
Cracked smartphone screens, caused by dropping a phone is a common occurrence, especially in homes where hard or tiled floors have been fitted. A friend of mine, who runs his own tiling business in Rugby says he’s received calls from frustrated home-owners asking if they could have their hard tiles replaced with soft flooring, so to avoid future mishaps with their phones. He explained there is such a thing as soft floor tiles, although it is mostly used for children’s areas such as playroom and nurseries. I guess people will have to be more careful with their phones. Unless of course, they own a phone designed to military specifications to withstand drops, bumps and immersion…
Introducing builders phones.
If your job involves working outside, it’s important to have a mobile phone that is tough enough to withstand the inevitable wear and tear that will happen to it, including being dropped on a hard surface every once in a while. Given the millions of workers who work outside, the phone manufacturers have realised there is a market to provide robust handsets that won’t break if dropped or malfunction if wet.
The Nokia 5140i is a popular choice for tradesmen. It has an interchangeable tough durable cover that protects the phone in the event of being dropped. Although this cover will get scratched over time, this is only superficial and the cover can easily be changed if needed. It’s widely recognised as the phone to have if you work in tough outdoor environments.
An alternative to the Nokia is the JCB Tradesman TP121 handset. As the name suggests, this handset has been designed with the tradesman in mind. The Tradesmen 2 can survive a drop in water (it floats too!), is dustproof and can withstand two tonnes of rocks falling on it. This model really is a beast of a mobile phone. The robust design means it will reliably function in a variety of terrains and temperatures.
Other popular mobile handsets for tradesmen also include the CAT B25 Builders Phone. As with the Nokia and JCB models, it’s also waterproof (to a limit) and can withstand being dropped or driven over.
They may not look pretty to look at, but owning a phone that won’t let you down when you most need it, is more important than aesthetics for some.