Morning:
6°c
Mobile phones seem to break down on me every six months.
Robust, reinforced and strong (read chunky, rugged and walkie-talkie-esque), the Land Rover Sonim is not a dainty handset. But then its target audience isn't wearing ballet pumps.
We started with a game of “kick the phone” in a supermarket car park. Cue drop kicks, collisions with trolleys and several squashings by befuddled shoppers. Result: minimal scratching of rubberised shell.
Moving on to the road test.
Our scratch test also produced impressive results. Keys, steel prongs and safety pins made very little impression. Two very minor lines were just about visible.
On to submersion exercises. We dunked the phone into a particularly toxic hair gel for six hours. Result: very slimy keys but no other change. We left it out in the rain overnight. Result: no change.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is supposedly a fan. But failing a trip to the slopes of Everest, I left the phone in the freezer for eight hours. Result: switched itself off, but turned on with ease after warming up.
Doggedly determined to destroy, I poured boiling water over the handset. Result: no change. Unbelievable. It is now sitting in the cooling water. Its shining screen, complete with rugged backdrop, stares up at me mockingly.
