Nokia XR21 successfully survives the drop test

I am not a typical smartphone reviewer. When I get a phone with a specific feature, such as the XR21’s extreme durability, I do not feel comfortable trying to intentionally break the phone. I do this indirectly by accidentally dropping it, like any normal smartphone user, and then assessing the condition of the phone and evaluating its durability.

I test the phone as if I were a normal buyer who wants a certain phone, and then check what happens to it after two weeks of use. Anyways, I need to mention that I had some problems with passwords, I just started using the device a few days ago, which is why I am a bit late with the final review.

Ggetting back to the story, fortunately for me, there are some better testers like PBK who are willing to test the limits of the XR21. He did a standard drop test from hip and shoulder height to see how well the XR21 would survive the drops.

This phone has the MIL STD 810 certification that says it should withstand drops without a problem, and the test proved just that. However, I do see one issue that I have been anticipating since the first day I unboxed the device.

The lack of rubber on the edges and the insistence on pure polycarbonate leaves ugly scratches on the device (check the photo above). A rubber on the edges would definitely hide the drop damage on rough surfaces better, but would also increase the price and complexity of the design. Although I don’t like the size of XR20, I do think it has a bit more character over XR21.

The main conclusion, however, is that the XR21 is just as durable as the XR20 was. Now I am eager to see the disassembly of the XR21, which PBK will probably do in a week or so.

By the way, one thing I have noticed with many Nokia phones is a simple thing that can be fixed with a software update. The name of the device is visible to other software or devices. While it is on the phones OK, my PC does not read the XR21 by name, but assigns a crazy indecipherable password to the name. Can Nokia Mobile do anything about this problem?

Thanks eddie k for the tip 😉