[mjevans]

How about:

Waterproof phone* (excluding contacts for the battery and 3.5mm audio ports, which can be submerged without long term damage), and

Waterproofed battery* (safe to submerge, refuses to discharge unsafely).

I, personally, would also sacrifice compactness for robustness. I don't rock climb, but make a phone that can survive a tumble of multiple 10 meter drops and rolls and twists down a rock face. It must still be able to call EMS. That spec sounds bullet-proof enough to survive my relative's young kids worst antics.

[dghlsakjg]

The kind of phone you have described is called a 'tough phone', and typically marketed for industrial users.

I already linked to one that comes pretty close to what you want.

[Iulioh]

Yeah, now give me one with modern high end hardware.

That's the problem with these "niche" phones. Another example is Fairphone.

I don't necessarily have a problem with spending more, my problem is the fact that they compromise on things they could not compromise.

See Framework, they did it right.

[numpad0]

The bottom line is you're not putting money where your mouth is. Real rugged devices can't have top notch performance because waterproofing and expanding wider operating temperature require insulation and therefore performance reduction but that's not important.

The very core of the problem is you - not personally but the vast majority would-be rugged phone buyers - just don't buy rugged phones, nor take it outdoors. People who'd demand rugged phones would just buy the latest and greatest iPhone, maybe with a case with reward points, and that covers almost every single use cases.

If there had been demand at all, the level of performance possible in a ruggedized phone will be the benchmark, and current high end will be considered over the top models with compromised ruggedness, but the reality isn't working that way at all.

[LorenPechtel]

And note that it comes down to what threat level it actually faces. I take my perfectly ordinary smartphone into the wilderness. It's never going to tumble down a rock face both because you'll never find me on one but because I have it lanyarded to me. It's fallen a few times, but the lanyard has kept it from hitting the ground.

You have to balance the cost of it being rugged vs the expected chance of the ruggedness keeping it from being damaged. And for most people the tradeoff isn't worth it.

[voxic11]

This seems to have pretty modern high end hardware https://www.techradar.com/pro/phone-communications/kyocera-d...

Sadly seems to be only available through Verizon though.

[Iulioh]

Calling it middle range would be a compliment