Samsung B2100

The Samsung B2100 has a couple of very similar models, all of which are designed specifically to be rugged mobiles, capable of rough handling and still keeping in one piece. Given the tendency for many mobiles on the market today to be fragile little things (glass fronted touch screens are really a good idea?) this is the sort of phone that has broad appeal to many people.

This is an attractive phone in an ‘outdoors’ kind of way, makes me think of camping and hikes across mountain ranges and so is the perfect look for people who consider themselves to be the outdoors sort anyway. The tough rubberises housing makes it very hard wearing as well as looking good and actually has ‘grip dimples’ running along it to help keep you from dropping it.

Amazingly the B2100 is completely waterproof! So not only is it a hard-wearing phone but it can withstand you dropping it in a puddle, pond or river. Or a pint glass of course. This sort of thing is a God send to fat fingered hacks (or so I am told, honest). Of course when we say completely waterproof we mean normally, if you open the battery cover of the charger cover then it is not so, so don’t go leaving those open if you want to test it!

The keyboard is also rubbery and fine to use when you get used to the feel, the buttons are certainly well laid out. The controller pad is less so though, being a bit on the stiff side, but that is not too much of a problem and to be expected to try make things as tough as possible.

As you would expect from a phone that is designed to withstand rough use the screen is basic but hard wearing – just 128 x 160 pixel screen, but it is clear and easy to see, which is the main thing that I want from my mobile phone.

The phone is designed to survive a 1m drop onto a hard surface without suffering any adverse reactions (such as falling apart on impact, which is the case with most phones). It can certainly take a lot of rough handling.

This solidity does have a trade off though, it does weigh a fair amount – about 25% more than most mobiles, coming in at 106 grams with the SD card inserted into the phone. Not exactly heavy in the pocket but certainly weightier than most mobiles. The surface is also ‘wipe clean’, which again fits in with the idea of it being an ‘outdoors’ phone as you can clear mud and grime off it easily. Heck, as it is waterproof you could clean it in the bath if you wanted!

Other features include a MP3 player, FM radio, basic web browsing, 1.3 mega pixel camera and more. It certainly isn’t top end features but all the essentials are there and are the sort to appeal to the target audience of the Samsung B2100.

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