LAND ROVER EXPLORER OUTDOOR PHONE,
£399
If your birding takes you to challenging environments or you’re just plain clumsy, this phone may pique your interest. It’s in its second generation and is significantly less expensive than its £649 predecessor. But does it perform?
The blurb says it can cope with drops and immersion in water (35 mins at 1.5m) – qualities every clumsy birder will welcome. This phone doesn’t need a case. Ten drops onto a stony track, including deliberately onto the screen, were not a problem. The screen is made of very tough glass and has a factory-applied screen protector. The phone posed in a muddy puddle for some photos. You can clean it with soap and water but I swilled it around in the puddle to wash the mud off. All was still good, though the speaker was muffled (but better the following morning when the phone had dried out). I stood on the phone, letting it take my full weight.
I left it on the car roof and drove off, so that it tumbled onto a hard road – twice. I drove over it – once partially and twice fully under the tyre. I’d added minor scratches to the body and screen, and a fair bit of mud, but the phone still worked.
The blurb also says it can cope with extreme temperatures, so I left it in the freezer for 10 hours. It was fine. It took a few swipes to get through the frost but everything worked, and the battery had held its charge. I didn’t put the phone in the oven though… The battery is said to provide power for at least one and a half days of medium to heavy outside use. I didn’t test that, but the battery did pretty well.
What about the apps and widgets? You can build your own dashboard with up to eight widgets from a choice of 25 tools and apps (altimeter, compass, weather forecast, sunrise/sunset, wind direction/speed, chance of rain…). Actually, you can create multiple dashboards. I liked this, but the altimeter and compass weren’t entirely reliable. The compass did work better after I’d thrown the phone around a bit, though! This is an Android phone, so you can choose from plenty of apps. The Explore Hub fast-tracks you to apps deemed to be of interest to outdoor types – not specifically the birdwatcher (that’s coming) but the Collins Guide is there (for a fee). And it’s pre-loaded with a year’s subscription to three OS apps, giving you access to 1:25k and 1:50k mapping and off-road walking routes in national parks. Surprisingly, I found the standard map (street view, free) gave more usable information than the 1:25k and 1:50k mapping. Outside the UK basic Viewranger mapping is available for free (premium level for a fee). And the 24MP dual pixel camera can produce decent images. There’s also a night mode – a red filter that cuts glare and helps preserve your dark-adjusted eyesight. landroverexplore.co.uk