Review: Kyocera DuraForce tough smartphone

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

This is the Bear Grylls of smartphones and while its middling specs are more than enough for most applications, build quality and design really make this the only tough Android smartphone worth considering for serious outdoor and construction applications.

The tough-smarphone market isn't all that big. Aside from great looking devices that happen to be dust and water resistant like Sony's Xperia Z line, we also get tough variants of existing smartphones like the recently reviewed Samsung Galaxy S5 Active. These devices pale in comparison with smartphones designed from the ground up for use in extreme conditions. Kyocera's DuraForce isn't a slim phone pretending to be a tough device, it is clearly a bruiser that's built to survive.

Kyocera's been in the smartphone game for a very long time and yet has managed to carve a niche for itself as the leading maker of waterproof and rugged smartphones. Their latest Canadian offering under Bell Mobility is the DuraForce which is now being sold for $99.00 on two-year contracts while it can be bought for a no contract price of $449.95

Featuring a 4.5", IPS, 720p HD impact-resistant touchscreen (1280 x 720 pixel resolution), sealed in buttons for power, home, back and multitasking, the DuraForce also features a dedicated push-to-talk button for improvised walkie-talkie functionality within a closed network. 

A Qualcomm Snapdragon 400  quad core processor clocked at 1.4GHz provides ample power as does the 2GB of RAM. You get 16GB of storage onboard but can expand it via a microSD Card. Cameras on these devices aren't expected to be great but you do get a decent set of front facing and rear cameras.

Rugged hard plastic and rubber cover everything that isn't a touchscreen on this device and the buttons are pronounced and well designed enough that you can operate the device even with gloves on.  Same thing goes for the touchscreen, which will respond even with thick gloves on. 

The DuraForce isn't just water resistant. It is certified for IP68. IP68 certifies dust-tight protection and to withstand water immersion for up to 30 minutes at a depth of 1.8 meters (6 feet). Requires that all ports and covers are firmly closed.

The rubber exterior is reinforced at the corners which improve the phone's impact resistance. I did a few preliminary test by dropiing the Kyocera from various heights and the phone took the impact like a champ. This is clearly a device created to withstand much more torture than your average smartphone.

Kyopcera managed to attaint the Military Standard 810G rating for the DuraForce. This covers protection against dust, shock, vibration, temperature extremes,blowing rain, low pressure, solar radiation, salt fog, humidity and water immersion. 

Another outstanding feature is the loud, dual front speaker with a peak volume of 100dB, or as the company says, "as loud as a jackhammer from 6.5 feet away."

These aren't hi-fi tweaked for precision but boosted for loudness and use in conditions that may have a lot of ambient noise. Sound quality for calls is very good as is reception around usually congested areas in the city.

Despite all its reinforced glory, the Kyocera DuraForce fits nicely in one hand and has a lot of surface texture to maintain good grip with or without gloves. While robust, it isn't unusually heavy and could be mistaken for a smartphone with a tough case installed.

There are various features and overlays to the Android KitKat OS that are focused on outdoor use, camping and survival. As with most flavours of Android with third-party overlays, the widgets and apps slow down the navigation considerably, but many of the included features and apps are there for a reason, to serve the functionality of the DuraForce in work conditions.

This is the Bear Grylls of smartphones and while its middling specs are more than enough for most applications, build quality and design really make this the only tough Android smartphone worth considering for serious outdoor and construction applications.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5