Ruggedized vs Non-Ruggedized devices

Some companies or individuals want to purchase so called 'ruggedized' devices. Perhaps because they think they will drop and break them too often, or because they will be exposed to water.

We have no problem running on ruggedized devices that meet the requirements, but it may be worth considering not buying ruggedized devices.

Let's start with a few general (random if you like) comments, and then a couple proposed strategies:

Ruggedized devices cost more than the same device not ruggedized. It is not unheard of costing more than10 times the cost (For example a $220 phone that the equivalent one ruggedized costs $2500), and it is certainly not uncommon to cost 4-5 times as much.
Ruggedized devices tend to be older

Why?

It takes time to create and test a ruggedized device, so it is 'old' before it ever comes to market. And yes, I know that everyone jokes that all devices are outdated by the time they come to market, but ruggedized are typically 1 to 3 years older still and often older than that_._ Indeed, in 2017 you can still buy ruggedized devices that were brand new when Windows XP shipped!
It costs a lot of money to test a ruggedized device.
Not many people are willing to pay the cost of a device.
So you need to sell a ruggedized device for much longer than a normal device to recoup your development and testing costs.

So What?

The devices will inevitably be slower.
Frequently have less memory.
Less likely to get software upgrades (like the latest browser).
There are cases for phones and tablets that protect against a lot of damage including submersion in water. A $250 case might last you through several devices if the case is generic enough. And a lot of phones like the Samsung S7 and S8 can handle being in 1.5metres (4-5 feet) of water for 30 minutes
You can afford to buy a 'cheap' device today for much less than a ruggedized, and the cheap device will probably be faster, more upgradeable and have more memory.
You can often afford to break 5-10 cheap devices before you come even close to the cost of one ruggedized device.
It is really hard to convince yourself to buy a new ruggedized device because the old one cost so much, you don't want to get rid of it to upgrade, even when you know you really should because the cost in the worker's time using it is far more than the cost of a new device.

Case study 1:

Consider an $1875 ruggedized tablet (in May 2014) that has basically the same specs as a $117 tablet sold at Costco. The $117 device can be upgraded to the latest chrome browser fairly easily. The $1875 cannot, you have to wait for when/if the manufacturer allows/does an upgrade. Add a $65 case and the cheaptablet can survive the same drop on to concrete. Add a $250 case and it can be submerged in 10 feet/3 metres of water. But let's assume you don't buy a case.

If someone drops and breaks their $117 device once a month (because they didn't buy the $65 case), then after 16 months, you will have paid the same amount as the ruggedized tablet. Except, you will now be buying devices that are much more modern. If they drop them once every 3 months, then you only reach parity after 4 years – and you know the replacement device 4 years from now will be far faster than if you kept the $1875 device that long.

Now, at the end of the 4 years you can say – see, I'm losing money. But we can pretty easily estimate that the newer device will run enough faster in 4 years that it will save at least 1-2 hours time per week. If you only pay your workers $15/hour you will, with the newer, faster, devices be able to buy a new device every 7 weeks and still be saving money over the ruggedized tablet. And based on our experience, once someone has dropped and broken a device a few times, they learn tricks including buying ruggedized cases and/or holders so that they do not drop them so often!

Case study 2:

Consider a Motorola Moto G (3rd Generation) phone selling in December 2015 for less than $200 'unlocked', this is a 'Water Resistant to 1 meter for 20 minutes' Android phone with the most recent Android operating system. Put an otterbox on it for $40 and you have a device that can handle high humidity and the occasional splashing or dunking in water.

Or, you can get a $1300 ruggedized phone which has older technology, and can't handle much more, if any more, rugged use than the Moto G 3rd Gen with Otterbox.

So again, first of all, do you really think the $1300 phone will last longer than 6 or 7 of the $200 phones (Even if you drop it hard enough to break the phone chances are you can reuse the otterbox – it will just likely look scratched.) And that assumes there is no benefit (faster device = time saving = labor cost saving) to getting a newer device when they break the 3rd or 4th one!

Conclusion

So should you ever buy a ruggedized device? There will always be special cases, perhaps you work routinely at -40 and colder, and you may therefore need to find a ruggedized device that can handle those temperatures, or you may be working in a hot jungle where the cases don't provide enough protection from the heat and humidity* because just opening the case for a couple seconds lets too much humidity in. Or you may be in a situation where it will be in deeper water so you need a device that can handle the depth. So yes, there are so called 'edge case' scenarios where buying a ruggedized device makes sense. There are also various corporate environments where getting budget for one ruggedized device is possible, but a handful of non-ruggedized is not, so we won't speak to those realities.

*Humidity, in 2015, is no longer a legitimate concern. You can buy phones that are 'Water Proof down to 3 meters' for as little as $200. So put that into an Otter box for protection on dropping and away you go.

But for the vast majority of people who are willing to pay for a ruggedized device, you will be better off getting multiple devices (don't buy them all up front, just keep a couple spares around, buy newer, faster ones as the spares get used up), and/or purchasing ruggedized cases.