Robustness: the top 30 Symbian-powered smartphones

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You may remember that, 18 months ago, Christmas 2008, I wrote a feature: Robustness, the Forgotten Factor, in which I gave my estimates of the most (and least) robust of the (then) current crop of smartphones. As we head into summer in the Northern hemisphere, I thought an update to the 'chart' might be in order, just looking within our Symbian-powered world this time. See below for my illustrated listing and then leave your comments!

So here's my (subjective, and note that the list isn't definitive) rating of a variety of Symbian-powered smartphones (from 2007 onwards, up to May 2010) purely on their mechanical robustness. Which ones would best survive a fall? In decreasing order of robustness (i.e. most robust first, most fragile last):

  1. Nokia E51 (S60 3rd Ed FP1, my wife's had a dousing in a 'clean' toilet, was dried out and has worked perfectly for the next nine months to the current day)
     
    The shiny, shiny Nokia E51
      
  2. Samsung i7110 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, all metal candybar)
     
    Samsung i7110
      
  3. Nokia N82 (S60 3rd Ed FP1, all plastic candybar, but very resilient, as demonstrated here)
     
    Impact damage on N82
     The editorial N82 after my fall 18 months ago, having taken a lot of my weight. Still working perfectly. 
      
  4. Nokia E90 (S60 3rd Ed FP1, metal, metal, metal, despite the existence of the hinge mechanism - which is also metal)
     
    The Nokia E90 
     
  5. Nokia N79 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, similar to the N82 in terms of build and form, have seen this tortured at Nokia testing labs in person!)
     
    Nokia N79
      
  6. Nokia E71 (S60 3rd Ed FP1, lots of fiddly keys to break or let in dust, but really solid monoblock construction with plenty of metal - Rafe's has survived 10 minutes underwater in a stream)
      
  7. Samsung i550 (S60 3rd Ed FP1, metal chassis, very solid indeed, but a little thin)
      
  8. Nokia E52 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, aluminium candybar construction, not as solid as the E51 - can be twisted in the hand etc.
       
  9. Nokia E55 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, as for the E52 but with more keys, a fraction more to go wrong?!)
       
  10. Nokia N78 (S60 3rd Ed FP1, similar to the N82 but not quite as confidence-inspiring and no camera cover)
     
    __________________________________________________________________
     
    That's my top 10. Here's the next 20, in order, for interest sake and for discussion. Again, note the list isn't definitive:
      
  11. Nokia E72 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, as with the E71, but not built quite as well, especially in terms of back cover retention and fit)
  12. Nokia N86 8MP (S60 3rd Ed FP2, toughened glass fascia, metal slide mechanism, excellent build)
  13. Nokia E63 (S60 3rd FP1, all plastic but fairly rugged)
  14. Nokia X6 (S60 5th Ed, toughened glass touchscreen, plastic candybar construction, camera glass exposed)
  15. Nokia 6650 (S60 3rd Ed, much underrated - and rare - clamshell, beautifully made and surprisingly tough - Rafe's survived a lot of beach use by me on holiday - don't tell Rafe, or he'll blame me for the sand in the hinge.....!)
  16. Samsung i8910 HD (S60 5th Ed, large but toughened glass screen, heavy duty plastic, heavily recessed camera glass, easy to drop because of its width/form factor)
  17. Samsung INNOV8 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, good build quality, slightly loose slide, camera protected)
  18. Nokia 5230 (S60 5th, rugged plastic (shock absorbent) candybar, recessed plastic touchscreen, lower spec components marginally less easily damaged than 5800's?)
  19. Nokia 5800 (S60 5th, rugged plastic candybar again, recessed plastic touchscreen)
  20. Nokia N85 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, all plastic, not brilliant build quality)
  21. Nokia E75 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, good metal build, but slide mechanism can wobble in various ways, huge number of moving parts too)
  22. Nokia 5530 (S60 5th, cheap plastic, screen not so recessed. Probably difficult to actually break though!)
  23. Nokia N97 mini (S60 5th Ed, fabulous build quality, considering the complexity of the mechanism, and stainless steel back, only the plastic touchscreen remains vulnerable)
  24. Nokia N96 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, a more secure slide mechanism than the N95's, slightly recessed camera glass - better than N95 8GB's)
  25. Nokia 5730 (S60 3rd Ed FP2, as E75 but in all-plastic, slide mechanism can wobble in various ways, huge number of moving parts too)
  26. Sony Ericsson Satio (S60 5th Ed, tablet form factor, cheap plastic all round and easily scratched, flush, resistive touchscreen)
  27. Nokia N95 8GB (S60 3rd Ed FP1, better slide than the N95's, but no camera protection - this is far too easily scratched)
  28. Nokia N97 (S60 5th Ed, fairly robust, considering the mechanism, but the touchscreen is easily scratched)
  29. Nokia N95 (S60 3rd Ed FP1, wobbly slide and weak plastic sides, and all)
  30. Sony Ericsson Vivaz (S60 5th Ed, tablet form factor, cheap plastic all round and easily scratched, flush, resistive touchscreen, plus appallingly exposed camera glass/lens)

What about you? Do you have any recent tales of Symbian-powered hardware surviving something dramatic?

Steve Litchfield, AAS, 28 May 2010