Sports retailer Decathlon has paired up with mobile device maker Archos to bring a smartphone for the sports-loving population of France. The new Quechua Phone might not leave skid marks in benchmark test, but it is, however, built to last.
The Quechua smartphone has a rather unassuming hardware sheet. It runs on a 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm chip with a sufficient amout of RAM at 1 GB. It has a 5 megapixel rear camera and a 2 megapixel one at the front. Internal storage is capped at 4 GB but can be expanded via a micro SD slot. The 5-inch WVGA display claims to be quite readable in bright light and outdoor scenarios, where this smartphone might see the most action.
Coming from a sports company, the Quechua is, naturally, designed to be useful in extreme conditions. The phone boasts of an IP 54 certification, making it quite resistant to shocks, mud, water, sand, and others. The smartphone isn’t only built to stand the test of the elements, but also the test of time. The 3500 mAh battery is advertised to last up to 22 hours on call, presuming such a call would last that long. One disappointing side to this device is that it is running Android 4.1 only, which is quite a few releases old by now, especially for a brand new smartphone.
The Quechua rugged smartphone is expected to sell for around 230 euros, roughly equivalent to $315. The device is intended for the French market but no availability date has been announced yet.
VIA: GSMArena
It’s also at sale in Portugal, costing 229€.
For something sold via a sports chain, this is less rugged than it appears. Notice the 4 in the IP code, that means it can’t handle being actually immersed in water. Now the IP code do not say anything about drop resistance, and this phone may do quite well there. But other than that you could just as well grab one of the latest Sony models with IP57 rating (actually immersion resistant).