The Vodafone XP3.2 Quest made those eyes light up.
A review on the web said it was a phone that could be submerged in a pint of beer, used as a hammer and heard ringing under a pile of sawdust.
It could also provide crystal clear sound beside a jackhammer.
I have to admit I did none of those things but I did submerge the phone in a bucket of water and ring it on vibrate, just because I could.
The Quest is a proper blokes' phone, no doubt about it.
Women would, of course, be welcome to buy one for the recommended retail price of $899, but it comes with a warning.
This phone is no sleek and shiny toy.
This is a really big phone by today's standards.
In all honesty, there were some outstanding features of this phone but there were some things that were plainly annoying.
The casing was superb - moulded plastic that shielded the phone from damage if dropped or run over by a tractor.
The 2.0 megapixel camera worked well, the flash worked across a reasonable distance and saving the photos, or rejecting them, was easy.
Battery life was outstanding.
I lost track of how many days I could use the phone before having to recharge.
The torch worked a treat.
Texting was a difficult experience, no matter how many texts I sent.
Hitting the wrong button did not send the text to drafts, it made it disappear.
The space button was at the top left, the full stop bottom centre.
Lots of mistakes in the text messages, even after a two-week trial.
Connecting to the internet was not easy, but actually who is going to be doing that with this phone? The phone comes with a three-year guarantee.
Vodafone and handset maker Sonim are so confident in the capabilities of the Quest that if you do manage to break it with everyday use in the first three years, it will be replaced.
The specifications said the Quest could withstand drops of up to two metres on to concrete.
That's some phone.
XP3.2 Quest
Vodafone
RRP $899
Three Stars (out of 5)
