New Samsung Rugged Phone Offers 66 Days of Standby Time

Samsung has just announced the availability, starting with July 2010, of its E2370 rugged phone. Introduced back in February, this is a low-budget handheld, which boasts a huge capacity battery (2,000 mAh) offering users about 1,600 hours of standby time and 22 hours of talk time on a single full charge.

Showcased at this year’s Mobile World Congress, the device has suddenly been revived by the Korean manufacturer, just to be sold on the Swedish market. Weighing 115g (including battery) and measuring 112 x 49 x 19 mm, the handset doesn't look and feel like a rugged phone at all. Nevertheless, it is IP54 certified, which makes it shock, splash and dust resistant.

Samsung E2370 features a small 1.77-inch TFT display that supports 262K colors and a low-end VGA camera (640x480 pixel resolution). Unfortunately, there are only 5MB of internal memory included, but users will be able to extend it up to 2GB thanks to the microSD card slot embedded. In terms of connectivity, it is dual-band compatible (GSM 900 / 1800) and features Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP support and microUSB 1.1.

The gadget also integrates a music player and a very basic video player, which will probably be overlooked in favor of the FM Radio function with RDS support. For those crazy about SAR levels, Samsung E2370 only emits 0.41 W/kg when used close to the head. This is very low compared with the 1.6 W/kg value, which is the maximum admitted in the EU.

Samsung E2370, also known as Samsung Xcover, will be available for sale starting this month for about US$96, without subscription. The manufacturer hasn't made any announcement regarding its plans for this handset, so for now, Swedish users are the only able to get it.