Sonim XP3 Review: Boiled Alive
You might not know it, but you’ve heard about the XP3: It’s that phone that’s always getting drenched, elephant-smooshed or shot, and surviving. Well, I finally got one, and the timing couldn’t be better. XP3, I’m going to eat you.
The Price
The Sonim XP3 is by no means a new phone, either as a product or a piece of technology. For the US, though, it’s still semi-fresh: It’s just been announced on regional carriers around the country, and as of last week you can pick one up unlocked for about $US400 at Best Buy.
AU: The Sonim XP3 is available here in Australia for $599 outright from Crazy John’s. -EH
The Verdict
As you can see, this thing is a brick. It’s a heavy, Tonka-yellow slab of plastic and rubber that sometimes makes calls, sends texts and visits a website or two. In a way it’s the ultimate dumbphone: It’s not annoyingly dumb—it’s actually got a decently attractive UI, and it’s worlds easier to use that the not-as-tough Casio G’zOne—and the battery life is conversely related to the phone’s feature set, just like it should be. (I’ve been playing with this thing on and off for more than a week, and I still don’t need to charge it.) Also, of course, it’s tough, like all my favourite dumb people. It’s the anti-iPhone, and not necessarily in a bad way.
When I say tough, I don’t mean to say this is a phone for people who go through a lot of handsets, or hate that their Pre’s backplate keeps getting scratched—this is in a different league, for a different type of human: Do you work on an oil rig? As a stuntman? Underwater, sometimes? Did you sign a 100-page insurance waiver before starting your current job? Have you ever watched a coworker get crushed to death, along with his phone? No?
Ok, but would you like the option to occasionally cook your phone?
Spaghetti con Tele
Sonim never claimed this wouldn’t kill the phone, and the battery clearly states that it shouldn’t be heated past 130 degrees. After a brief speaker fritz that solved itself, though, the XP3 works perfectly.
You can boil it, like pasta, for at least three minutes
It’s surprisingly pleasant to use, for what it is
Battery lasts forever
It’s not terribly huge, but not thin eitherIt’s fundamentally ridiculous, though necessary for a select group of people
No 3G, or major carriers (yet)Extremely hard to chew, even harder to passTaste Test is our week-long tribute to the leaps that occur when technology meets cuisine, spanning everything from the historic breakthroughs that made food tastier and safer to the Earl Grey-friendly replicators we impatiently await in the future.
Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
Id get that.
Now I want some pasta.
aido2002
You forgot this "minus":
- Still smells like meatballs.
@GitEmSteveDave_♥'sRenegadeIrishman: You know, some things are better left unrevealed, dontcha think?
@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: Well, I previously thought that iCraps were completely useless. From the looks of this video, it appears that it may be able to protect an owner from two 9mm shots. I guess it's good for something!
Flying Spaghetti Monster
hfm
Waiter! There is a phone in my pasta!
@Software_Goddess: She's, uh, tenacious.
You will remember to wash your hands before you eat anything?
@Tru-Mann: I don't know, CAN it?
@Shamoononon: It's really hot today.: I always fear I'm going to swallow my partial.
When you said 'this is exactly what my boss needs', I thought 'your boss needs more cheese?'
AltonPanoptes
Way to ruin a perfectly good plate of spaghetti. :(
@chrisfox01: I've got like 2 kilograms of cheese in the fridge, enough?
@Crunchyier:
Easy solution; Don't use a mac.
*DUCK AND COVER*
@Eptin: You got it.
This photo makes me ill. Thanks.
podspawn
My only question is
Did cooking the phone in your spaghetti affect the taste of the dish at all?
@Tru-Mann: This would normally bring about the ban hammer...
Bigbadbikernerd
@sebastianbf: Your asking for what the song is on a video that came from youtube. That particular answer can always be found on youtube.
Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
Nassin
How will you take calls on this thing anyway? You can't talk with your mouth full.
@Crunchyier: Its also working fine on my MBP in Safari 4.
@Crunchyier: even my windows pc using safari 3.2.3 works
Needs more cheese.
@dimsum4u: It can only fail if it was supposed to win in the first place.
Kirril
@Crunchyier: My G4 on Safari 4 seems to view the video just fine.
Kaiser-Machead
@Bokusatsu_Tenshi: love the song. How's it called?
This is exactly what my old boss needs.
That man has dropped and destroyed so many phones sweeping chimneys, it's like it was made for him.
He had some blue ruberrized Nokia that seemed to do him good for a year, but that made its way through the wash at one point and that was the end of the little phone that could.
It's a phone only for Chuck Norris alright.
Zulkarnain Sudarman
Boing Boing had a video where they deep fried various cellphones. Can we see a little link love from Giz Taste Test?
[tv.boingboing.net]
Eptin
Does this remind anyone else about that advert where the guy eats a ps2? can't seem to find a youtube of it sadly.
@Crunchyier: I just watched this on a 2002 mac running tiger and it ran fine. So it isn't the player if a 933mHz proc. can handle it. This worked better than youtube.
@Software_Goddess: I was kind of wondering the same thing. Apparently somebody can.. uh... swallow.
@Crunchyier: Always been like that for me... I would just head over to firefox to watch it, but hey, if you're whining, why am I not? Get a decent player!!!
pettiblay
Sorry, but upon watching the video, I can see why this wasn't tagged as a "taste test" article (was this recently changed or was this a taste test to begin with?)... that spaghetti looks quite unappetizing. But still, quite a badass phone.
@Shamoononon: She must be SOME kisser!
Software_Goddess
@bill cant fart: I didn't think it was at first. Either way, it is now.
Please, just use youtube for your videos. Your video player almost never works. I'm using safari with a modern mac. This shouldn't be a problem. This time when I hit play, It started showing you putting noodles in the pot, then stopped, then when I hit play again, the video looked like it was playing behind the preview image, only showing at the sides.
Crunchyier
At least it will be OK when it plops in the toilet.
Is this the phone that got eaten by the dinosaur in ‘Jurassic Park’? Because Dino Poo can not be good for it.
Software_Goddess
Nice... unfortunately I don't live an extreme enough life to justify having one of those.
But can it also withstand shots and barbecueing?
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
@dimsum4u: Oh, nevermind, I don't give a crap.
@Tru-Mann: I bet it wouldn't blend..i bet it blends the blender thats how badass it is.
That was great vid..can you do a side by side with an iphone and lets watch it horribly fail.
This is a brilliant review, however, I feel that "fundamentally ridiculous" should be a plus rather than a neutral.
@appletoad: It wasn't?
Can it blend?
Tru-Mann
@bill cant fart: Did you hear the recent story of the woman who accidentally swallowed her husbands dentures? Yikes, I'll bet that outcome hurt.
Have fun pooping that out. You should wash it down with lots of FiberOne.
I thought this was another 'Taste Test' article. lol I Like this phone though.