Kyocera DuraForce XD & Dura XE Rugged Phones Launched by AT&T in the U.S

AT&T has added two more rugged devices to their portfolio by announcing the Kyocera DuraForce XD & DuraXE. The Kyocera is a Japnese company that manufactures devices for many other carriers in Japan, Canada, and the U.S. While the DuraXE is a featured phone with a flip design and on the other hand, the DuraForce XD is an Android smartphone.

Chuck Becher, VP at Kyocera Communications said,

“Staying in touch and online can be crucial to productivity and profitability.  DuraForce XD is designed to combine certified durability in a large-display format at an incredible price. By complementing the existing DuraForce smartphone with the DuraForce XD and DuraXE, we enable AT&T to offer customers a device for multiple applications and the confidence to know it’s built by Kyocera, a recognized name in rugged mobile devices.”

The Kyocera DuraXE features dual screens with a 2.6-inch QVGA (320 x 240) TFT internal display and a smaller 1.08-inch LCD external display for showing notifications, time & date. It is powered by a Snapdragon 210 MSM8909 quad-core processor clocked at 1.1GHz. The device has a 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage along with a MicroSD card slot.

It features Military Standard 810G rugged capabilities that can withstand dust, shock, rain, temperature extremes, vibrations, low pressure, humidity. The device looks so bulky by measuring 106.9 x 56.4 x 25.1 mm and weighs 170 grams. It also has an IP68 certification that makes the device dustproof and waterproof that can stay up to six feet under the water for a maximum of 30 minutes.

The device comes wth dual mic for noise cancellation that we normally don’t see on a featured phone. It is backed by a 1,500mAh removable battery that can give 9.4 hours of talk time and lasts up to 16 days on standby mode. The device runs on Proprietary OS and includes a 5MP rear camera with LED flash that can also record videos.

The second device is the DuraForce XD that comes with basic specifications required for an Android smartphone along with rugged capabilities. It comes with a 5.7-inch HD (1280 X 720) resolution IPS display and is powered by a couple of years old  Snapdragon 400 MSM8928 SoC. There is 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a MicroSD card slot for storage expansion up to 64GB.

Like DuraXE, this device also comes with extreme durability features under the Military Standard 810G and also IPX8 certification making it both dust and water proof. Since it is a waterproof device, it is also optimised to work in wet condition and display can be functional even while wearing a glove.

The device runs o Android 5.1 Lollipop with almost stock UI. It is backed by a 3,700mAh battery that is rated to deliver 23 hours of talk time and lasts up to 34 days on standby. Connectivity options on this device are 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS, and a MicroUSB 2.0 port. It also comes with the extra loud dual front facing speakers and supports Enhanced Push-to-Talk.

It feels heavy hand by measuring 166.8 x 86.4 x 13.9 mm and weighing 307 grams. Coming to the pricing, DuraXE is available for $13.50/month for the next 20 months while the DuraForce XD comes with $14.97/month for the next 30 months under Next24 Plan. Though these will be not be launched in other markets since they are carrier exclusive devices.