Which outdoor smartphone?

My Samsung S5 has to be replaced. (Android no longer upgradeable / supported, dropped too often). The performance / speed is not primarily the reason for something new, I still want to improve myself.

I wanted to get a well-protected one again, as I've been outdoors a lot since last year. Hiking / mountain biking etc. And that in any weather. For this I primarily have a Garmin GPSmap66s, the cell phone should serve as a backup for it.

What do I do with it: Surfing, Netflix, hiking navigation (as a backup), route planning / fitness with Garmin apps and devices, Whatsapp + Signal. I don't gamble…

absolutely robust, comparable to Garmin GPS devices. So it has to be able to fall into the mud, sand or on rock.
At least Android9 (iOS is no longer available due to lack of app support)
large battery (5000mAh or more)
The performance data (RAM / memory / processor) should be significantly better than my old S5, which shouldn't be difficult. The camera is of secondary importance as I often have a Fuji system camera with me.
Good GPS, compass, readability
It would be desirable to have an eyelet for a hand strap / carabiner to hang it on the rucksack
Budget approx. 500 euro (whether new or used does not matter)

I have now come across all the (supposedly) super robust IP68 Rugged Phones. Unfortunately, these have been mostly badly rated China hits so far. But have they caught up in the meantime? How are the experiences with e.g. Blackview or Ulefone? With Samsung Xcover and CAT, the price / performance ratio is pretty bad.

Alternatively, can someone recommend a good cover for standard smartphones like the Samsung A21 etc? That would be plan B.

Have a look at Cat or Kyocera

Yes my friend was climbing and it fell out of his pocket from 5 meters and no display tore only a few scratches on the rear camera but was still intact

A friend of mine has the Cat smartphone, it is indestructible, but the operation suffers. Only Android 5 is installed and no newer version is available.

In addition, the performance leaves a lot to be desired and it is generally just a real steel block in the hand.

A friend of mine has the Cat smartphone

There's no such thing as THE Cat smartphone.

The current S62 has Android 10 and is roughly comparable to the Samsung A21 in terms of performance. But that costs two to three times as much.

Since when I look at some normal smartphones, they have already become huge. 6 "rather the lower limit.

I like to have a steel block in my hand as long as it's not the size of half a tablet (the Doogee S88 is extreme)

👍 Sure, he had the current model at his time, which did not receive any system updates and was not very good at the time.

That's what I meant by that, it may have changed.

Yes, it still seems like that. Performance seems to have improved in general. Probably also because other entry-level hardware is now sufficient for everything except high-end games.