Samsung Galaxy Rugby

There are only a few big names who are making truly rugged smartphones. Samsung is one of those manufacturers with their Galaxy Rugby. It sports a tough design and runs a smart OS in the form of Android. But does it have what it takes to contend for top spot in the rugged smartphone category?

Like most rugged phone models, the Rugby is wrapped in the candybar form factor. It is decked out in black with orange highlights on its 12mm thick casing and weighs a not-so-heavy 136 grams. Its primary features include a 3.65-inch HVGA Super AMOLED touchscreen display, an 800MHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 3MP rear camera, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi, GPS, and microUSB connectivity. While it only has 150MB of internal storage space, this can be easily expanded by way of after-market microSD cards up to 32GB. And its default operating system, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, still enjoys plenty of official and third-party software support.

As you can see from its list of initial specs, it is not the most powerful smartphone out there. However, it’s true beauty lies in its rugged feature-set. It’s design makes it completely dust proof, water proof, and shock proof. It’s the type of phone that you can take with you to the great outdoors and not have to worry about it suddenly dying in the middle of your trip. It will last through whatever usage scenario most anyone will put it through. It may run a tad slow at times, but all things considered, it’s a surprisingly dependable handset.

The one thing where it really disappoints, though, is battery performance. Of course, the number of hours you can get per full charge is ultimately up to how you use it, but even Samsung’s very own battery life ratings don’t paint a very good picture. Still, it offers great value for money for those who are in the market for a new smartphone with rugged features.

Need to Know: Samsung Galaxy Rugby

1. Water proof, dust proof, and shock proof design. (The Good)

2. Android 2.3 Gingerbread pre-installed. (The Good)

3. Battery life may fall short of expectations. (The Bad)

4. Limited amount of internal storage space. (The Bad)