mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s, including
rugged smartphone
A rugged smartphone is a specific type of toughened smartphone which is designed to be completely sealed within a durable housing to protect it against damage from, among other things, water, shock, dust, and vibration.registered in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
, company registration number 07431588, is a
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
(UK) based company specializing in
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s and
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s. TUFF Phones was established in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
as a retailer of several different brands of mobile phones.
In
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
, the company began working on ideas regarding production of its own range of smartphones. A year later, talks began with a number of tier one manufacturers in mainland
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
on the pros and cons of different
composite material
A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...
mobile operating system
A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, smartglasses, or other non-laptop personal mobile computing devices. While computers such as typical laptops are "mobile", the operating systems used on ...
s. Production on TUFF's phones began in early
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
at
Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
in China. A notice on the company website in July 2022 says that they are no longer in business.
Device ranges
The first generation of TUFF Phones products were released in Q3 2016, and featured four models of strengthened devices, including
Gorilla glass
Gorilla Glass is a brand of chemically strengthened glass developed and manufactured by Corning, now in its seventh generation. Designed to be thin, light and damage-resistant, the glass gains its surface strength, ability to contain flaws, and c ...
touchscreens, and are certified to be dust-proof and
waterproof
Waterproofing is the process of making an object or structure waterproof or water-resistant so that it remains relatively unaffected by water or resisting the ingress of water under specified conditions. Such items may be used in wet environme ...
.
2016 range
*TUFF T300
*TUFF T400 ( 4G)
*TUFF T450
*TUFF T1000
TUFF Phones updated their range of handsets early in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, with the launch of two new handsets, the TUFF T400s and TUFF T1. They subsequently announced that the 2017 range will be increased later in Q2/Q3 2017, with the release of the TUFF T10 and TUFF T500.
2017 range
*TUFF T400s
*TUFF T1
*TUFF T10
*TUFF T500
Media
Certain generations of TUFF phones have implemented a removable tray that allows for the installation of two nano SIM cards; which allows the user of the phone to make use of two different phone numbers for calling and texting for example, or one nano SIM card with one microSD card; which allows the user of the phone to use a single phone number and to increase the amount of storage capacity in the phone for music, pictures, contacts, etc.