Energizer is getting some competition in the field of rugged phones with large batteries. And it comes from Gigaset a former division of Siemens that is best known today for its DECT phones.
Meet the Gigaset GX290. It boasts a 6,200mAh battery with 15W fast charging over USB-C. A full charge takes three hours. The phone is water resistant (IP68) as well as shock resistant, but it doesn’t have an official a MIL-STD rating.
The 6.1 screen is optimized for outdoor use and is guarded by Gorilla Glass 3. It promises 520nits of brightness and a contrast ratio of 1,000:1. The resolution of the LCD panel is nothing to write home about at 720p.
A notch on the screen houses an 8MP selfie camera (seeing the chunky bezels, a notch feels unnecessary). Theres a 13MP camera on the back with 2MP depth sensor. The fingerprint reader is here too, just below the camera.
Gigaset GX290 is a pure Android phone with IP68 rating and 6,200mAh battery
The Gigaset GX290 runs pure Android 9.0 Pie on a MediaTek Helio P23 chipset (octa-core Cortex-A53). It has 32GB of storage (no word on RAM).
The GX290 should cost around 300, but availability is limited. We found it in one store in Spain where it is indeed listed at 300 but that’s without VAT the final price is 360 (unless Gigaset is targeting corporate customers with this one).
Theres also this placeholder page from a French store that shows 300 with VAT, but theres no stock.
Haslinda has worked with some of the largest telcos in North America and Asia. She loves tech and doesn’t like iPhone
