Reference · Founded 2023
About
Rugged Magazine exists because the people who buy 400 tablets, 200 cases or a fleet of handhelds have nothing to go on but a manufacturer’s claim and a rating printed on a box. We buy the equipment, run one fixed protocol on every unit, and publish the measurements — throttle times, drop counts, cold-weather runtime, warranty response times — whether they flatter the product or not. Every tester works in a trade that uses this equipment daily. Field credentials come first; writing is the second job.
Contributors
4 testers · 76 years of trade experience between them
19 years · Distribution network technician
Marta Ostrowska
Regional electricity DNO, overhead lines
Runs the drop and glove blocks. Has replaced more cracked fleet tablets than she has written reviews.
Tests
- Rugged tablets
- Vehicle mounts
- Workwear
31 years · Heavy plant fitter and workshop foreman
Ray Dunleavy
Quarry and earthmoving contractor
Owns the serviceability axis. Times every teardown with the same field kit he carries to a breakdown.
Tests
- Hard cases
- Power stations
- Hand tools
12 years · Field-service IT engineer, logistics fleets
Kwame Boateng
Third-party maintainer, 4,000 handhelds under contract
Handles support testing. Opens the anonymous warranty claims and logs the response times.
Tests
- Barcode handhelds
- Rugged phones
- Docking
14 years · Cold-chain operations engineer
Yuna Park
Frozen logistics operator, −25 °C sites
Owns the thermal and cold-soak blocks. Insists every runtime figure is published warm and cold.
Tests
- Endurance
- Batteries
- Insulated workwear
Contact
- Test desk
- tests@ruggedmagazine.example
- Corrections
- corrections@ruggedmagazine.example
- Conflicts of interest
- conflicts@ruggedmagazine.example
- Fleet and quotes
- fleet@ruggedmagazine.example