Samsung M110 Solid Review - The New Tough Phone?

Only recently it seems that the lack of phones designed specifically to be hard-wearing or outdoor use has been noticed and at the same time the requirements for more durable devices has increased. Just before Christmas the first truly durable phone designed to withstand inhumane amounts of torture - the JCB Tough Phone.

The problem is that if you required a phone specifically to be tough and durable, the JCB was the only choice (aside from replacing your standard mobile as and when it breaks) and as the standard issue was a typical JCB yellow, appearances did have to be taken into account, at least to some degree.

Right on cue, we have the Samsung M110 which is also known as the Samsung Solid and is this giant\'s first foray into the intentionally durable phone market, launched in direct competition to the JCB. The main thing that is noticeable is the slightly less offensive styling when compared to the Tough Phone, as the M110 is considerably duller in appearance than its only real competitor.

The Samsung M110 Solid has a rubberised casing and is IP54 (ingress Protection) rated. What that basically means is the first number represents the relevant electronic items protection against solid objects and the second number against liquids. In the case of the Samsung Solid you have a 5-Rating against for the solids which offers limited Ingress Protection against dust and any solid objects that come into contact with it. This will make the phone usable in dusty environments just short of the desert. The liquids rating is a 4, which defends against water sprayed from all directions and offers limited Ingress protection. Effectively this means you can drop the Samsung M110 in liquid (such as a pint of beer or the sink) for a short period of time with little or no effect on the performance.

When you consider that the JCB phone offers the exact same rating of IP54 we can all finally see that this phone really means business and is clearly capable of standing up to the challenge.

Unlike its competitor the Solid is comparatively light at only 95 grams which is a full 35 less than the JCB phone. It\'s also a bit smaller, measuring 109 x 48 x 17.9mm which in comparison makes it a little more pocketable. The screen itself is a fairly basic 1.5\" colour unit, displaying 65k colours and there is also a basic VGA camera (i.e. 0 Megapixel) with a flash that can also double as a torch. Also included is Bluetooth, Polyphonic ringtone capability and surprisingly an FM Radio. This ensures that the Samsung Solid is certainly better equipped than its illustrious competitor, though perhaps that is missing the point as features are certainly not the purpose of this phone or any others like it.

This is a mobile phone designed to take a large amount of punishment and be able to dust itself off and carry on afterwards as if nothing has happened. Effectively these kinds of devices are the technological equivalent of Rambo or John McClane, need I say more?

When looked at in this way, this is a great effort by Samsung. Whether it is better than the JCB Toughphone is another matter entirely as although it will be able to stand a large amount of punishment, whether or not the screen can take the same amount of abuse as the JCB phone remains to be seen. Quite honestly this is a much smaller and neater option than the JCB, but there is little else to say without being able to perform a full-on torture test between the 2, so for now, take a look at both and just leave it down to personal preferences.

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