I put the Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra through its paces — here’s why it’s a top rugged phone

Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra: 30-second review

The Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra follows the usual lines of other ultra-tough smartphones that I've looked at, with IP68/IP69K certification and military-grade MIL-STD-810H certification. This essentially means that if you're out in the field and caught in the rain or you're working on-site and drop the phone from a height, it should be able to withstand far more than your average consumer smartphone. Not only that, but it also comes packed with features designed for those working outside or travelling, with a high-powered battery that will last for days, a bright and responsive AMOLED screen, the latest Android 15 operating system, and the ability to connect handy accessories, such as an endoscope.

While many rugged smartphones offer a high level of durability and tools, one issue—aside from the bulk and weight—is a lack of processing power. However, here Ulefone has focused on premium-level performance, and, side by side against an iPhone 15 Pro, many of the test results are either better or on a par with one of the industry-standards, although iPhone 16 Pro does take that processing power up another notch.

As a smartphone, I found it fast and responsive, and using Google Docs and other applications, I could really get a taste of just how powerful this phone is. But like other rugged phones, whilst making calls and working on docs is par of the course, it's those other features that differentiate it from all other phones.

First and foremost, you have that rugged capability and the fact that you can drop it into water, and it can stay submerged up to 2m deep for up to 30 minutes, as I've tried in my test, although not quite to that 2m depth. It's impressive, and throwing and dropping the phone caused a mild scratch or two but nothing more major.

The big story here is that its performance is a huge leap up from most other smartphones, but then there are a few unique features that, while they may seem a little gimmicky, are actually extremely handy. The most obvious of these is the second AMOLED screen on the back of the phone, which enables you to show a traditional watch face so you can quickly check the time if you're working away and have your phone face down, as many people do. You can also swipe left or right when activated to scroll between a variety of other screens including notifications. Then, as with some of the other Armor phones, you have Ulefone’s Smart 2.0 technology, which enables you to connect to different accessories, including endoscopes, microscopes, and others.

Finally, to top it off, alongside the high-resolution cameras—which are backed by one in the centre—you also have an infrared camera, making this a truly exceptional phone for those working in trade as well as anyone working outdoors.

I've looked at plenty of ultra-tough and rugged smartphones, and while some have been a bit gimmicky and others overly weighty, none have come as close to the performance and quality of premium consumer smartphones. So, if you are looking to invest in a tough phone and don’t need both a consumer phone for everyday use and one for work, then I can highly recommend the Armor 28 Ultra as one of the best rugged phones for all environments and conditions.

Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra: Price & availability

• How much does it cost? Starting from $1999 / £1591
• When is it out? Available now
• Where can you get it? Direct from Ulefone

The Phone Armor 28 Ultra is widely available and can be purchased directly through the website by clicking here, as well as from major online retailers such as Amazon.

• Value: 4.5 / 5

Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra: Specifications

Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra: Design

Like many other rugged smartphones, the 28 Ultra is larger and heavier than most, with dimensions of 174 x 83 x 19 mm and a weight of 450 g. This is, however, pretty mid-range in the rugged smartphone world, and it will still fit relatively comfortably in a trouser or jacket pocket.

As with many smartphones, the camera technology is one of the big design features. On the back, there is a triple camera with the main camera, ultrawide, and night camera with infrared capabilities. One of the interesting design features of the 28 Ultra is that it's a dual-screen phone. That means it has a large 6.67-inch 120 Hz AMOLED screen with a peak brightness of 2200 nits and a resolution of 1080 x 2400 and 120 Hz refresh rate. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, which is fingerprint-resistant with its oleophobic coating.

On the back, there's that second screen, which is a circular 1.04-inch AMOLED screen with a peak brightness of 600 nits, a resolution of 340 x 340, and a refresh rate of 60 Hz. Again, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, this small screen is used for notifications and displaying the date and time, but you've also got some quick actions on there, including the ability to activate music, which is a really nice touch.

Take a look around the rest of the phone, and on the left-hand side, as you look at the screen, you have the TF SIM card slot, which features dual SIM and a microSD card slot for storage expansion. Next to this is a customisable button, which is anodised in orange and can be assigned to SOS. Below that, you have the U-Smart connector, enabling you to attach different accessories such as the endoscope and microscope.

On the bottom of the phone, you have a USB Type-C connector, which needs to be covered with a small rubber bung to ensure that it stays watertight if the phone is submerged underwater. Then, on the right-hand side of the phone, you have another anodised orange button, which is used to activate the camera and function as the shutter button. Above this, you have the power button with fingerprint recognition, and then the volume up and down buttons. Finally, when you look at the top of the phone, there's yet another small rubber bung, which, when pulled out, reveals the standard 3.5 mm headphone jack.

So when it comes to design, it's very much rugged and features pretty much all of the standard functions and features you would expect with this style of phone, but with a few key additions: the U-Smart attachment, the secondary screen on the back, and the additional customisable button on the side.

