Kyocera DuraForce XD will be T-Mobile's first rugged smartphone

posted by Florin T. / May 05, 2016, 1:28 PM

Kyocera DuraForce XD will be T-Mobile's first rugged smartphone

Kyocera this week announced that its DuraForce XD Android handset (released by AT&T earlier this year) will soon be available on T-Mobile. More exactly, the DuraForce XD will be launched by T-Mobile May 11, becoming the carrier's first rugged smartphone.

Kyocera is targeting the DuraForce XD - pictured above - at both "the adventurous consumer" and "the field-force worker." What we have here is a rugged handset that's certified to Military Standard 810G, thus being protected against a variety of hazards including drops, shock, temperature extremes, solar radiation, low pressure/high altitude, salt fog, and humidity. The phone is also IP68-certiefied, which means it's dustproof and water-resistant - it can survive full submersion in water up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) deep for up to 30 minutes.

Sporting a 5.7-inch 720p display, the Kyocera DuraForce XD is large, thick, and heavy: it measures 6.57 x 3.40 x 0.55 inches (166.9 x 86.4 x 14 mm) and weighs 10 ounces (286 grams). Powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, the handset runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, further featuring dual front-facing speakers, LTE, an 8 MP rear camera, 2 MP front-facing camera, and 2 GB of RAM. There's 16 GB of expandable storage space on board, plus a generous 3700 mAh battery.

T-Mobile will sell the Kyocera DuraForce XD for $449.99 - that's just $1 more than the phone's off-contract price on AT&T. Any takers?

source: BusinessWire

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11 Comments

1. cc2400

Posts: 74; Member since: Aug 21, 2014

too bad kyocera the company is straight up garbage. first they never update the software, so whatever version android you have on the phone is ALL it will ever have. Second, they don't unlock the bootloader. If they are so lazy as to one-and-done the software, at the VERY LEAST they should unlock the bootloader to allow 3rd party roms.

posted on May 05, 2016, 1:33 PM 3

11. solesolesalva

Posts: 19; Member since: Mar 17, 2017

Okay; really: they all are great (love ruggeds,man !) and i think ip68 should be standarized soon: but Cant be happy, dude: Sansumg is no longer what it used to be (good value for money) ... it has gone to the dark side. You can buy five good ruggeds from agm with that price : x1 18k gold edition gooo xD !

posted on Sep 12, 2017, 12:51 AM 0

2. GreenMan

Posts: 2697; Member since: Nov 09, 2015

I don't think its convenient for a construction workers to carry a brick phone (aka Phablet) around... Make it a 4 incher with 4,000mAh battery and that would be ideal for the targeted audience... BTW, Snapdragon 400? Why not put a Snapdragon 212 instead? Better LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth and likely power efficiency too? That thing was in ancient Lumia 430, for crying out loud!

posted on May 05, 2016, 1:39 PM 0

3. GreenMan

I mean Lumia 640, not 430!

posted on May 05, 2016, 1:40 PM 1

4. Doakie

Posts: 2478; Member since: May 06, 2009

LOL! $450 for a 5.7" 720p(with on-screen buttons), Snapdragon 400 phone.... The AT&T GoPhone ZTE ZMax 2 is what $80? 5.5” 720p(with off screen buttons), and Snapdragon 410. You can buy 5 ZMax 2's for the price...at that point you can just throw one in the water, and use one of the 4 others you have.

posted on May 05, 2016, 2:13 PM 2

5. bubblechaos

Posts: 114; Member since: May 04, 2015

Outrages price tag $449.99 for a snapdragon 400. Samsung Galaxy S6 Active only 200-300 on swappa. Whoever buys this phone, lost big time.

posted on May 05, 2016, 3:13 PM 4

6. Fuego84

Posts: 357; Member since: May 13, 2012

Why can't there ever be a rugged smartphone with high end specs.

posted on May 05, 2016, 4:04 PM 4

9. Alter

Posts: 229; Member since: Mar 25, 2016

The only rugged flagships I can think of are all carrier exclusive phones; Samsung Galaxy S5 Active, S5 Sport, S6 Active and the upcoming S7 Active. The Motorola Moto X Force (Droid Turbo 2) and LG V10 are pretty strong too, but not waterproof. Sometimes the best thing to do is get a solid phone and put it in a tough case. Maybe use a screen protector as well.

posted on May 05, 2016, 10:51 PM 2

7. bugsbunny00

Posts: 2262; Member since: Jun 07, 2013

its worth it, bcus of the battery 3700mah SnapD 400 2day use.

posted on May 05, 2016, 7:08 PM 0

8. snowgator

Posts: 3621; Member since: Jan 19, 2011

This phone was on my short list, but every review I saw had said the phone had trouble out of the box loading extensive websites and more complex games. If the performance was sub-par out of the box, can you imagine what it would be like in a year or so? Still, everyone needs to go handle one of these things at an AT&T store. It is just awe-inspiring how monstrous it is. Just HUGE.

posted on May 05, 2016, 8:56 PM 0

10. solesolesalva

I love the ruggeds one: but Got myself a a new AGM A8 couple month ago; High PPR, and the phone get on same par with other famous brands. And sooo an affordable price for that specs :O now i m checking out the new x1 18k gold edition … good to know that the ruggeds are becaming a popular choice!

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