There are a few ruggedized phones out there. I bought some cheap Oukitel phones to use as an order pad in restaurant I used to run, because I was fed up with two waitresses dropping and breaking pads. When I sold the business, I kept one. I use it mainly in my boat, as GPS, plotter, speedometer, weather...

The thing drops, gets wet, handled without care.

These phones exist. They are not top performance dogs, but can be quite decent. Why arent they in the front line? Because demand

Rubbish. If my phone isn't so thin that it can double as a knife, it's not worth buying.

Even if it were thicker I'd still slap on a sacrificial glass screen protector atop it. I've dropped my phone only a handful of times, and so far have only ever broken the protector.

Just slap a shield on it, there's your added thickness and better drop resistance all in one!