I was looking after RugGear evolution and they devices from a while and i must say i saw some nice designed devices from them. Had in mind to test RG725 as i really liked they innovative design for this unit and herd good and let’s say not quite good reviews from users. Even if devices are quite aggressive advertised by UK sellers and marked in stock, based on the device specs and quite high price, i was reluctant to purchase one but kept an eye on. Seen Gert reviews on some RugGear devices, decided to take one.
First i looked on RugGear webpage to see if there is no new version of device and seen stated RG725 with Android 8.1 upgradable to Android 10 OS, so device on the orig specs come with 8.1 but on product page they say Android 10.
It was exactly what i was looking for, allowing me to perform my tests on Android 8.1, perform P to Q update, redo the tests and compare them.
Looked after UK sellers with this device in stock and chose one of the well known one.
Item arrived next day, once unpacked first impression quite nice, liked device design, good grip, nice feeling when you hold it in your hand, it looks rugged, liked a lot upper right knob which is nice protected and upper left side GPS antenna cover. Disappointed by SOS and PTT button’s plastic quality, it looks and feels super cheap and chunky also PTT button it looks too thin compared with device itself. I was expecting to be a little bit wide and do a nice click, not cheap Baofeng’s style as it have. Side connector cover is quite loose, you can see the gap, but at least contacts area is sealed with a rubber frame. Noticed a slight movement of antenna cover also and i did had a red flag seen back cover with no rubber seal, wonder how this can be waterproof as is stated as IP68. Cold boot time 49 sec… expected based on device specs. Time of a PoC app opening was between 5 and 28 sec.
Again something expected based on device specs but in real life i can call this device been slow for my expectations. Indoor satellite signal fix 1.12.61, outdoor satellite signal fix 18 sec. also slow compared with other devices. Nice audio quality and mic modulation, cannot complain on that. I do have some doubts on touchscreen glass shape as device is stated as mil-std but the shape of the touchscreen glass with some edgy sharp corners it looks quite easy to get cracked once dropped. That small edge around glass was a good idea for screen protection but i still have my doubts. Oh, rear camera is a joke, after multiple tries of scanning 3 diff PoC apps QR codes to login in desired channels ended in doing all of them manually as rear camera was unable to perform a correct focus on qr codes.
‘ll skip the rest of tests performed for the moment as i do not intend to publish a full device review yet and i’ll skip to the funny/tragic/cheating parts.
Once my tests finished i was looking after P to Q update. On the device FOTA menu there is no update available so i assumed that device need a manual FW upgrade. Nothing on website support about that so i took the shortcut. First i asked a friend who is a RugGear dealer and his replay was this without me providing him any sn/imei :
” It’s impossible to upgrade RG725 device from Android 8.1 to 10, because the system partition has been changed „
As i do have RugGear on my LinkedIn page i was thinking to ask they Customer Support Agent seen he is based in UK, so sent him a private message just to understand the correct steps on how to and had this answer :
Done as he said, registered device on RugGear support, opened a ticket, explained what i was looking for and pending for answer. First surprise was to see that CS agent is the same person sending me to support page to open a ticket. The second surprise was his answers.
Is quite interesting how they passed this mater of this device been a test device, also the update to Android 10 been available just for RG725+ model where there is no plus model on they website, also no notes about Android 10 been available on RG725+ model only, nor any RG725+ notes been available on they website or resellers. His statement that there is no RG725 available in UK stock was let’s say confusing.
As i purchased this device based on they website specs and not been able to use it as i intended, i was thinking to do a last test before sending the item back for refund. Waterproof test. This it was also a big surprise.. After a little over 1 min, device died straight away. Opening the back, i saw why.
Bottom line i ended with a dead product unable to be retuned, questionable manufactured product having a questionable quality, advertised as mission-critical, (cannot see any 3GPP certificate) which is not capable to run under Android 10, and used as an excuse for (maybe) a new product pushing, leading me to the idea of a cheap to medium china made product/company with a EU PR placed to look good online, in wannabe state as Boxchip, Inrico etc pushing money in advertising instead in products R&D, quality and real support. At this point i’ll consider my experience as another classic „Sale and Run” proudly made in PRC.
