Kyocera DuraForce XD will be T-Mobile's first rugged smartphone

Kyocera this week announced that its DuraForce XD Android handset (released by AT&T earlier this year) will soon be available on T-Mobile. More exactly, the DuraForce XD will be launched by T-Mobile May 11, becoming the carrier's first rugged smartphone.

Kyocera is targeting the DuraForce XD - pictured above - at both "the adventurous consumer" and "the field-force worker." What we have here is a rugged handset that's certified to Military Standard 810G, thus being protected against a variety of hazards including drops, shock, temperature extremes, solar radiation, low pressure/high altitude, salt fog, and humidity. The phone is also IP68-certiefied, which means it's dustproof and water-resistant - it can survive full submersion in water up to 6 feet (1.8 meters) deep for up to 30 minutes.

Sporting a 5.7-inch 720p display, the Kyocera DuraForce XD is large, thick, and heavy: it measures 6.57 x 3.40 x 0.55 inches (166.9 x 86.4 x 14 mm) and weighs 10 ounces (286 grams). Powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, the handset runs Android 5.1 Lollipop, further featuring dual front-facing speakers, LTE, an 8 MP rear camera, 2 MP front-facing camera, and 2 GB of RAM. There's 16 GB of expandable storage space on board, plus a generous 3700 mAh battery.

T-Mobile will sell the Kyocera DuraForce XD for $449.99 - that's just $1 more than the phone's off-contract price on AT&T. Any takers?