Nokia makes 3720 official, its "most rugged mobile handset to date"

Nokia's not exactly known for its beefy, ultra-survivable gear, but unless the human race plans on getting a whole lot less clumsy, rugged phones will always be a good idea -- and Espoo's 3720 certainly seems to fill the bill. The Series 40-based candybar features a 2 megapixel cam with LED flash, triband EDGE (sorry, North Americans), FM radio, microSD expansion, and the latest and greatest Bluetooth 2.1, but the real news here is that the phone is built to meet IP54 standards. A quick check with our handy-dandy IP code reference tells us that means that "ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact" -- in other words, your phone might get nasty dirty, but it'll keep chugging -- and it can withstand "splashing" water. Scuba divers, the search for your perfect phone probably continues. Refreshingly, the 3720 will run just €125 (about $175) unlocked when it ships later this summer.

[Fred @ Jul 9th 2009 11:57AM]

Espoo?

[Jarrod @ Jul 9th 2009 12:02PM]

Is poo?

[rafa @ Jul 9th 2009 12:04PM]

A quick google search shows Nokia HQ in Finland is in Espoo.

[srue @ Jul 9th 2009 12:05PM]

I'll admit it. I like this phone. Simple, durable, reasonable feature set, and it looks good to my eye. The price isn't bad either.

[Yem @ Jul 9th 2009 1:22PM]

Pity the data rate is multiple generations old, but yeah - nice. Series 40 can do a few tricks S 60 still hasn't learned.

[floydpink7 @ Jul 9th 2009 6:41PM]

I agree, a simple phone that will make calls and last a very long time sounds great. I've had good experiences with Nokia, and it looks like this one will be a winner. Especially with the price it has been given....

[mitt @ Jul 9th 2009 12:05PM]

i think thats really quite a nice looking handset

[Jsjohnson @ Jul 9th 2009 12:13PM]

The land rover phones from Sonim that were on Engadget recently seem MUCH better constructed than this....I watched the demo where a Defender drove over the phone, in a puddle of water and mud and it still worked.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/tag/LandRover/

[Will @ Jul 9th 2009 4:56PM]

Useful if your hobbies include driving over phones in a Land Rover Defender...

[DirtyVegas @ Jul 9th 2009 12:12PM]

I don't know about the current generation, but Nokia handsets in the past have been pretty rugged. In fact, they were marketed in some regions as being dust proof.

I had a nokia 6600 - the first Nokia smartphone. I dropped it as I was answering a call - it bounced down 2 flights of stairs and still kept the call.

[KIFF @ Jul 9th 2009 12:28PM]

Exactly. My Nokia E71 survived countless of drops when I go hiking as well as the occasional light rain. They are pretty rugged despite not being marketed as one.

Obviously it won't survive the torture that the 3720 endured (hei Engadget, it can survive more than just 'splashing' water, like being submerged in a pint of beer), but it is good enough for me.

[belard @ Jul 9th 2009 12:51PM]

I second that. My 3310 was the best phone I ever had. Everyone had that phone in Europe, and it survived pretty much anything. My sister's fell on a barbecue and stayed there for a couple of seconds while we frantically reached for the tongs. She replaced the battery just to be safe, and it still works after 7 years. No more batteries for it are produced, alas.

[G @ Jul 9th 2009 5:44PM]

correction: the first Nokia smartphone was not the 6600, the first with S60 was the Nokia 7650 and the first over all was the Nokia 9000.



from my experience they are pretty durable, the 3310 was of course a class of its own. the N95 which i have is not known as a very tough phone, but it had a lot of very nasty falls and survived everything with no problems. The worst damage it ever suffered happened last week while it was charging. the cable got tangled with my chair, it got violently pulled off the desk and onto the floor. some of the pins holding the battery cover got broken, but they are still doing their job and the phone is working 100% ok

[ootdog58 @ Jul 10th 2009 5:18AM]

I recently baked(I recommend rare, about 200F 5-10mins) my e71(without batt) to dry it off after diving into a pool(accident) and proceeding to drop it several times onto concrete. It needed to be restarted and works perfectly.

