Meet the tough guy in AT&T's lineup. As its name suggests, the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro is built to be rugged. It is a 4-inch screened Android smartphone with brawn and brains.
Samsung built the Galaxy Rugby Pro to survive military specification tests. It's MIL-SPEC 810 rating includes protection from water, dust, and shock.
Though built like a tank, the slightly chunky Galaxy Rugby Pro easily slips into a pocket, and can be operated one-handed. Its beefy buttons eschew the waif controls found on many phones.
The Pro has a customizable shortcut button that I set to launch Mobile Hotspot.
The audio and microUSB ports are sealed by waterproof gaskets. I'm not recommending you dunk your phone, but the test unit from AT&T withstood several minutes submerged. In fact, it is made to survive in up to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes. You can't operate it underwater because in interferes with the capacitive touchscreen.
It may be bulkier than most smartphones with comparable hardware, but not necessarily by the time you dress one in an aftermarket case that would provide similar protection. Those cases can cost about as much as the $99.99 price for the Galaxy Rugby Pro at AT&T - with a two year agreement of course.
Battery life was impressive even with the Mobile Hotpsot on. By the way, on AT&T's LTE network, I saw data speeds that exceeded my "high speed" ISP: 45Mbps down and 8.5 Mbps up.
What stands out:
- Rugged as an anvil
- Reasonably fast performance
- Impressive battery life
- Customizable shortcut button
Who is it for:
The Rugby Pro a top choice for users who have a rugged lifestyle to just clumsy. There are more powerful smartphones, but none are this tough.
Specifications:
- 4-inch 800x480 super AMOLED display
- Android™ 4.1.1, Jelly Bean
- 1.5GHz, Dual-core processor
- 8GB of internal storage
- SD card slot supports up to 32GB microSD cards
- 5.0 Megapixel rear camera capable of 1080 HD video capture,and a 1.3 Megapixel front-facing camera
- Battery: 1850mAh capacity offering up to 11 Hours of talk time, up to 14 days of standby on 3G, and 12 days for 4G.
- Dimensions (inches): 5.04" x 2.65" x 0.50"
- Weight (ounces): 4.6 oz.
Video of CNET's dunk test and a short clip of my own:
Matthew Fortner has been at The News & Observer since 2002. He has a passion for gadgets, cutting-edge technology and all things geek.