While most of tech companies are focusing on the features inside the smartphone, Kyocera made a smartphone that can withstand pressures and harsh environments. (Remember those sturdy feature phones that can withstand a drop from a great height, long before the advent of brittle smartphones?)
Kyocera took the wraps off the DuraForce, which is a rugged 4G LTE quad-core smartphone specifically made to withstand extreme environments and accidents. While Sony Xperia phones boast dustproof and water-resistant features, the DuraForce has IP68 dustproof, waterproof and Military Standard 810G protection.
With IP68 certification, the device can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes. The smartphone also has MIL-STD-810G certification that makes it invincible against salt, dust, humidity, rain, vibration, solar radiation, transport and thermal shock. The smartphone is perfect for people working in extreme environments such as construction workers, utility linemen, athletes, and other people whose jobs are rough.
In Japan, Kyocera is one of the prime and most trusted brands. The handset takes a swipe at other current smartphones such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy handsets that have brittle screens and must be handled with care.
Kyocera DuraForce has a 4.5-inch screen display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution. Under the hood, the smartphone boasts a quad-core 1.4 GHz processor paired with 2 GB of RAM, 8-megapixel primary camera and 2-megapixel front-facing camera, 16 GB internal storage with additional external storage of up to 32 GB, and 3100 mAh battery. It runs with Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS that can be updated to the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop OS. The Kyocera DuraForce will reign on top of mid-range smartphones.
Although the specs and features are not as stellar in comparison with other smartphones in the market from famous mobile manufacturers, the Kyocera DuraForce sports a friendly price tag of $399.
