[Closed] Smart phones - how robust are they?

I have my iphone 3g in my shorts pockets while riding with no ill effects. Not been caught out in rain yet tho, but imagine it gets a bit damp and humid in there.

I've got a HTC Touch, and had it for over a year now with no problems and I dont keep it in the protective pouch they give you.

Having said that it would get scratched to **** if used in muddy cycling gear

Used my TYTN2 on a 2 month long bike tour, every day, and the screen was fine(about the only thing on it that wasn't disappointing.) Modern capacitative touchscreens might be more fragile though.

quite a few people at work seem to get through iphones like nobodies business. susceptible to being dropped onto hard surfaces, cracked by sharp objects and scratched up a bit.

I've dropped my iPhone onto concrete and it survived, but I have seen one die from damp when it was in a pocket while snowboarding 🙄

There are plenty or protective cases available for most smart phones though, including fairly hard core ruggedised ones.

[url= http://www.otterbox.com ]OtterBox do a wide range of rugged cases.[/url]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

I've gone back to simple candybar phones as I find them more robust and less prone to crashing.

I'm still waiting for one as rugged as my current phone: 🙁

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

3 years of MTBing on the handlebars and it still won't bloody die! Someone make a rugged touchscreen phone purrrleeeeeeeease...

Hi DT78,

sorry for the hi-jack noticed you live in soton. we i do as well now (marchwood) i was looking for some one to show me around if you free??

thanks shaun

one - no worries, think there are a few southamptoners on here (been meaning to try to organise something) - I'm quite short on time at the mo I'll drop you an email.

on topic - I thought the iphone looked a bit flimsy I'll take a look at those cases suggested.

ooOOoo, I had one of those. It was very poor - back to Nokia for a complete reset and then the keypad started coming off.

My iPhone is over 2 years old now and has been mountain biking with me everywhere. I keep it in a Timbuk2 pouch on my Camelbak strap.

It has also survived:
Being yanked out of said pouch by an earbud that fell out in the rain and got caught in my road bike's front wheel then went skidding across Hammersmith roundabout on it's front

Being crushed by me when I fell off my Brompton at another roundabout. The phone got dented and my leg very bruised.

Dropped several times from hand height onto rough concrete floors.

I think that as long as you [i]try[/i] and take care of it, it will be fine 🙂

I dropped my old Touch Hd a few times on to concrete a few times and it faired ok
O2 XDAs too
on a Hero now seems good too, never use cases but do stick a screen protector on though

oneoneoneone YGM

one one one
try to get in touch with WCA I am sure he'll be able to show you around without a shadow of a doubt.
You could probably pinch a ride with the uni too

ransos - I heard all about that keypad prob but I was lucky. Although I'll admit mine won't send text messages now, just MMS 😥

I just need another phone that tough. Anything that I can't just chuck at a wall for fun would feel like a downgrade. And the clip that came with it is a work of genius. Come on Nokia!

my iphone lives in my trousers pocket normally, along with anything else I stuff in there, so there pretty robust. Have a screen saver and a outer shell. Otherwise it lives in the rucksack when mtb-ing, unless I'm on my own when again it goes in my pocket so I can use the ipod.
The only thing I'm really worried about is water ingress, though 'dam-ness' in the pocket hasn't killed it yet.

I keep my phone in small ziplock freezer bags when I cycle, seems to keep it dry and they are dead cheap (plus, it keeps my money dry).

That said, I dropped my phone the other week and I've just left the Apple store today after shelling out £139 for a repair. Well, I say repair, they just replaced the fairly knackered looking handset for a new one - no it's almost decent value. Almost...

My iPhone has a Morphie battery pack on the back, so that bit's pretty well protected, and the screen's toughened glass, so a protector is largely redundant, so I've not bothered. It sits in my pocket at work and on the bike, and in the year I've had it I've dropped it once and nicked the corner of the GPS antenna, but, let's face it, a smartphone is a computer that fits in yer pocket, it's not a battle-hardened mil-spec phone. Dropping a laptop is going to end in tears, a smartphone is likely to survive such an impact, as it's lighter, but damage is still likely. Treat 'em with care and I reckon they'll survive most stuff.