Nokia phones for the most part have been very reliable for me.

[Miles @ Jul 9th 2009 12:12PM]

Those buttons should be on-screen

[matt @ Jul 9th 2009 12:13PM]

No they shouldn't. Buttons are good.

[Templarian @ Jul 9th 2009 12:18PM]

Ignore miles, just a troll.

(and not a good one like Paul, at least he puts effort)

[Webber @ Jul 9th 2009 12:19PM]

How would you press them?

[CtrlBurn @ Jul 9th 2009 12:27PM]

The only cellphone I like is the one I think I spent too much money on.

[L @ Jul 9th 2009 12:19PM]

http://conversations.nokia.com/2009/07/09/nokia-3720-classic-rugged-phone-video-montage-and-hands-on/

Yeah, it's pretty rugged :D

[Webber @ Jul 9th 2009 12:21PM]

Very pretty, I like the metal accents!

Also, is this going to Nextel? The yellow gives it away (even their BlackBerries have yellow all over them)...

[Viakenny @ Jul 9th 2009 1:10PM]

no, it's GSM. not even Sprint (who took over Nextel's yellow-and-black branding) will carry it.

but here in Brazil, Vivo (the nation's largest carrier, which uses GSM 850 in many areas) definately won't carry it.

[Webber @ Jul 9th 2009 1:50PM]

I know, I was just teasing Nokia for the yellow, ha ha...

[chanmanplanet @ Jul 9th 2009 2:32PM]

'blue's my color... NOPE! yelloww!'

[Templarian @ Jul 9th 2009 12:22PM]

Looks nice and rugged. I really wish more time went into making phones resistant to common use. Mostly for those of us that are not protective of our tech.

The old upstage by Samsung was a good rugged phone also, I dropped/threw thing thing so many times, not something I can do with a single smart phone (maybe some of the blackberries, they seem pretty durable).

[Jack @ Jul 9th 2009 12:36PM]

My K810i could withstand more than that, so how can they call it a rugged phone?

[KIFF @ Jul 9th 2009 12:34PM]

Can you create a video montage of your phone being dipped in beer and kicked around like a football. Thanks.

[Jack @ Jul 9th 2009 12:37PM]

"ingress of dust is not entirely prevented, but it must not enter in sufficient quantity to interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment; complete protection against contact"
"it can withstand "splashing" water"

Used to use my phone in the shower, and it got pretty dusty over 18 months.
Thanks.

[scutr @ Jul 9th 2009 1:21PM]

Well you're just a regular idiot, aren't you?

[Jack @ Jul 9th 2009 4:04PM]

Well done, attempted to insult my intelligence without any basis for it. I've been beaten, there's no way out of this, how ever will I live this down?
Bloody hell.

[Fonebox.com @ Jul 9th 2009 12:24PM]

Scuba diving with a phone?

Nokia: "Dee dah doo dah, dee dah doo dah."
Diver: "Hehllobubble?"
Caller: "Is that Dave?"
Diver: "Blub blubble yehble blubble. Plop. Wozzuble dudle bubble?"
Caller: "Huh?!"
Diver: "Wotubble? U no-hubble bubble speakuble fishie eh bubble?"
Caller: "Dave, we need to talk about your drinking problem on the double!"
Diver: "Huh-ble?"
Etc.

[Felipe @ Jul 9th 2009 1:18PM]

Hilarious, but I don't think that's quite what they meant.

[Richard @ Jul 9th 2009 12:27PM]

Not known for rugged phones?

The Nokia 5210 and the 5100 were and are well known throughout the EU and the developing world as being tough, rugged phones.

