Panasonic Eluga Power

Who said rugged smartphones had to look like unsightly bricks? Although most are, the same definitely can’t be said of the Panasonic Eluga Power. It’s an upgrade to the old Panasonic Eluga, and the usage of the word “power” in its name is well-deserved. Its main features include a 5-inch 720p HD touchscreen display, an 8-megapixel autofocus camera, built-in NFC, and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. And even though it looks like a typical Android smartphone, it’s actually much tougher than your average brick.

Unlike many of today’s sub-10mm thick handsets, the Eluga Power boasts IP57 certification, which means that not only is it dust and water resistant but also waterproof up to 1 meter and 30 minutes. It runs on a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, has 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. If that seems like a low amount of storage for you, you can add more to it easily by way of microSD cards.

When it comes to wireless features, the Power has it all. Except for 4G LTE, that is. It works with quad-band GSM networks and supports HSDPA data. And apart from NFC, it also has GPS with A-GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi.

As you can see, it’s brimming with most of today’s latest high-end smartphone features. With its 1,800mAh battery, users will surely be able to make the most out of these. It isn’t clear when—or even if—Panasonic plans to roll out software upgrades for their Eluga handsets, but this particular model looks great regardless.

Need to Know: Panasonic Eluga Power

1. Boasts IP57 certification; water and dust resistant as well as water proof up to 1 meter and 30 minutes. (The Good)

2. Ships with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich as the default OS. (The Good)

3. Lacks 4G LTE connectivity. (The Bad)

4. Built-in camera doesn’t have an accompanying flash. (The Bad)