2009 Sonim Land Rover S1

Does the brand name Sonim mean anything to you? A few years ago, the brand released several robust devices. Really robust devices, including the Sonim Land Rover S1, which was announced together with the car brand.

Sonim Land Rover S1

Rugged phones come in different shapes and sizes. Now there are also smartphones that are robust, including from Cat, Ruggear, Samsung and Motorola, but in the past there were more brands active. Nokia, for example, had some robust devices, and Sonim was also an important player in this. We saw that back in 2009 when the brand presented the Sonim Land Rover S1, together with the car brand of the same name. It was one of the many devices that I was allowed to test for GSM Helpdesk at the time.

The phone was not sold in a traditional box, but in a kind of toolbox. Together with a manual on CD-ROM, a kind of screwdriver with which the back could be opened and a clip and holder to hang the Sonim on your pants.

The Sonim Land Rover S1 was equipped with a 1.8 inch display with a resolution of 200 x 176 pixels. On the sides of the device were thick rubber bumpers that had to protect the device against the necessary misery. It was a thick device with a 2 megapixel camera on the back. The quality of this (outdoors) was above expectations.

Robust

The phone was robust in several ways. For example, the device could withstand mud, dust, smoke and significant temperature differences from -20 to +55 degrees. Furthermore, water was no problem for this Sonim device. The phone passed military MIL-810F certification and dropped with ease. Thanks to the large keys, you could use the device well with gloves on.

So Sonim released the Land Rover version of this phone. However, it was just a bit more marketing. No whole theme packs or roaring engines in the ringtones. The only Land Rover on this phone were the eight wallpapers that could be set as backgrounds. There was an 1850 mAh battery with a standby time of 1500 hours and 18 hours of talk time. With GPS turned off, a month and a half of standby was possible, the phone manufacturer reported.

Experiences

The device stood out positively, for example, because of the warranty, Sonim gave the Land Rover S1 a three-year warranty, where a period of two years was usually used. Furthermore, it was really very robust, and the device had a good speaker. This speaker was necessary so that it could come out above noise on, for example, the construction site. The key lock could be better; this did not work for the right key, with which you could switch on the flashlight from ‘lock’. This could therefore always burn in your pocket unnoticed.

The Sonim Land Rover S1 appeared in the Netherlands for an amount of 399 euros. For this money you had the choice of the colors orange and black. Incidentally, the device was identical to the Sonim XP3, only it was in Land Rover edition.

To

Sonim Land Rover S1 summarized in 3 points:

• Robust in the broadest sense of the word
• loud speaker
• Supplied in ‘toolbox’