In this state the Land Rover Explore tips the scales at 354g, which is more or less the same weight as a can of fizzy drink. The phone is fully compatible with all Land Rover in-car Apps and works as well in the city as it does in the great outdoors. We recorded a woeful 739:1 contrast ratio in our testing, which is lower any mid-range or flagship device in recent memory. Providing you’re not planning to watch Netflix or BBC iPlayer after a long day in the mountains, then, the Explore should make the perfect navigation companion. In short, you’ll be fine using the Land Rover in most environments, but it might come up short if you’re planning on using it on an Arctic expedition or other extremely bright surroundings.

However, though it correctly identified various peaks while being used in a vehicle near to a recent Wi-Fi connection, by the time we got to Charyn Canyon, Skyline was no longer working without a data connection. After a three-hour hike, the Adventure Pack battery had pretty much run-down; those GPS goodies come at a cost. Battery life can be doubled by using an Adventure Pack that also boosts the reliability and accuracy of the GPS signal and improves the mapping capabilities. Along with its rugged credentials, the Land Rover phone also comes with an attachable Adventure Pack, which comprises an additional 3,620 mAh battery and a larger GPS antenna. In this state, you’ll still fit the phone in a pocket easily enough, but if you want to have it more readily to hand, it also comes with a handy rubber case, which has a carabiner attachment, so you can easily attach it to a belt or backpack.Accessed via a dedicated app icon that can ‘float’ around the screen for easy one-touch access, whatever other app is open, this modified Android interface contains everything you might need when outdoors.

The global shortage of semiconductors is currently affecting vehicle build specifications, option availability, and build timings. In fact, Jon Sinclair — the business’ Director of Branded Goods and Licensing — says “the Explore R perfectly reflects [the] new Land Rover Defender. In response, Land Rover says this isn’t the sort of activity the phone has been optimised for; instead, it’s been tweaked to deliver the best performance in activities that require GPS and cellular connection in areas of weak signal, so you can keep in touch while you’re out in the wilds. It’s not a wild leap of the imagination to think the company could make some cash pushing these underpowered devices onto people with too much money, not enough sense, and a desire to be tough.Although stuff like latitude, longitude, altitude and the compass work without any access to data, weather predictions, and even sunrise and sunset times, do require a constant data connection. The journey towards electrification is already under way with a range of mild and plug-in hybrid models available today. It’s still designed for rough usage, which means it’s waterproof, dust proof, vibration resistant and strong enough to stand repeated 1. When you hang the phone from its carabiner attachment, it constantly pulls against a small, 2mm plastic notch.

The ultra-durable phone is powered by a super powerful 4000m Ah battery with a factory fitted screen protector and protective case than can survive underwater to 1. Gerard Mann Limited (FRN 405813) and Chapelgate Motors Limited (FRN 477636) are Appointed Representatives of Inchcape Retail Limited. The casing’s rounded corners mimic the shape of a bonnet, and the speaker grille below the display resembles the grille on the front of a car. Should you fail to engage the clip fully, or it somehow becomes snagged on something, the attachment will come loose and the phone tumbles to the earth.On the compute test, it scored 3,703 (akin to the Nexus 9 and Nexus 6), and for the battery test, 2,455 (more than the iPhone 8 and the Google Pixel, but substantially less than the Samsung Galaxy S8).