Connecting state and local government leaders
The Adventure looks like many other flip-top phones, but it meets 810G specs for shock, dust, vibration, solar radiation, temperature and altitude.
Cons:
Ruggedness:
Performance:
Ease of use:
Features:
Value:
Price:
Last year, we took a look at the G'zOne Boulder, another rugged phone on the Verizon network. Although about as clunky as its name, it proved to be completely rugged and waterproof. This year, we tested the Motorola Adventure v750, which is a bit like the stylish cousin of the G’zOne.
When you see the Adventure, you won’t think it’s rugged. Other than having a small rubberized coating, it looks like any other thin flip phone. The keys feel good when pressed and are more like touch pads than buttons. And it has a good, colorful screen and an easy-to-use joystick navigation button, which, again, is like most nonrugged phones.
The interesting thing about the Adventure is that it can meet the Mil-Std 810G specs for shock, dust, vibration, solar radiation, temperature and altitude.
The Adventure v750 can probably take more heat than it got in the military specifications. We ran it close to the temperature line at 120 degrees Fahrenheit for longer than an hour, and the Adventure continued to accept calls the entire time.
Shock was also not much of a problem. The unit even bounced when it hit the plywood sitting over concrete, so that we had to be careful — for the consistency of our tests — not to let it experience secondary bounces, not that it would have mattered much. The most that ever happened was that the phone would pop open, but no damage was recorded.
In terms of negatives, the sound system on the v750 is a little weak. There are a lot of multimedia applications you can download form the Verizon network, and it would be nice if a phone designed specifically for that network could take more advantage of that in terms of sound quality. Calls sounded fine, however.
Also, unlike the G’zOne, the Adventure is not rugged against water and can’t go underwater. You have to pick the thick G’zOne if you want to go beneath the waves, though given that these are phones, most people should be fine with nonsubmersible uses.
The Adventure v750 is a nice phone that has good rugged qualities. We were hoping for a little bit better multimedia use on a phone that is trying to be hip, but we will settle for a good-looking standard model that happens to be able to survive conditions that would kill its nonrugged, bejeweled competition.
Verizon Wireless, 800-561-6227, www.verizonwireless.com/govt
NEXT STORY: DISA expands open-source suite