Media Platforms Design Team1. Motorola Tundra VA76r($200 with two-year contract)Drop It: We dropped it again and again, but the Tundra continued to be in call-ready condition.Drown It: The Tundra survived a few quick swims. But after the fifth fall, a hard hit on the porcelain bowl caused it to spring a leak. The water killed the phone.Smash It: The Tundra’s hinge busted after one hard stomp from the business end of a boot. After the second smash, it was lights out for the Motorola.2. Sonim XP3($500 unlocked)Drop It: The bricklike Sonim survived repeated falls, damage- and ding-free. Its rubberized surface even caused it to bounce like a SuperBall.Drown It: The Sonim’s seams are coated with a watertight array of gaskets and seals, all of which held up to repeated dunks.Smash It: The phone looked fine. But after eight stomps, the Sonim simply stopped working. Our guess: An interior circuit got nudged loose.3. Verizon G’zOne Boulder($130 with two-year contract)Drop It: Despite its clamshell design (which presents an obvious weak point—its hinge) the Boulder shrugged off falls to the floor.Drown It: The water was no match for this water-resistant phone, which held up to multiple plunges in the privy.Smash It: We stomped on it. We jumped on it. Finally, we broke out the baseball bat—and even then it took three swings to turn our winner into a tangle of wires.The Bottom LineThe Sonim looked and felt the toughest, but the Verizon G’zOne Boulder was the winner—it continued to work until it was literally a tangle of plastic shards and wires.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/s4ViaH6F24g&hl=en&fs=1&[/youtube]
