Telstra Tough 2 cellphone not such a toughie

Stuart Corner
Saturday, 23 April 2011 09:24

Opinion and Analysis

Telstra has launched a new ruggedised phone for tradespeople, making much of robustness, but in that department it falls short of the Motorola Defy, released by Telstra late last year.

Admittedly the Defy is a more upmarket device - an Android based smartphone -  than the Telstra Tough 2, but when you compare their 'ruggedness' the Defy's specs are way ahead of the Tough 2.

According to Telstra, "The new Telstra Tough 2 "features a rugged design, is water and dust resistant and enclosed in an abrasion-resistant case'¦Rugged features include: a 2.4-inch scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass screen; IP54 rating for water and dust protection; big buttons that make it easy to dial numbers; screen enhanced for easy reading in sunlight."

The Defy also comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass screen - and it really is scratchproof, I've been carrying mine around with a bunch of keys for months and not a scratch on it. The Defy, of course is a touchscreen devices so buttons are minimal and the screen is not especially bright.

But it's in that rather cryptic IP rating for dust and water resistance where the Tough 2 is a bit lacking. According to Wikipedia "The IP Code (or International Protection Rating, sometimes also interpreted as Ingress Protection Rating) consists of the letters IP followed by two digits and an optional letter. As defined in international standard IEC 60529, it classifies the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects (including body parts like hands and fingers), dust, accidental contact and water in electrical enclosures. The standard aims to provide users more detailed information than vague marketing terms such as waterproof."

The first digit defines resistance to solid objects, including dust, the second, resistance to liquids.

In the case of the Touch 2, with an IP54 rating "Ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment'¦[and] "Water splashing against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effect."

The Defy however is rated IP67, which means " No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact'¦ [and] ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1m for 30 minutes)."

Not hard to see which one is likely to last longest on the building site.