The handset, which Nokia describes as "life proof", marks the company’s first move into the niche outdoor, rugged mobile market. Featuring a ruggedized casing which is MIL-STD810H-certified to “withstand drops from up to 1.8 metres high”; Nokia claims the XR20 is also IP68 water and dust resistant with Gorilla Glass Victus screen protection. .
FIND OUT MORE: HOW TO BUY RUGGED SMARTPHONES
The device will run on Android 11 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 chipset, 6GB of RAM and 5G connectivity. Nokia has committed to four years of monthly security updates and three years of major OS updates for users with the handset. The battery is a 4,630mAh unit that Nokia claims offers “two days of endurance”.
Florian Seiche, CEO of Nokia owner HMD Global, said: “We are tapping into consumer pain points around durability and longevity. We did a global trend report and found that 73 per cent of consumers want to keep their phone for longer and would if their devices were maintained over time.
“At HMD, we are empowering people to avoid early device replacement and encouraging a more sustainable consumption through our longevity promises.”
In the UK, the XR20 will be available in two configurations (4GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/128GB storage) and two colour schemes (Ultra Blue and Granite) with the first versions priced at £399.
The global market for rugged smartphones was projected to exceed 6.5 million by the end of 2021, according to market intelligence and advisory firm VDC Research. Samsung and Motorola recently entered the market with their Galaxy Active and Motorola Defy range respectively.
