Thanks to Big_Adam on the ToolGuyd forum for pointing out that Dewalt has come out with a new smartphone designed with tradesmen in mind!
After some digging, I found the press release and website for the Dewalt MD501 phone and will share what I’ve found so far.
The new Dewalt smartphone comes from a partnership with Global Mobile Communications, a company that specializes in rugged phones. The phone is: manufactured under license by Global Mobile Communications Limited and made in China by RugGear.
This new Dewalt Android Lollipop (5.1) phone is said to be waterproof, dustproof, and weatherproof. It weighs 245 g (8.64 oz) and measures 156 x 82 x 14 mm (6.14″ x 3.23″ x 0.55″). Here are the features that set this phone apart as a rugged device.
- “Fully resistant to dust and particles and waterproof up to 30 minutes if immersed in 2m of water”
- “Designed and tested to withstand drops from 2 meters onto concrete; extreme temperatures and barometric pressures; resistant to chemical spillages and vibrations”
- Designed to be used with gloves
- 5″ screen uses HD Bright View Gorilla Toughened Glass 3
- An amplified loudspeaker
Here are the rest of the specs:
- Dual micro SIM
- 4G LTE-FDD Band 1/3/7/20/28, LTE-TDD Band 39/40/41, GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz ,WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 MHz
- NFC, GPS (AGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou), G-sensor, gyroscope, pressure, magnetic, light & range sensors
- Qi Wireless Charging:
- External memory microSD up to 64 GB
- 13 MP rear camera, 5 MP front camera
- Processor MT6735 1.3 GHz quad-core, 16 GB ROM/2 GB RAM Memory
- IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
- 3.020 Ah battery
- Standby 450 hrs, Talktime 2G/3G: 480/420 min
- Radio, MP3 Player
- Bluetooth 4.0
- USB OTG
It appears that, since the press release is from Dewalt UK, and they are partnering with a UK company to make the phone, this is likely a UK-only device for right now. The listed retail prices excluding VAT is £379.00 or about $550.
First Thoughts
Spec-wise, this is not a top tier phone. It uses a budget phone processor, it’s loaded with Android Lollipop, an older version of the operating system, and doesn’t seem to have 802.11ac WiFi connectivity. The high cost of the phone comes from its rugged construction.
Since Global Mobile Communications makes rugged mobile phones, there’s a pretty good change that this is just a rebranded phone from them. In fact if you go to their store, you can find a phone that is virtually identical, even down to the price.
If want you dig further into the information I’ve found, I’ve included links to all my sources in Big_Adam’s post on the ToolGuyd forum.