When I first came in contact with the Samsung Rugby, I have to admit that I was pretty well impressed by what I saw. This may well have been one of the most robust cell phones I’d ever come in contact with. It honestly would not have surprised me overmuch to discover that some people were using them to bludgeon muggers.

But there’s more to the Samsung Rugby than its rugged exterior–it also offers a voice recorder, speakerphone, Bluetooth connectivity, a phone book with sufficient capacity for a thousand entries, mobile email, mobile web, Java compatibility, a selection of AT&T specific applications like AT&T Music, a 1.3 megapixel camera, alarm clock, calendar, calculator, stopwatch, MP3 player, and a battery that will yield five hours of talk time on a single charge.

I have to admit, this was a pretty nice phone. Not only does it feel sufficiently durable to go most anywhere, it also offers plenty of capability to do most anything. It’s true there are plenty of missing features here–no FM radio?–but there are still plenty of useful features present to handle many of the things you might need out in the field.

There are better phones out there, of course, but if you’re in need of a phone with a little extra heft to it, then the Samsung Rugby may be one for you to consider.

The Good

Plenty of features

Extremely robust design

The Bad

Some important features missing

Score 7 / 10