Your have no doubt seen toughbooks, the toughened laptops from Dell and others, well JCB have opted to pitch their new mobile at a key market segment the builder. So they have added few key features the phone is shock, dust, splash and drop resistant. Note the use of the word resistant as opposed to proof , so a hefty drop from the third floor of a scaffold will still kill the JCB Toughphone. Add to those and extra loud ring tone and you should have a mobile that with the JCB branding will be the envy of every builder in the land?

Measuring (h)113mm x (w)50mm x (d)22mm the Tough Phone isn't small but its not exactly a brick, it is styled if we can use that term in the traditional JCB yellow and black with chunky black bumpers all round. The screen is a bright if a little small 128 x 160 pixels and the keypad is a good and well spaced for those big builder thumbs allowing texting in tea breaks with  out issue.

You could be forgiven for thinking that the Toughphone would therefore be devoid of top end tech features, but JCB have ensured that it has both Bluetooth and a web browser to use wireless data, it even has a USB port.

However the Toughphone needs to deliver on the basics first and so our tests started with daily use to see just how it performs. Signal wise it compares favourably with most Nokias and Sony Ericssons we test and the audio quality was also good, the extra loud ringtone is very useful. Battery life with Bluetooth disabled was good for at least 4 days moderate use and probably a week if you pushed it. However turn Bluetooth on and you'll be lucky to see 2 days operation.

As for the ruggedness of the JCB mobile phone we were nervous to really test it in the way that JCB do in their press videos, they show it in a cement mixer and dropped from a height. We did give it a rough time and it did "accidentally" fall from our office window and survive. Sure it had a few scrapes and bumps but it still functioned probably beyond where we would expect a normal mobile to carry on.

So the JCB Toughphone is indeed tough and seems to do the basics as a mobile, but as a data device the browser is fairly poor and the whole design just doesn't lend itself to a mobile emailer or web browser. That's not a bad thing as it really isn't pitched at anyone other than construction workers and plumbers. If you can get past the JCB styling and want a phone that can take a few bumps and spills then the JCB Tough Phone is a solid option.

Published - 23/03/2008

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