Kyocera DuraForce PRO Preview
Kyocera has made a habit of releasing rugged phones. They’ve got a whole lineup of feature and smart phones. Their latest is the DuraForce PRO, which is available for Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. I’ve got the Sprint model in for testing and, so far, I’m enjoying using it (apart from Sprint’s HORRIBLE service, of course).
In my experience rugged phones are under powered, with the exception of the Galaxy S Active line. The DuraForce PRO bucks that trend by stepping up into the upper mid-tier range. It’s powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 617 with 3 GB RAM. There’s also 32 GB storage with support for up to a 256 GB microSD. The screen is an impact resistant 5 inch IPS LCD @ 1920×1080. It has some decent building blocks and should be good to excellent at everyday tasks.
What sets the DuraForce PRO apart, of course, are it’s ruggedized features. Kyocera advertises it as drop proof, dustproof, and waterproof. It meets the requirements of the MIL-STD-810 standard. The phone also should work with wet or gloved hands. The Verizon version of the phone has a Sapphire Shield screen and the Sprint and AT&T models are marketed as “impact resistant.”
Look for the full review in the next couple of weeks.