• Design: 5 / 5

Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra: Features

• 10600mAh battery
• IP68/IP69K and MIL-STD-810H certification

As with any smartphone, especially a rugged one, the Armor 28 Ultra is packed with features, so I'll run through a few of the major ones that stood out during the test. First and foremost is the processor and GPU, with the Dimensity 9300+ coupled with the Immortalis-G720 processor, providing more power than you'd normally expect from a rugged smartphone. What's more, there is also the MediaTek MPU 790 AI MPU that boosts the power of both of these processors.

Finalising the hardware is 16 GB of RAM, which is LPDDR5X. Through this test, it proved to be more than enough for most applications and games that I tried. There is also 1TB of ROM, which is UFS 4.0, and this proved to be incredibly quick—faster than most smartphones.

It is worth noting just how powerful this CPU, GPU, and MPU combination is. In order to keep all of these cool, an advanced cooling system has been incorporated into the Armor 28 Ultra, which does help to maintain performance throughout.

While the CPU and GPU are impressive, it is the inclusion of the new AI engine, the MPU 790, that really makes the difference to this phone. It also provides access to processing ready for a multitude of third-party applications, including Google Gemini and Meta. One of the nice touches here is that Ulefone has included its own AI software, which is featured on the phone and enables you to make quick image adjustments as well as access other functions and features.

As with many ultra-tough phones, the camera is a major part of the device, with three cameras, four IR LEDs, a built-in flash, and, of course, a front camera for when you're taking selfies or recording videos. The first of the cameras is the main camera, and unlike the ultra-high-resolution options that have appeared on many rugged phones recently, this is limited to a 50-megapixel main camera. However, what's interesting here is that it features a Sony IMX989 1-inch sensor. That larger sensor will give better low-light performance than those ultra-high-resolution sensors and should also result in decent image quality for a device of this size and type. The main camera is coupled with another 50-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 64-megapixel ultra-night vision camera, giving you plenty of options.

One of the features that I really like to see is the fact that it also includes a flash. A little bit of fill-in flash is always good, and although small, it does take a decent job. The other addition to the array of lenses that you see on the back of the phone are four IR lenses, which are grouped together and can be used alongside the OmniVision OV64B sensor. This enables the Night Elf Ultra 3.0 algorithm to capture night vision images.

One of the other features that I found on the phone, which doesn't really seem to be covered in the literature on the website aside from a small mention, is the fact that there's a thermal camera built in. Opening up Thermal View Pro App brings up a very proficient thermal imaging camera that enables you to pinpoint different areas and the temperatures, as well as select and measure subsections of the image so that you can determine what temperatures are. This makes it an absolutely ideal option for mechanics and all trades where a thermal camera in a tough phone can be extremely useful.

Staying on the usefulness for trade, there's also the U-Smart 2.0 technology. This enables you to connect other devices, such as an endoscope or microscope, and because it utilises a dedicated port rather than the USB Type-C port, it keeps that free for charging and external power.

When it comes to power, internally there's a huge 10,600 mAh battery that will keep the phone operating for up to two days. During the test, it lasted for an entire week before it needed a recharge. It also features 120W flash charging, essentially meaning that you can reach a charge of 40% in just 10 minutes. Additionally, it supports reverse charging, so if you have a wireless device such as earbuds, a watch, another phone, or anything else, you can place it onto the back of the 28 Ultra, and it will enable reverse charging.

While there are plenty of rugged phones out there, and many that will appeal to those working in trade or travelling off the beaten track, the Armor 28 Ultra is by far the most powerful and, by all means, the most useful rugged smartphone in terms of features that I've yet seen.

• Features: 3.5 / 5

Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra: Performance

• Thermal Camera
• Robust and waterproof

When it comes to performance, one of the main features of the Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra has to be just how rugged it is. Like many other tough smartphones on the market, it can withstand more than most, but what I really like about the 28 Ultra is that it sits in the mid-range when it comes to size and weight. This means you can fit it into a trouser or jacket pocket without too much issue.

When it comes to durability, being thrown, dropped, and submerged into a stream seemed to have little effect on the phone in any way at all, aside from getting a little bit muddy and wet. At present, the water temperature is at the point of freezing, so not only is the phone able to withstand water but also extremely cold temperatures. In the test, I left the phone submerged under some rocks in a stream for 30 minutes before returning to see how it was coping, and it was absolutely fine. After a quick dry-off, everything functioned as normal. As ever, because of the capacitive screen, the screen does need a wipe before responsiveness returns, but otherwise, all other functions were absolutely fine.

It is worth noting that, unlike some other rugged smartphones that are fully waterproof with the USB Type-C port exposed to the elements, here the rubber bung does need to be properly inserted, as does the 3.5 mm jack at the top of the device.

So when it came to testing the ruggedness and durability of the smartphone, as I've seen with other Ulefone devices, I was extremely impressed. This phone really withstands far more than your average consumer smartphone.

Phone Usage Performance

The next test normally highlights where smartphones fall down slightly in terms of processing and graphics abilities. However, after running the full list of benchmarking tests, the Armor 28 Ultra actually maxed out on the Sling Shot 3DMark test. When it came to checking out the Geekbench results and all other 3DMark benchmarks, they actually compared almost directly with my iPhone 15 Pro, producing very similar, if not better, results across the board.

