Poptel P10 rugged smartphone

The follow up phone to Poptel’s impressive P9000 Max is another rugged number, and amazingly, it’s even more affordable. At around £150 (US$194, AU$270) it is one of the cheapest IP68-rated handset we have come across. Although the screen size is the same at 5.5-inches, its dimensions are smaller and the specifications are a step down too.

The P10’s battery is less than half the capacity of Poptel’s flagship phone, for example, but by bringing the price down even further, it could be just the thing for anyone who works in a particularly phone-unfriendly environment. We’re thinking of building sites, fishing boats and anywhere that a phone could get lost or broken in the line of duty. 

With its reinforced polycarbonate case, a fairly decent battery and features like a hard button for instant gloves-on access to the camera, it certainly seems to have all the hallmarks of a rugged phone, but without the premium price tag.

Design

Rugged phones tend to be a bit chunkier than your average handset, but that’s not the case here. The Poptel P10 is only 12mm thick and there’s only just enough of a bezel around the 5.5-inch screen to protect it. The 18:9 aspect ratio makes it a narrower than the P9000 Max, which has a 16:9 5.5-inch screen. The case is a shock-resistant combination of rubber and metal with textured plastic covering the rear panel and it comes in three colours: grey, blue and high-visibility orange. 

The metal side panels could be unscrewed using a tiny precision Torx screwdriver, but we wouldn’t recommend it and there’s no screwdriver in the box. On one side panel you have the on-off switch and volume rocker and on the other is the SIM slot that can actually take two nano SIMs and a microSD card. There’s also a function button that fires up the camera and activates the shutter button without having to unlock the phone, which is really useful if you are in a hazardous situation, or wearing gloves. 

The micro USB port and headphone jack are hidden behind waterproof flaps at the bottom edge of the phone and on the back you can see the camera, flash/torch and fingerprint reader. With this being a budget model, there’s no double lens, or heart rate monitor and that fingerprint reader is not very good at reading fingerprints.

Specifications

For a budget handset, the Poptel P10 is quite well specified with plenty of memory headroom and enough processor power to notch up respectable scores in our various bench tests. It’s certainly enough to run the latest version of Android 8.1 without a hitch. In this case Oreo has been restyled well by Poptel’s skin.

The screen is a good size, although the ratio of 18:9 is controversial. While it’s great for scrolling and 3D gaming and makes the device narrower and therefore easier to hold, it’s not a good fit for content made in 16:9. And with a resolution of 1280 x 640, this display is not even HD quality. 

The cameras are fairly basic too, with no dual lens arrangement, but the main camera captures surprisingly sharp 13MP images. In terms of features, we really appreciate the function button being assigned to the camera, but it’s a pity there’s no Face ID software for unlocking the phone without using your finger. 

In use

The Poptel P10 is a pleasure to use because it fits very well in the hand, thanks to its compact build and narrow 18:9 aspect ratio. It is also light and easy to grip by its textured back panel, although we wouldn’t have complained if the battery had been a little larger. The side button that allows you to take a picture without signing in with your fingerprint is a real asset, especially as getting past the security on this phone is a bit of a nuisance.

The fingerprint scanner must be less sensitive than others because about one in four scans didn’t work for us, which means you have to type in a PIN instead. Face ID might be less secure, but it is useful when you have your hands full and it’s a pity Poptel hasn’t included it. 

Android Oreo and all of our test apps worked smoothly with no crashes. It even works tolerably well with games, especially those that make use of the 18:9 aspect ratio for split screen action. As a phone for specifically outdoor workers, however, there isn’t really anything to recommend it over the Blackview BV5800 and it doesn’t feel as robust, even though there are no figures to compare their drop test data. And while the battery lasted well, it had run down completely by day three of the test, while the other rugged phones were still going. 

Final verdict

For a budget handset, there’s a lot to like about the Poptel P10. For a start, it’s a good, practical size for using outdoors and it feels robust enough to survive situations where you wouldn’t take an unprotected phone. We also appreciate the function button being assigned to the camera app. It doesn’t feel as shock resistant as the Poptel P900, however, and it only feels so lightweight because the battery is less than half the size of the P900. 

Keeping the cost low in a phone that could more easily get broken in the workplace makes a lot of sense, but in cutting corners, the Poptel P10 misses out on some features that would be useful for a rugged phone. Face ID, is one, wireless charging another and the battery could have been a little larger. Overall, this is a decent handset that could be all you need if you work outside, to get the job done. 

• We've also highlighted the best rugged phones of 2018 in this roundup