Vernee V2 Pro rugged smartphone review

In use

The first thing you notice about the Vernee V2 Pro is its weight. While it looks like a regular phablet from the front, it is all glass, battery and metal, which adds-up to a pocket sagging 259g. It weren’t for the textured back panel it would be easy to drop because the sides are smooth rather than rubberised. 

The almost edge-to-edge screen looks great in Full HD resolution and the 18:9 ratio is an advantage when you’re scrolling, or using Google Maps for navigation on your handlebars. Widescreen video content doesn’t fit quite so well of course. 

Android runs smoothly and Vernee hasn’t bothered to apply much of a skin, or pre-load any software specific to a rugged phone, but our test apps worked well. Other than the reinforced casing, the design hasn’t been adapted in any way for the outdoor worker and it is somewhat frustrating to use with gloves on because there are no hard shortcut buttons – unless you want to take a screenshot of course. 

The camera app is average and the dual lens enables features such as FaceBeauty, although that’s not a feature you’ll need much on a building site. More importantly, the processor makes the camera and all the other apps work quickly and image quality is quite good in high and low light. Graphics-heavy games run relatively smoothly on the Vernee V2 Pro, although 3D games suffer from judder. In short, it handles like your average budget phablet with the added advantage of an IP68 rating and much longer battery life.  

Final verdict

The Vernee V2 Pro succeeds in combining a luxuriously large full HD screen with a big battery in a rugged case that keeps its profile as sleek as a regular phablet. Its specifications are impressive for a budget handset too, which means Android Oreo 8.1 runs seamlessly. But with the screen being made of the same Gorilla Glass as almost every other phone, we’re sceptical of the six-sided drop resistance claims, especially as no test height has been given. And without any features tailored to the outdoor worker, such as a hard PTT button for walkie-talkie style comms, or any relevant pre-loaded software, we wouldn’t recommend the Vernee V2 Pro above cheaper options such as the Blackview BV5800 Pro. 

• We've also highlighted the best rugged phones of 2018 in this roundup