JCB Toughphone E10 review: This rugged phone has the raw performance of an abandoned bulldozer, but the price tag of something much better

01 Jun 2026, 16:23 by https://www.techradar.com/uk/author/mark-pickavance · TechRadar

TechRadar Verdict

From any other brand, this would be a £100-150 phone at most. It has a slow processor, a glacial GPU, the minimum memory, limited storage, and it's not IP68 waterproof. Unless you are obsessed with JCB branding, I can’t think of a good reason why you would buy this.

Contract DealsSim FreeRecommendedData (high to low)Data (low to high)Monthly cost (high to low)Monthly cost (low to high)Price (high to low)Price (low to high)Contract DealsSim FreeSee all prices (64 found)FilterRecommendedData (high to low)Data (low to high)Monthly cost (high to low)Monthly cost (low to high)Price (high to low)Price (low to high)JCB Toughphone E10 (64GB Black)24 monthsdata100GB £15 upfront Monthly£21/mth £15 upfront £21/mth Visit Websiteat Fonehouse JCB Toughphone E10 (64GB Black)24 monthsdata100GB £35 upfront Monthly£20/mth £35 upfront £20/mth Visit Websiteat Fonehouse JCB Toughphone E10 (64GB Black)24 monthsdata200GB £25 upfront Monthly£21/mth £25 upfront £21/mth Visit Websiteat Fonehouse JCB Toughphone E10 (64GB Black)24 monthsdata400GB £25 upfront Monthly£21/mth £25 upfront £21/mth Visit Websiteat FonehouseShow moreShow less

Pros

+Decent build quality
+Acceptable camera
+Has eSIM support

Cons

-Outrageously overpriced
-Sub-par performance
-Only 4G
-Not upgradable to Android 16

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JCB Toughphone E10: 30-second review

First, let's clear up the JCB angle. JCB, the well-known digger company, does not make phones. The brand is operated by a company called JCB Phone, which was formed by the Genuine Case Company and has been licensed to use the JCB name since 2023. So what you're buying with the JCB Toughphone E10 is a Chinese ODM phone wearing a very well-known British industrial badge, sold through a UK company that holds the licence.

That might be irrelevant to the potential purchaser, but I’m a details guy.

Other than the not-so-subtle rebranding, what we have here is a ruggedised, low-specification Android 15 phone that uses a MediaTek Helio G36 SoC, comes with 4GB of RAM, and only 64GB of storage. But you can expand storage with a MicroSD card up to 512GB.

The G36 uses 2023 SoC technology, but it's derived from the P35, which appeared first in 2018. As a result, this phone is only 4G, and the Wi-Fi onboard is Wi-Fi 5. It has dual rear cameras, with a 50MP main sensor and an 8MP infrared night-vision camera.

In short, the specifications here are mostly those of an entry-level phone from about four years ago, with the possible exception of the camera. And for this, and the JCB logo, the makers are asking £300. At least twice what most rugged brands have as their starting point for a machine with a much better spec.

Unsurprisingly, based purely on value for money, the Toughphone E10 won’t be included in our guide to the best rugged phones.

(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)

JCB Toughphone E10: price and availability

How much does it cost? £300
When is it out? Available in the UK
Where can you get it? You can get it directly from JCB Phone or on Amazon.co.uk.

One slight oddity with this phone and others in its series, it appears JCB Phone can’t get its ducks in order regarding what they call their products. On the website, this phone is the Toughphone E10, but on the box it came in, it's labelled as the Tough Phone E10.

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