A pair of rugged Crosscall smartphones, the Core-M4 and Core-X4, priced and headed to SA

We’ve already taken a look at the Crosscall Core-T4 rugged 8in tablet, which is aimed at industry here in South Africa, but there’s also a pair of smartphones incoming from the French company. These are the Crosscall Core-X4 and its smaller companion, the Core-M4. No, the M4 doesn’t go faster.

Both handsets are constructed with toughness in mind, with IP68 support being common across the range. Basically, it’ll take a while (30 minutes at two metres) for the ocean to destroy your device. But the ocean destroys everything, eventually. Both are MIL-STD-810 tested, and both can handle temperatures between -25° to 50°. If you’re torn between which one you want, the Core-M4 is a little easier to handle in terms of size and weight.

An M4 you can afford

The Crosscall Core-M4 is a smaller handset, with a 4.95in 960 x 480 display at its disposal. Don’t be too dismayed by the lack of resolution, the Core-M4 is intended as a utilitarian device — mounted on a motorcycle or knocking around a construction site rather than making YouTube videos look good. To that end, its touchscreen works whether your hands are wet or wearing gloves.

There’s a Snapdragon 215 at its heart, along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Users can opt either for dual SIM cards or a SIM and a microSD if you’re using this as your at-home handset. There’s a 12MP rear camera as well as a 2MP front-facer but we’re not expecting anything special from either of them. They’ll likely take photos — Huawei and Samsung have nothing to worry about,

The Core-M4 runs Android 9.0, the handset supports GPS and features an FM radio and the whole thing weighs in at 210 grams. If you want one, it’ll cost more than the specs suggest — R6,700. It’ll be available in South Africa from August.

There’s another version of the phone called the Core-M4 GO, running Android Go (naturally), that’ll cost R5,400. That one drops in September this year.

X-4: Days of Future Past

Which brings us to the Crosscall Core-X4, which is the big-boy rugged smartphone. We already know it is as tough as its siblings are, so let’s dive into what makes it unique. The handset sports the best screen of the new Crosscall trio, a 5.45in 1,440 x 720 display that’ll work whether you’re wearing gloves or have wet hands. There’s a 3,850mAh battery in the back of this thing, which should manage at least a day of use on-site.

The rest of the spec is similar to that found in the Crosscall Core-T4 — the processor is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 450, expect 3G of RAM and 32GB of storage and you can add up to 512GB of extra space using a microSD. If you do there’s still space for dual SIM cards, making this very attractive for small business owners who do important things with tools.

The rear camera is a little special, using a 48MP Fusion setup that combines four pixels into one — which should translate into 12MP images that look better than if you just used a plain ole 12MP sensor. Up front there’s an 8MP sensor, in case you’re keen on taking selfies with mining equipment, but don’t expect to blow up Instagram with the Core-X4’s cameras.

If you cannot live without one, they’re launching at R9,500. They’re available in South Africa now, from a range of locations. If you want to know exactly where Crosscall has collected those locations on one page. Vodacom and MTN are on the list, as is Takealot.