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Samsung who? Google’s recommended rugged phones are all from niche companies
July 30, 2025
Earlier this year, Google launched itsAndroid Enterprise Recommendedprogram — a list of devices Google has vetted as being a good fit for enterprise customers. If a device meetsGoogle’s exhaustive criteria, it gets added to the (relatively) short list.
That list currently includes most flagship devices from most of the major brands, including theGoogle Pixel 2(naturally), theBlackBerry KEY2, theSony Xperia XZ2, theHUAWEI P20 Pro, and theLG V30, among others.
Today,Google launched a sub-categoryfor Android Enterprise Recommended: rugged devices. However, you won’t find any major brands on that list.
The list of Android Enterprise rugged devices only features five brands, all of which are niche companies that primarily focus only on the rugged device market:
While it’s not surprising that something like the HUAWEI P20 Pro didn’t make the list of recommended rugged devices, it is quite illuminating that no major Android smartphone brand made the cut. This is a clear indication that the biggest brands are pretty much ignoring a growing market of devices that can withstand all manners of heavy use.
According toIDC, the Android rugged device market is expected to grow by 23 percent over the next five years.
If Samsung, LG, Sony, et al., were to try to make a phone that would land on Google’s list, these are the primary criteria that would have to be met:
You can see the full list of criteriahere.
We recentlypublished an articleabout how peculiar it is that major brands aren’t releasing rugged devices that can withstand drops, deep water, heavy dust, etc. Maybe this new list from Google will light a fire under the major brands and they’ll start releasing heavy duty Android smartphones.
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