The all-new Land Rover Defender was one of our favorite reveals from last year and we can’t wait to get our hands on the reborn 4×4 and thrash it around an off-road trail. However, the British automaker has now released an additional accessory themed around the new Defender which doesn’t quite sound as exciting. Meet the new Land Rover Explorer R smartphone that has been purpose-built to take the most challenging conditions without letting you down, just like the rugged 4×4 it’s inspired by. Surprised? Well, let me then tell you that this isn’t Land Rover’s first smartphone. In fact, the new Explorer R is the successor of the Explorer model that was launched back in 2018. The reason that you either don’t remember or have never heard of it should be enough to indicate how well it did in the market.
In terms of styling, the Explorer R weirdly looks like an armored version of the iPhone 4 with thick bezels and pretty much a style-free design. Thankfully, it has a USB Type-C port and not something from a decade back. The hardware specifications of the device also appear to be a couple of generations old. It gets 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM, 5.7” display, 12MP Sony dual-pixel rear camera, 8MP front camera, 3,100mAh battery optimized to 1.5+ days of battery life. But Land Rover says the smartphone is meant to be your companion in challenging expeditions where the ruggedness of the device and long battery life will be more useful than pretty looks and top-of-the-line hardware. The smartphone is IP68 and MIL SPEC 810H protected, which means fully waterproof up to 1.5m for 35 minutes, dust/sand proof, and has undergone repeated drop tests at 1.8M onto steel. Well, if you want a smartphone that you can take on your off the road, off the map trips where your iPhone will simply die, this might be it! The Defender-inspired smartphone can be yours for $535.
[Available at: C247]