In real-world use, checking out Google Docs and updating spreadsheets over a cellular connection using both EE and Vodafone pay-as-you-go SIMS was no issue at all.

Pushing the processing a little further and using Lightroom Mobile, the phone was able to easily handle the graphics processing power required to make and save image enhancements, as well as browse through the library, which was impressive. Pushing the phone even further, I opened up CapCut to edit a quick social media video, and once again, the processing power of this phone really impressed. It was able to handle 4K video editing, apply edits, and share the content without any slowdown or issues.

Finalising the real-world tests, I loaded up a couple of games and was again impressed with just how smooth the gameplay was. Playing Need for Speed No Limits was an enjoyable experience, with the phone more than capable of handling the graphics.

The final performance test for the phone was to check its cellular connectivity. Utilising both a Vodafone and an EE SIM card, I was able to test how robust and strong the connection is. Now, at present, the local Vodafone mast is a little temperamental, which is why this dual SIM card setup works so well. While the Vodafone mast shows a 5G signal, it currently doesn’t supply any data, whereas switching over to the EE SIM provided a 4G signal. While that might be slower, it works. Driving into the city, the phone hit 5G speeds with impressive results, and likewise, stepping into a café and connecting to the local Wi-Fi, the phone was able to achieve exceptional performance.

Second Screen

The dual-screen approach is something quite new to smartphones, and it's actually the first time I’ve seen it on a rugged phone of any type. I have to say that it’s far from a gimmick. First and foremost, a quick double tap of the rear screen quickly activates it, showing the watch interface. Whilst the default theme is a little steampunk, you can easily swap it for one of the more attractive faces, and doing so is really easy—just another double tap brings up the options.

Swiping through the dual-screen options, the first app is the music app. If you've got this connected to your music library, you can very quickly access your music using this small screen. Swiping left brings up the clock, left again brings up the compass, then calendar, and a final swipe brings up the camera option. Now, what’s interesting here is that when you use the camera option, it actually utilises one of the high-quality rear cameras rather than the usual selfie camera, which I really liked.

So while at first that second screen might seem a little gimmicky, in actual use, it really does come in handy.

U-Smart 2.0

The Armor 28 Ultra isn't the first Ulefone device to include the U-Smart 2.0 connector, which enables you to attach endoscopes, microscopes, and other accessories. For anyone working in trade, this is a superb option. If you need to check down a drain, behind a radiator, or into a small hole, rather than using a mirror or other technique, you can use this small endoscope. In use it enables you to twist and manoeuvre it to get a far better view of what’s going on, and again, for mechanics and tradespeople, this addition makes this phone a worthwhile purchase.

The U-Smart accessories are obviously beneficial, but on top of that, you also have the thermal camera and supporting app—another feature of this phone that will really appeal to those in trade.

Cameras

One of the final big features of this phone that I really wanted to check out was the camera, especially considering that one of them is backed by a huge 1-inch sensor. While a 1-inch sensor isn’t unusual in the photography industry, it’s usually only found in premium compact cameras and has only just started appearing in some of the more expensive action cameras. Essentially, while the resolution of the main camera is 50MP, the larger sensor size means that each pixel is bigger, allowing for better low-light performance than higher-resolution models.

Sure enough, in use, I was really impressed with the image quality of this smartphone. While I wouldn’t say it competes with the likes of the iPhone 15 and 16 Pro, it is still a definite step up from other rugged smartphones and even gives many premium smartphones a run for their money when it comes to detail, tone, and quality.

Switching to the 50MP ultrawide camera, you can really see the quality come through. Landscape shots taken with the ultrawide lens look great, and for anyone travelling who needs a really tough phone, the camera quality will not disappoint.

The final camera is, of course, the low-light camera. When coupled with the IR LEDs, the difference in quality between a standard low-light image and one captured with this phone is significant. The camera captures IR rather than standard visible light, and while the images are monochrome rather than colour, the detail and clarity are superb. It is worth noting that there is a slight limitation on distance.

Battery Life

Finishing off with performance, a mention has to go to the battery. This battery is already far larger than what you find in most consumer-focused smartphones. Using the phone daily in the field, there was little to no need to charge it. Over the course of the month-long test, I probably only needed to charge the phone three, maybe four times, compared to my regular phone, which requires daily charging.

• Performance: 5 / 5

Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra: Final verdict

I’ve reviewed a quite a few rugged smartphones over the last year, and many of them have impressed, with each carving out its own niche—whether featuring projectors, camping lights, ultra-high-capacity batteries, or infrared capabilities. While the Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra doesn’t include a projector, it does have pretty much everything else.

What really makes this rugged smartphone stand out is just how fast the processing is and how much it feels like a regular premium smartphone.

Okay, it is a little bulkier and heavier, but few other smartphones can withstand the drops and harsh environments that this phone takes in stride. It is an ideal option for anyone working in trade or looking for a phone to use while travelling.

At present, after extensive testing, this rugged smartphone is by far the best I have seen.

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