[Froggy @ Jul 9th 2009 12:49PM]

but did they have a yellow border? everyone knows that yellow border means rugged. that's how I know this one will survive a 1m drop. it's yellow. :)

[Danny @ Jul 9th 2009 2:21PM]

I had a Nokia 5100, was as rugged as advertised. Lasted me four years before I finally broke the screen.

[Gary @ Jul 9th 2009 3:13PM]

True dat!

Apparently, engadget's grasp on strength and weakness of mobile devices is limited to, er, iphone 1g/2g/3g/s. That's like FOUR different phones.

[Chris Ziegler @ Jul 9th 2009 3:22PM]

@Gary: LOL! Haven't heard that, or any variation on that, before! Good, good stuff.

@Richard: Correction -- Nokia hasn't made a name for itself on rugged phones, not saying Nokia phones aren't well-built or that there haven't been ruggedized models here and there. Outside of Motorola and some of the specialty brands like Sonim, I'd actually say that no major manufacturer has a serious reputation for rugged phones.

[Richard @ Jul 9th 2009 3:37PM]

@Chris Ziegler

Then I would say that you are wrong and your views are remarkably NA centric.

I have worked extensively in Africa, the mid-east and in central Asia and there, the simple Nokia phones do indeed have developed a reputation as rugged phones, particularly versus the offerings of other manufacturers.

[Newone @ Jul 9th 2009 3:44PM]

Yes, there was yellow but red one was the most popular.

http://www.ixbt.com/mobile/phonemodel/images/nokia/5210/5210-2.jpg

But the 5000 series phones were just the sportsmen water and drop resistance. The real mans, or really clumpy mans phone was 6250. Could take a hit from dropped so high it could reach terminal velosity. Loose a hammer, no proböem, hit nails with phone.

[dude.i.left.it @ Jul 9th 2009 12:30PM]

Playlist of videos of the phone being put through its paces...
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8C5240D8D2A3E24B

including dropped in beer, hit with golf club, jelly(jelo) made with phone inside... etc.

[Wolfticket @ Jul 9th 2009 12:39PM]

If it is more rugged than a 3310, then it must be basically invincible.

[belard @ Jul 9th 2009 12:58PM]

I think the secret in the 3310 is that it was much smaller than its cover. I used to make "races" with my friends at school to see which one of us was able / dared to slide it through the floor faster and farther. (Almost everyone had one.) Outdoors, I mean - concrete floor. We were stupid, yes. But the phone still works, although the battery's good for about two hours.

[greatsunjester @ Jul 9th 2009 12:41PM]

There are so many times I hate the US's cell phone systems....

[Dakota @ Jul 9th 2009 12:47PM]

So, you say this phone won't actually fall apart like the last 3 shitty Nokias I owned?
I've had two 6555s fall apart, a 6102i, and probably others I can't count.

[Sam @ Jul 9th 2009 12:59PM]

A guy went through a swimming pool with it in his pocket - its fairly waterproof i'd say. And the screen would crack on most phones if you dropped them off a ladder or hit them with a golf club.

Not with this one though, and the price is pretty decent to.

[noctophonic @ Jul 9th 2009 1:14PM]

Latest and greatest Bluetooth 2.1? How about 3.0?

[Bobmarley @ Jul 9th 2009 1:15PM]

Ive been waiting for something like this to replace my legendary 2610

[Hernan Paredes @ Jul 9th 2009 1:16PM]

rugged and thin looking, i like it. I wanna see this come to the US...

[dkarageo @ Jul 9th 2009 1:40PM]

Yeah, if nothing else, Nokia phones are pretty rugged in general. I own a 6650; the thing has a frickin' stainless steel housing.

It looks kind of like a kitchen appliance, but it can make it through hell and back and it runs S60 v3, and it's small and compact.

[Gert @ Jul 9th 2009 1:48PM]

I'm buying one, bye bye old 1100 i had you for allmost 6 years.
Or... should i hack it? (Does anyone know how, and if i can reprogram the OS?)