Rugged

With the threat of a US ban looming over Chinese drone maker DJI, keen flyers throughout the land will likely be on the lookout for alternatives. Homegrown Ascent Aerosystems may have an answer with its somewhat oddball Helius.

The second of three rugged phones announced at CES 2025 in January has now been launched. Following a Kickstarter for the monstrous WP100 Titan, mobile tech brand Oukitel has revealed the direct-to-sale WP200 Pro – with a rather unusual feature.

Late last year, Chinese rugged device maker 8849 unleashed a beast of a tablet called the Tank Pad that boasted a powerful camplight and built-in pico projector. Now the Unihertz sub-brand has followed up with an adventure-ready power brick phone.

Mobile tech company Oukitel made a splash at CES last month with what's claimed to be the first 33,000-mAh rugged smartphone with a built-in projector. Now the WP100 Titan adventure toolkit has launched on Kickstarter.

Volvo's EX30 just got a glow-up that adventurous drivers will appreciate. The compact electric SUV's Cross Country variant gets a bunch of off-roady features, as well as a few styling updates to differentiate it from its city slicker sibling.

A UK-based company is on a mission to make goods haulage easier and cleaner for producers in developing nations. Now thanks to a multi-million-dollar deal, its electric-truck-as-a-service model is about to expand in Rwanda and neighboring regions.

A Chinese mobile tech company known for its rugged devices has launched what's claimed to be the world's first 5G rugged tablet that also packs a built-in DLP projector. The Tank Pad also features an 800-lumen light to brighten up camping adventures.

Vuzix has been augmenting our reality with headsets and glasses for years, and has now launched an Extreme variant of its already widely adopted M400 wearable that's destined for use in "the harshest workplace environments."

Back in 2022, the strange-looking prototype igus:bike rolled into the spotlight boasting an angular frame, funky wheels and even bearings made using recycled plastic. Now the newly-named RCYL bike is riding into production.

If you thought that last year's Apple Watch Ultra was a pretty impressive adventure wearable, there was clearly room for improvement as the second generation launches – with a much brighter display, double-tap control and on-watch Siri.

By their very nature, rugged tablets are deigned to withstand all kinds of punishment at construction sites, on military missions or wilderness adventures. Utah's Juniper Systems claims that the Mesa Pro is the first IP68 model with active cooling.

Rugged device maker Oukitel has followed last month's launch of a smartphone featuring a built-in camp light with an ultra-tough 5G tablet called the RT7 Titan that sports a huge 32,000-mAh battery and is said to be the world's first 5G rugged tablet.