Sonim has already got a bit of a reputation as a hard case. Its JCB toughphone set a standard for double hard, outdoor blowers that has yet to be emulated, at least in terms of indestructibility, by the Samsung Solid and the slick new Nokia 3720. So its latest effort, the Land Rover Sonim S1, is just crying out for a pounding. Can it take a proper battering and still make boozy calls at 2am? Read our review below and find out.
The Land Rover Sonim S1 is essentially a rebadge of the Sonim XP3. Its motoring tie–in though, means it has the backing of Land Rover lover Sir Ranulph Fiennes, a confessed tech hater who says he’s been so impressed with it that he’ll be taking the Sonim S1 on his next expedition.
Sadly, we couldn’t take it to such extreme lengths. But we managed to give the Land Rover Sonim S1 a sufficient going over to see just what it could handle. Claims on the back of the phone that it was water submersible proved to be bang on the money. We left ours to soak in a pint of lager for ten minutes and it still came out working just dandy.
Likewise its claim that it can withstand severe drops. Chucking it from a fifth floor window, we were greeted with the Sonim S1 intact and looking the same as it had done 100 foot up. In fact, it can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it. Bury it in sand and it’ll keep on trucking, sling it in the oven at 60C and it’ll work. Sonim says it’ll work at –20C too. Well, it worked after a couple of hours next to the fish fingers in our chest freezer.
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Rugged styling aside, this is one minging mobile. Nokia’s 3720 looks far sharper by comparison. Plus the UI is a tad old–school. There is an MP3 player and 2MP camera, although there’s not much call for them when this is all about how much of a hammering the Sonim S1 can take in the great outdoors.
A killer idea, with great backing, the Land Rover Sonim S1 is a niche phone for niche punters. But expect Nokia and the other big players to be right on their tails.
