If you are looking for a phone that won’t crack after you press the power button a bit harder, then check out this list of best rugged smartphones of 2017.
Back in the days, regular mobile phones were less prone to damage. They were tougher and I’ll dare to say, built from more quality materials. It helped also that there were not as many weak spots as it is the case with modern phones. Now, the phones are thinner and have larger screens, but that made them more vulnerable to almost everything. We have all been there at some point in our lives as smartphone users. Phone drops onto the ground and ends up with a shattered screen or even worse, it drops into the water and in most cases becomes unusable. If you are tired of always fearing that your phone will drop, consider buying a rugged smartphone.
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People often confuse ruggedness with being water and dust proof. New iPhone and Samsung models are all water and dust proof, but that doesn’t make them rugged. For a smartphone to be considered “rugged” it has to have some other characteristics and be tested for extreme conditions. Besides being water and dust proof, a rugged smartphone is also shockproof and can work in extremely high and low temperatures. In case you are interested in models from last year, check out our list of 7 Best Rugged Smartphones of 2016.
In order to create the list of 7 best rugged smartphones of 2017, we took recommendations from MB Reviews, Tough Gadget, and Mobile Scope. We only considered the smartphones that were released towards the end of 2016 and so far in 2017, ones that were IP68 certified and shockproof. IP68 certification means that the smartphone is completely dustproof and can be immersed in the water for at least 30 minutes at the depth of 1.5 meters. After that, we gave each smartphone points based on their price, specifications (processor, RAM, and storage) and battery quality. After summing everything into our IM Score, our list took shape. Let’s check it out.
7. Homtom HT20
IM Score: 12
Price: $115.99
Homtom HT20 ranks 7th in our list of the best rugged smartphones of 2017. This smartphone comes with a low price and will serve you well. It has 4.7 inches screen, Quad-Core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. You can use the smartphone with the gloves on, and it even has a fingerprint sensor. Unlike most other rugged smartphones, Homtom HT20 enables you to remove its 3500mAh battery.
