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This Land Rover Explore Outdoor Phone Review comes from ISPO 2018, where we were able to get a peek at Land Rover’s new foray into the world of smartphones. We also had the opportunity to take the phone for a spin a few days prior to ISPO and definitely found that it lived up to the hype.
The Land Rover Explore Outdoor Phone designed for adventurous individuals who love to spend time in the great outdoors. While the phone is yet to be officially released so not all the exact specifications are available, its main selling points are fairly simple. The idea behind the phone was to create something with enhanced durability, battery life and features that will really allow outdoor-lovers to make the most of their exploration. Though you may expect that this would require the phone to be rather bulky (we certainly did), you will be pleasantly surprised by this phone. A sleek, land-rover inspired design means that it looks really great and fits nicely into both hand and pocket.
Its core functionality can be adapted to suit any situation by attaching hardware packs while on the go – each providing additional features – to enhance any adventure by enabling owners to go further, and stay out longer. We headed out for a day up Germany’s highest mountain, to the Zugspitze ski area, and found that by the end of the day while us iPhone users were frantically searching for battery packs or charging points, the Land Rover Explore remained on 100%.
The included Adventure Pack can also replace the need for a separate GPS device with its powerful GPS patch antenna, additional battery and premium topographic mapping with Skyline augmented reality courtesy of ViewRanger. This is a really nifty addition that allows you to gain fantastic real time information about the mountain peaks around you.
The Land Rover Explore withstands everyday use outdoors. It is drop tested and can survive very well underwater (including salt water). In fact, this was demonstrated to us by one of the team pouring Coca Cola all over the phone, which of course then had to be rinsed off with water and the phone had absolutely no issues at all.
It can also cope with extreme temperatures and temperature changes, which is ideal for skiers and snowboardes. This level of protection ensures the device can cope with heavy downpours or the coldest of mountain days and will continue to work and keep users connected at all times.
Joe Sinclair, Director of Branded Goods and Licensing for Jaguar Land Rover said: “We are excited to be collaborating with Bullitt Group to create the smartphone that we’d all like to own. A perfect combination of design and functionality that embodies the Land Rover DNA and enables customers to be outdoors for longer, with the confidence to go further.”
The phone itself is made by UK-based phone company Bullitt Group, who are also behind the highly popular Cat phone from Caterpillar. We are sure it will be a huge success in the winter and adventure sports industries and we can’t wait to share more details as and when we get them.
