Casio g’zOne C781 Ravine 2: Rugged Flip Phone (Verizon)

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I have no idea how Casio came up with this name, nor how to pronounce it, but the g’zOne C781 Ravine 2 (shall we just call it Ravine 2?) rugged phone can definitely stand some punishment. It is IP67 and MIL-STD-810F certified to be highly dust, shock, and water resistant. Now I wouldn’t recommend you try this at home, but one user has reported throwing their Ravine 2 into the washing machine together with their clothes and running a full cycle — when they took it out, not only was their phone unharmed but it was even showing a missed call!

This phone will work both on GSM and CDMA networks. Call quality is great in both directions, with voices sounding clear, crisp, and warm. There is also a speakerphone option that works with the phone either open or closed.

Being a flip phone, the Ravine 2 has a small exterior screen that shows the time, date, and incoming calls, and a larger, high-quality 240x320px interior display that functions as your main screen.

Keyboard controls include a numerical pad, several soft keys, and a D-pad (directional control pad) to move the cursor that’s best operated with your thumb.

The Ravine 2 has an SD card slot on the side that accepts up to 32GB SD cards.

A non-standard 2.5mm mono audio jack can be used to connect earbuds. This is sufficient for talking calls, but being mono, it’s far from ideal for listening to music. An MP 3 player is present, but is best used in conjunction with bluetooth headphones so you can enjoy your music in stereo.

This phone is M4/T4 hearing aid compatible and comes with TTY/TDD functionality for the deaf and hearing impaired.

The Ravine 2 includes a 3.2 MP camera with autofocus and LED flash. The LED lights can also function autonomously as a torch to illuminate your way in the dark. The camera’s photo quality is okay but not outstanding by any means. It will also record video, but video quality is poor at 320x240px and 15 frames per second.

What sets this phone apart from other dumb phones is its focus on outdoors functionality. Apart from being highly resistant to water and rough treatment, the Ravine 2 includes a plethora of extras for those who love being out in the wild: It comes with a compass, pedometer, thermometer, and Casio’s g’zGEAR suite including an astronomy calendar, tide tracker, a sunrise and sunset app, and a star gazing app. Nothing too impressive if you’re used to smart phones, but coupled with the long battery life of a dumb phone, this is an excellent device for taking on long, multi-day hiking or kayaking trips.

To sum it up, major advantages of the Casio Ravine 2 include its call quality, its resistance to water and harsh treatment, and its comprehensive outdoors functionality, also making it a great choice for kids. Hearing aid compatibility and TTY make this phone suitable for those with hearing issues. The non-standard mono audio jack is a negative though.

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Casio C781 Technical Specs:

Battery	1150mAh
Bluetooth	v3.0, A2DP
Browser	Opera Mini
Camera	3.2 MP
Carrier	Verizon
Color	Black
Dimensions	2" x 0.8" x 4.3"
Display (external)	1.38", 128x128px
Display (internal)	2.2", 240x320px
Email client	Yes
Flashlight	Yes
Form factor	Flip
FM radio	No
Games	Yes
GPS	Yes
Headset jack	2.5mm
Hearing aid	M4/T4 compatible
Languages	English
Memory (RAM)	256MB
MP3 Player	Yes
MP3 ringtones	Yes
Push-to-talk	Yes
Rugged	IP67, 810F
SD card slot	32GB
SIM card slot	Yes
Speakerphone	Yes
Speed dial	Yes
Standby time	21 days
Talk time	4h40m
USB	MicroUSB 2.0
Vibration	Yes
Waterproof	Yes
Weight	4.9oz