Sonim XP1 Toughphone - Closer Look and Settings

Closer Look:

As we take a closer look at this phone you can see that it is not built for sleek sexy looks or a ton of extra functionality.  This is simply a phone.  Well, a phone with an organizer, calculator, and a WAP browser, but it is still mainly a phone.  It doesn’t have a camera, QWERTY keyboard or an external antenna, but it does support displaying pictures, sending SMS, and can even work in an accessory external antenna if you need better reception.  As it stands, I’ve used the phone on Fido/Rogers here in Alberta as well as on Digicel in Jamaica and the reception is pretty good for the most part.  In our hotel in Jamaica, the reception was spotty inside some of the large buildings, but it seemed that everyone was experience the same thing with their phones as well.

XP1 - Offside	XP1 - Left Side
Keypad - Close	XP1 - Bottom

Underneath the bottom rubber cover is a place for a 2.5mm headset jack as well as the standard mini-USB connector for charging the phone.  I’m very happy to see a standard connector for charging, and the 2.5mm jack is not a big deal on this phone as it isn’t a multi-media phone that you’ll be listening to a lot of music on.  Once again, this is simply a tough phone - not a multi-media player and entertainment device.

XP1 - Back Open

Tri-Band

Sim Slot

Phone Menus & Settings:

Even though the Sonim XP1 strengths lie in its, well, strength, it still has enough features to be a handy all around device.  It features a calculator, organizer, and has enough space to hold 500 addresses in the phones memory as well as 250 on the SIM card.  It easily configures and connects to available networks and as I mentioned before, I was able to connect quickly to Digicel in Jamaica as well as Fido/Rogers in Canada.  This phone will be used in Panama and down in the USA in the next couple of months.  It has no issues with different carriers as it is fully unlocked.

XP1 - Comparison

XP1 - Comparison

As you look at the phone dimensions above, please keep in mind that the HTC S640 is using a extra large battery and the phone is typically much slimmer.  As I'm used to the thickness of the S640 with the larger battery, I don't mind the thickness of the XP1.  If you're used to a much slimmer phone, the size of the XP1 may bother you.

The screen is fairly small by today’s standards and the resolution of 120x160 may cramp some peoples style, but with the audience of this phone aimed toward industrial, agricultural, forestry and construction, many people will be happier with the phones durability than its lack of a few features and high screen resolution.

If you haven’t used an unlocked phone before, you may be surprised that your phone number, and other network information is not in the phones memory and if you want to personalize your phone, you’ll have to go into the setup menu and add your name, the phone number and other information.  The beautiful thing is that contacts stored on the SIM card can be easily and quickly copied or moved to the phone memory.

Sonim XP1 Main Screen	Main Menu	Settings
Phone Settings	Tool - Menu	Bluetooth Services

There are more phone menu pictures available in the gallery as I've only used a few of the more interesting ones in the review.

The Sonim XP1 supports Bluetooth headsets and this is a welcome addition for sure.  Like pretty much every other phone on the market, pairing is done quickly and easily and you can connect your favorite headset in a matter of minutes.  I’ve used the BlueAnt Z9i headset as well as a Plantronics headset with this phone and have had no issues whatsoever.  I also used the phone with the Blueant Supertooth 3 - and the address book function worked very well with this phone.