You may remember that, 18 months ago, Christmas 2008, I wrote a feature: Robustness, the Forgotten Factorr, in which I gave my estimates of the most (and least) robust of the (then) current crop of smartphones. As we head into summer in the Northern hemisphere, I thought an update to the 'chart' might be in order, just looking within our Symbian-powered world this time. See below for my illustrated listing and then leave your comments!
Read on in the full article.
The conclusion we can draw from this article is, Non-touchscreen phones are more enduring and can withstand the test of time as opposed to touchscreen phones where majority of them are very fragile.
The bullet-proof E61i surely deserves a mention; it came out in May 2007. Even its habit of releasing the back and battery when dropped can be seen as an energy dissipation tactic! Its underwater survival skills are legendary, even mentioned on The Phones Show.
I don't know about Nokia's metal phones, but I've owned quite a few Nokias and the standout device is the N82 by a long way. Two full submersions in water - with electronics and camera module completely soaked, and then after 2 hours drying on a radiator it was fine again. Multiple impacts taking my full body weight onto hard snow during snowboarding. More drops than I can remember. It's a beast.
Show me an iPhone or Android device from those flimsy cheapo Asian manufacturers that can take even a 10th of the punishment and I'll be impressed.
How about this one ?
http://dailymobile.se/2009/09/19/how-tough-is-the-nokia-3720-classic/
Yes, the E61i might have been top of the list - but I deliberately excluded phones pre-FP1 - have you TRIED using a pre-FP1 phone recently? They're so slow by comparison to modern devices!
E61i and E61 are utter tanks though, yes.
No offence but why do I get the feeling you included the SEs as tokenism? They are okay-ish but not great just like the N95s (both of them)
Anyway, my vote also goes to the E61, brilliantly assembled.
E71 and E90 are also amazing.
I've had my Nokia N95 8GB for over two years and it's been dropped a lot. It's mostly still working but very annoyingly the speaker for calls is broken -- I have to plug in headphones or use speakerphone to hear the caller. The camera isn't scratched at all, though the main display has a couple of scratches.
My girlfriend's much older Nokia 6600 is working very well.
I wish Nokia would make a new E61 sized phone. I find the keyboards on the E63, E71 and so on just a little too small, and I prefer the bigger 2.8" screen. Yeah the E61 is slow but you could beat a rabid wolf to death with one.
N79, no camera cover??? Better check your specs for N79.
Oops. Well spotted. Adjusted text as needed 8-)
ughh, dunno about the e52/55 being in the top 10. Don't their keyboards 'peel' off? I imagine it can't be good during a fall on a hard surface.
Also, the robustness of e61i is a myth, in my opinion. I know of at 6 cases, 3 of which are mine, in which the speaker of this model gives out after moderate falls (3-4 feet on hardwood or carpet). I have 2 e61is in my desk drawer, working flawlessly, except for the speaker/microphones, which negates the purpose of the phone.
Nokia 6120 / 6121 should be in the Top 30 list too.
This FP1 device has a chrome-metal rim (not unlike E51), a sturdy body and weight just under 90g!
I've used this device for 3 years and it survives falls well.
The 5530 got plastic AND metal, not only 'cheap plastic'...
What about the 5500 Sport??
For me it's easily the N82. This has been proven by a lot of people, including Steve himself. It's one of the most complete phone, with xenon and gps (unlike the E51). Yet after almost 2 1/2 years of abuse, mine is still working like a champ. I think the plastic absorbs impact better than anything else.
I never got on with the N82, it got dust on the display under the perspex within 2 weeks of pocket dwelling and then the 0 button stopped working followed by the call answer button in the left edge.
Tried to persist with it for 6 months then finally had to offload it. It used to get really hot too.
My E51, bought in January 2008, has a few dents and scratches on its metal casing but other than that it's fine. Over the past year it has withstood the curiosity of a one-year-old (including being drooled on and thrown around) without problems. Perfect.
from 2008:
Steve wrote:"my wife's had a dousing in a 'clean' toilet, was dried out and has worked perfectly for the next nine months to the current day"
Well I try and buy mine flowers and a box of chocolates every now and again.
But hey, whatever works!
I have the 6650 and I completely agree that it is indeed a robust phone. Also LOVE the battery life on this thing.
Its not the hardware I am worried about when owning a Nokia device. Th emain issue is the software is worst than ever. I have a E72 as was surpised this mature device still has major bugs with Ovi Maps. Nokia really need to improve software quality and leave hardware alone, its good enough!
I have two Nokia's that have been beaten and abused for years in my household: an N95-3 and an E60. Both have held up and has made upgrading to newer phones unjustifiable in the current economic climate in the US. The phones won't die! The E60 has been dropped so many times I've stopped counting. The N95 has also been dropped many times, and once "thrown" across a parking lot, taking the chassis apart in the crash into the pavement. Put it back together with no scratches on the lenses or screen, but a few on the frame itself. Finally, <my bad>, I put in a non-oem battery into the N95 and it literally caught fire. I thought that was the end of life for my much beloved friend. The battery contacts had melted into the contacts in the phone. I had to pry the battery off after I fanned out the flames. Put the phone to the side and mourned my foolishness the rest of the day. For grins, I put in an OEM battery to see what would happen. To my sheer amazement it powered on and continues to work like a champ as if nothing happened to this day!
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