Wirefly tortures the Kyocera Torque — does it survive? [VIDEO]
Sprint had a very specific need to fill with the Kyocera Torque. This mil-spec device was designed to withstand almost any extreme situation, including very high heat, very low temperatures, water submersion, resistance to drops, and more. It’s the perfect device for someone in the construction field or someone who finds themselves mixed up in the world of extreme sports and activities quite often.
Most people wouldn’t push the phone to extremes even if it is capable of handling it, so we had no way of knowing just how tough this bad boy is. Wirefly saved the day, though, as it was brave enough to put one of its Kyocera Torque units through an “extreme torture test.” The test consisted of a 33 minute ride in the washing machine, a 15 hour nap overnight in a freezer submerged in water (it’s said that it can only be in water for 30 minutes and frozen for 3 hours), and being dropped from 15 feet high.
The washing machine test proved no match for the Torque as it emerged from the spinning agitator with flying colors. Similarly, spending more than half a day in a freezer and subsequently thawing out only produced “dying battery syndrome.”
The drop test wasn’t as kind to the Kyocera Torque as the device’s chassis cracked a bit (which likely weakened its dust-proof and water-proof capabilities). The speakerphone and volume up buttons also broke, but Wirefly notes you can use volume down to bring up the on-screen volume control, and speakerphone can be enabled on-screen while in a phone call.
The video is quite interesting, to say the least. I’ve never seen a phone chucked around the inside of a washing machine before, and by the grace of the gods I hope I never will. I’ve also never been bored enough to sit around and watch something thaw out so the sped up version of the process was fascinating. For those reasons alone this wouldn’t be a bad way to spend 7 minutes watching this video, so get to it above if you have nothing better to do.