The Race for the Rugged Smartphone - Vernee Active vs Blackview BV8000 Pro vs Homtom HT20 Pro
Homtom HT20 Pro My journey into rugged smartphones started with the Homtom HT20 Pro. As this was my first experience with Chinese phones, I wanted to play it safe and go for value, as I tested the waters. I got it for the low price of about $115 when it was first released, and it was impressive value for the money. It was quick enough to run the basic apps I use, the battery lasted up to 2 days (and is removable / replaceable), it has an LED notification light, it runs stock Android 6.0, and was very stable. It also has a fingerprint sensor on the rear side. It went through many rounds of abuse, bad weather, etc., and it never failed on me. It handled 2 micro SIMs simultaneously plus an expandable micro SD slot. It was a pain to take out all the screws and put the case back together, which was required at the beginning to insert the SIMs but it proved to be a reliable phone. Voice / audio quality is very good too. It's a bulky phone, but as far as rugged phones go, it was pr...