Sonim XP1 review: Toughest of phones

Introduction

In the world of mobile phones it's all about diversity, and just about everyone has their favorite. We've seen enough of brand loyalty taken to extremes but it's for the first time we come across a phone that might deal with anything you can throw at it (or better yet - anything that you throw it at). Sonim XP1 is said to survive just about anything. 

This ultra-durable bloke can take some impressive abuse and the worst weather extremities. The XP1 may be somewhat under the weather featurewise but hardly any other phone can put up with what this soldier can endure. If you are just as curious as we are, join us as we take the Sonim XP on a really rough ride.

  
Official photos of Sonim XP1

XP1 model designation has nothing to do with either Micro, or Soft. It stands for Xtreme Performance, simple as that. Sonim XP1 is officially proof against a stream of water, near 1.7-meter-high drop to concrete, and has an operational range from -20C to 60C. We've seen it tossed and kicked around, run over by cars, treaded on by elephants, dropped in a cement mixer. Meet the survivor form factor. 

The Sonim XP1 (also known as JCB Toughphone in some markets and the Chuck Norris phone in our office) was created for the most challenging of environments and activities. Hardened rubber is molded to the durable non-porous casing, keypad buttons are tested to 500,000 pushes, the screen has a scratch-resistant coating. Finally, the USB port, ear jack and external antenna port are sealed with plastic caps so moist and dirt are kept away from those vulnerable points.
Key features:
Shock, water and dust resistant (after all, we're talking the closest a phone has ever got to a weapon) 
Scratch resistant display 
Philips Nexperia 6120 platform 
Push-to-Talk 
Bluetooth v1.2 (Object Push and Headset profiles only) 
Tri-band GSM/GPRS phone 
1000 SMS storage 
MP3 and WAV ringtones 
Very loud speakerphone 
10 MB flash memory 
2.5 mm audio jack 
Nice battery performance thanks to the Li-Ion 1100 mAh battery 
No-questions-asked 3 year warranty 
Main disadvantages
Featurewise on-par with the cheapest phones out there 
No EDGE, UMTS or HSDPA 
Chubby and unsightly, though that may as well be a benefit 
Poor screen resolution, basic user interface 
Compatible with only a slim number Bluetooth headsets 
Quite expensive at nearly 300 EUR 
FM radio could have been a nice add-on 
No extra features such as a compass or a flashlight