Review: Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro for AT&T
Screen
The Rugby Pro's display measures 4 inches across the diagonal and includes 800 x 480 pixels. Keeping the display to 4 inches helps keep the pixel density in an acceptable range. On a larger screen, the 800 x 480 pixels wouldn't cut it. As it is, I can pick out individual pixels quite easily when the phone is held about a foot from my eyes. The display uses Samsung's OLED technology, which makes it nice and bright no matter where you use it. Itis plenty colorful. Bottom line: the display is good, not great.
Signal
Unlike the Rugby Smart, which AT&T sold earlier this year, the Rugby Pro does bring LTE 4G to the table. In the week or so that I spent testing the Rugby Pro, it found and latched onto AT&T's LTE network with no problem. When I roamed out of LTE coverage, it seamlessly jumped onto AT&T's pervasive HSPA+ network. I didn't have any trouble connecting calls or zipping across the internet during my tests even under the worst network conditions. The Rugby Pro did manage to drop one call, however.
Sound
Voice calls (and PTT calls) were acceptable, but not great. The earpiece volume is barely adequate when set all the way up, and will probably not be loud enough for most users. The quality of calls was quite good, though. The speakerphone also qualifies as acceptable, but not great. As with the earpiece, call quality via the speaker was absolutely fine; volume is the problem. It's simply not loud enough, not even close. The same is true of the ringers. Even when set all the way up I missed several calls in noisy places. Many PTT device users expect their phones to deliver incredible volume and the Rugby Pro is simply not there. The vibrate alert is decent.
Battery
The Rugby Pro has an 1850mAh battery tucked inside and it delivers a full day of use with no problem. I used the device for the better part of a day under AT&T LTE coverage with email and social networks set to sync pretty much constantly. Toss in some phone calls, some music playback, and web browsing, and I'd call that a pretty normal day. The Rugby Pro easily lasted until about breakfast the next morning, but needed to be plugged in by my second cup of coffee. It needs to be charged every night.
Ruggedization
The Rugby Pro is not a fully ruggedized handset able to withstand the worst abuse, but it can suffer through drops into shallow water, some wind-blown dust and sand, and getting dropped or tossed about. your house or work site. I didn't smash it with a hammer, but I did kick it around my driveway for a while. I also dropped it. A lot. It had no trouble spending a few moments under running water, and sitting at the bottom of my full bathroom sink didn't harm it at all.
Hands-On: Samsung Rugby Pro and Galaxy Express
Samsung Outs Galaxy Express and Rugby Pro for AT&T
Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro
