wide-angle camera that provides you extra room while you are capturing your favorite moments.
And the battery time of this phone is also amazing as it lasts up to 20 hours of talk time and 19 days of standby time.
3. KYOCERA DuraForce Pro 2
If you ask me, this phone is perfect for people who want a Verizon compatible solid smartphone.
This is because other than having great water, dust, and shock resistance, it also provides excellent performance with it’s 4 GB RAM and 2.2GHz x 1.8GHz snapdragon processor. But that’s not all.
The phone has a high resolution 13 MP back camera and a 5MP front one. The camera app also comes with a wide range of capturing modes like wider angle capturing, underwater mode, continuous shooting, auto scene detect, slow motion, time-lapse, and many more with a 1080p HD quality.
4. iPhone 11 Pro
If you’re looking for a flagship phone, the iPhone 11 Pro is one of the most rugged and durable smartphones you can get. Its front and back is covered with Corning Gorilla Glass that is strengthened by dual-ion exchange to make it scratch-resistant and survive drops.
The phone is also much more versatile and feature-packed than most other rugged phones. It has a triple-camera setup, a super-fast A13 bionic processor, the latest Super-retina XDR display, and an IP68 water and dust-resistance rating.
For people that mostly use Apple devices, the iPhone 11 Pro is an excellent choice for a rugged phone at a decent price.
5. KYOCERA Brigadier
Ever wanted to go for a swim with your phone? With this one, you can as it can last up to 30 minutes in 6 feet of water!
Other than taking it for a swim, you can take this phone on any type of adventure like rock climbing and hiking too. This is because this phone comes with a sapphire shield display and a scratch-proof body that would protect the phone from any kind of fall damage.
The KYOCERA Brigadier is a military grade phone and is heavily guarded against shock, dust, extreme temperatures, low pressure, rain salt fog, and solar radiations.
6. CASIO G’zOne Commando
One thing that’s guaranteed with this phone is that it will not break. I have used the previous versions of this phone. And I have seen it survive getting crushed by a car. So its obvious that the phone’s successor is nothing but better.
The Casio Gz’One Commando comes with a bigger screen and an improved camera than it’s predecessor.
The cool thing about this phone is that it comes with the amazing outdoor features that include activity tracking, a pedometer, a barometer, and even a thermometer! The phone is also compatible with the Verizon network.
7. BLACKVIEW BV9700 Pro
This beast of a phone is loaded with features. Talking about it’s main features, it has an Octa-core 2.1GHz processor, 6 GB RAM, 128 GB ROM, with 5.84 inches IPS display.
You can certainly fulfill your gaming needs with this phone. But if you want to take it for some outdoor photography, it has a 16MP and 8MP dual camera as well.
Regarding durability, the phone feels bulletproof. It also gives you some extra cool features like face id and fingerprint unlock, air quality detector, heart rate monitor, barometric altimeter, plumb bob, sound meter, and height measuring.
8. DOOGEE S40 Lite
- Quad-core 1.3 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM, and Android 9.0.
- Two 8 MP plus 5 MP back cameras capable of capturing photos at night and underwater, and 5 MP front camera.
- Face id with 360-degree identification that unlocks in 0.2 seconds. Fingerprint unlock time is also 0.2 seconds.
- Survives 30 minutes in 1.5-meter water and a fall from 1.2 meters. It also survived a 24 hours concrete submission.
Buyer’s Guide
Rugged smartphones have one thing in common and that is their resistance to water, dust, and shock. So you have to buy the product that gives you the best features along with good resistance/durability.
Screen Size
Now obviously you’d want to buy a phone that is convenient for you to carry around. The screen size of anywhere between 5 inches to 5.5 inches is pretty standard and it’s big if it’s more than 5.8. Less than 5 inches is small and you might like this size if you don’t need the phone for gaming.
Performance
Look for the phone with the best processor and RAM. These make your phone run faster and let you play games. An Octa-core processor with more than 2 GHz of frequency and a RAM of more than 3 GB is good enough.
SIM card service
If you have a SIM card by GSM carriers like AT&T, then you have to buy the phone with GSM compatibility. And if you have a SIM card by CDMA carriers like Verizon, then you have to look for CDMA compatible phones. Otherwise your SIM card would not work.
Extra features
Who doesn’t likes extra features? Some amazing features that you should look in rugged smartphones are face id & fingerprint unlock, customizable buttons, air quality detector, sound meter, heart rate monitor, barometric altimeter, height measure, underwater photo capturing, wireless charging, thermal imaging, and NFC support.
Buy the products that give you all these key features at the most reasonable price.
FAQs
What cell phone has the most durable screen?
Any phone with a screen of cornering Gorilla glass 4 that is also 2.5D would be considered to have a very durable screen. But it comes at second place after the most durable Gorilla glass 5.
Which phone screen is unbreakable screen?
The phones with a flexible OLED screen would be considered as unbreakable or very hard to break. Samsung is known for making such type of phone in 2018.
What is the toughest phone in the world?
That phone is called the Sonim XP3300 Force. It survived a 25-meter fall (higher than a ten-story building) on concrete without any damage and made its place into the Guinness World Records.
Can rugged phones survive a blast?
Although rugged phones are made to be durable and can even survive in high temperatures, they cannot survive strong blasts. They may even survive being put under heavy weight, but it’s nothing compared to a blast.
Why does Gorilla glass break so easily?
If the gorilla glass is not of more than generation 3, it would break almost easily. But the gorilla glass of preferably generation 4 with being 2.5D, would not break too easily. And so far, gorilla glass 5 is the best option for phone screen tempered glass.