Looking for tough Sprint phone

I've had Sprint service for almost 2 years. I guess I am tough on phones. When (if) we renew, I would like to get a tough rugged phone, but I don't see one that looks like it would do.

I am a firefighter, and outside quite a bit. I need a phone that has good reception, is resistant to being dropped and thrown about, and is as waterproof as is possible.

I do not need a camera, internet, text messaging or MP3 player. I just need a phone that will take, and make calls, and stand up to what life deals out.

Can anyone recommend a phone? New, old? does Sprint have one, or will I need to find one to use on Sprints network?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Mr Fixit

There are very few CDMA choices for ruggedized or military spec phones, and the ones that are out there are not resistant to liquid in anyway. Sometime this year, the new Nextel/DirectConnect line of phones will be released. These newer phones will be all CDMA technology, so it'll be operate similarly to your Sprint phones. It'll be military specced for dust, shock, and vibration, but not driving rain, salt fog, or solar radiation like a handful of Nextel's current models, the i850 and i355. The drawback of Nextel will always be it's coverage, particularly out west and in rural areas, but the CDMA models coming out should solve that issue. Make sure when talking to a sales rep, that you want the full CDMA model, not one of the new iDen models that Nextel has put out, or the lousy Hybrid/Powersource models. They are not out yet, but according to the FCC we could expect to see them in the first quarter, I would however expect to see it this year, but not as soon as the first quarter, launches are usually delayed.

What about other service providers? Do any of them have any phones better suited to what i'm looking for. The contract is up in a few months, so if I need to switch to get a better phone, I can.

And what exactly is CDMA?

Mr Fixit

CDMA is the signal style used by Sprint, Alltel, and Verizon

IDen is the signal style used by Nextel

GSM is the signal style used by At&t and TMobile

Generally speaking, a couple of companies have dabbled in making mil spec phones, but generally they don't stick around long, or are increasingly difficult to get. The one I was talking about earlier is a Samsung, but I would be suprised if the other mobile manufacturers don't come out with something soon themselves.

When your contract is up I certainly wouldn't be in a hurry to do anything, as you go on a month to month basis until you decide to sign again. Wait for the phone, you know what to expect with Sprint, other companies, even if they use the same signal style may not always work in the same places. What you're looking for is coming, just maybe not quite as soon as you'd hoped. Are you on a shared plan?

Yeah, Im in no hurry. My wife and I are on a family plan, but we may not continue that. We got it because I had my oldest son a phone, but now he has his own.

We'll have to see.

Do you know anything about the Sonim XP-1 cell phone?

I didn't but I checked it out. If you're moving to Europe then that'll be the phone for you, if not, I wouldn't hold my breath. It's triband, but the only US frequency it has is the 1900mhz one, and that isn't exactly that widespread, nor does it penetrate buildings as well where it does work. That and unless you only wanted to use the phone, most data applications from At&t or TMobile wouldn't work on it. Oh yeah, how does At&t and TMobile work in your area, because if you did decide to risk it, you'd have to go with one of them. I live in a northern state, I'd love to have something like that, but until there are enough people asking for them, I wouldn't expect it.

If I Was You I would get a powersource hybrid phone, which uses both iDen And CDMA networks, or wait for sanyo's new QChat phone which is supposed to be rather rugged, but not as much as the powersource phone's

I wouldn't touch the Powersource with a 10 foot pole. It uses Nextel towers for the walkie-talkie, but pretty much Sprint towers alone for the phone, with little to no access to Sprints roaming network. A Sprint phone will work in better then 3 times the places that a Powersource/Hybrid will work. Best bet is to wait for the QChat models which have been announced as DirectConnect models.

You can say that, buy I like their OS, on the other hand, the Hybrid phones uses Sprint's OS so that shouldn't be a problem for you.

Looking for tough Sprint phone

Similar Topics

New Sprint Cell Phones

Carriers Talk

Manufacturers Talk

Mobiledia Community