Sonim XP1 Blog

XP1 -- The Live Torture Test

The Mobile Gazette, Cnet and Gizmodo all have stories about our latest XP1 torture test happening now over at Test and Destroy.com

Gizmodo says:

The folks at Sonim have done just about everything in their power to convince potential customers that their XP1 is the world's toughest phone. That includes running over it with cars and dunking it in beer baths. Their latest stunt involves hitting in with a hammer 24/7 until it breaks—and you can watch the entire thing go down online.

You can even send it text messages to test whether or not it is working. Visitors can also wager a guess on how many blows it will take before the phone breaks—with the closest guess earning a freebie XP1. Currently, the counter stands at over 33,500 hits—but my guess is that it will take quite a while before it finally gives in. I mean, it's not like that hammer is really wailing on it. Keep in mind that the XP1 is only available in Europe, but interested parties in the states should be able to get their hands on the updated XP3 version in rural areas starting this March.

CNET says:

The Sonim XP1 has been lauded as a "tough and strong" phone. CreativeFeed, a digital marketing agency, has decided to put it to the test.

It's launched a Web site that features "The Destroyer"--a machine-operated hammer that will pummel the phone 24 hours a day live over the Intertubes until it breaks.

Visitors to the Web site have a chance to win the Sonim XP1 handset if they can correctly guess how long it will take for the phone to break/crack/explode, and how many hits it will take before that happens. The site includes a hint line that you can call to get tips on how high you should place your bets.

The Mobile Gazette says:

Sonim are proud of just how tough the XP1 is and sometimes come up with demonstrations to prove it.

This latest test has involves a machine called "The Destroyer", basically a large hammer which repeatedly hits the XP1 to see how long it will take to destroy. Visitors can see the "experiment" live, and can win one of the handsets by guessing how long it will last and how spectacularly it will fail. As we go to press, the XP1 has been hit 33,000 times.

Once the XP1 has met its maker, Sonim are open to suggestions as to what to destroy next. Quite a few people have suggested the iPhone.. we suspect that it will take rather less than 33,000 hits to smash that.

It's a bit of silliness we suppose, but it is worth noting that Sonim also have an upcoming XP3 which promises to be even more impressively macho than the XP1. Presumably they'll need to lob an atom bomb at it or something.

Chuck Norris Meets The XP3

IntoMobile reported on the upcoming launch of Sonim Technologies' XP3 rugged phone in the US, speculating on how the phone would fare in the land of Chuck Norris.

Snipped from the article:

Remember Sonim XP1? We’ve seen the rugged device passing the beer and car tests, but can it handle the wilderness of Chuck Norris’ backyard. Sonim certainly hopes so as they plan to introduce their next-gen indestructible device in the U.S. starting from March next year. Apparently, several rural carriers will offer the waterproof device, which officially can run at temperatures from -4 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit and which withstands a 6-foot drop onto concrete without shrugging. That’s official note, unofficially Sonim’s rugged baby can handle much more.

Anyway, the upcoming Sonim XP3 will come equipped with a powerful 2200 mAh battery that promises to deliver up to 2.5 days of talk and an astounding 2 months of standby time. Other specs include quad-band GSM/EDGE, Bluetooth, flashlight, glare-resistant 128×160 pixels screen, 3 megapixel camera and GPS. Best of all, it comes with a 3-year no-questions-asked guarantee.

Hopefully Chuck will like the XP3. Otherwise a single SMS he sends will destroy the device into particles.

The World's Toughest Phone Meets MC Winkel

The XP1 joins video blogger MC Winkel on a trip to the beach, where the World's Toughest Mobile Phone is tossed from a roof into the sand, kicked onto rocks, and flung into the ocean.

Then, in the further excellent adventures of the XP1 and MC Winkel, the XP1 spends some time underneath MC WInkel's car tires, is tossed from a skyscraper onto concrete, and is beaten with wooden planks, taken into the shower, dumped in a bowl of water and placed in the freezer and thawed out in a microwave.

We've said it once and we'll say it again  -- the XP1 is indestructible.

Be Careful Out There

The Mobile Shop's Mobile News Blog ran a story from U.K. newspaper The Guardian on an interesting new phenomena: apparently vast numbers of Brits are falling prey to “Walking & Texting” injuries --  colliding with solid objects, other people, sliding under buses and cars, etc (check out the video above for further details) -- due to being distracted by sending or receiving messages while walking.

The Guardian's story cheerily noted that: "In case anyone reading this is one of the 68,000 individuals who apparently interfaced thus with street furniture in London last year (mostly resulting in cuts and bruises, but with a fair proportion of broken noses, cheekbones and one fractured skull in the mix too) and therefore is self-evidently stupid enough to need the problem further delineated, these are injuries caused by people who do not understand the importance of peripheral vision. Until, that is, they compromise it by texting as they walk along the street and into lampposts, signs, bollards and other pedestrians."

The story goes on to note that "Researchers (admittedly the self-interested variety) from a text information company have found that 44% of people are in favour of padding street furniture, while 27% favour "mobile motorways" - coloured lines running down the pavement that texters can follow without fear of meeting immoveable objects."

The Guardian suggested that in addition sherpas should be posted on every corner, to usher the texter safely through the crowded streets.