Ulefone Armor 7 review

Wrap-up

We are quite pleased with the overall experience we've had with the Ulefone Armor 7. It is indeed one very rugged smartphone with all sorts of protection. The visible screws and the mix of metal and rubber on the sides make it feel and look extra safe.

Surprisingly, the Armor 7 was quite adequate when it came to its smarts as well. It has a very good screen, capable chip, and if operated with the right mindset and patience - a skillful trio of cameras on the back. The clean Android OS (from ads and clutter) and the additional apps are very welcome. But the whole deal is sealed nicely with the never-ending battery autonomy.

The position of the fingerprint scanner and the Function key is definitely not okay and hurt the smooth experience big time. And while we can live without one of the shortcuts on the extra key, we can't swallow the compromises in the fingerprint reader. We ended up using the PIN only, but it's always up to you to decide whether you will learn how to avoid touching the sensor, accept it as is, or disable it altogether.

And having said all of these, the Ulefone Armor 7 is definitely one of the best rugger phones you can buy. It looks like a CAT, but it's cheaper than one and yet more powerful. How about that?!

Alternatives

Indeed, the Ulefone Armor 7 costs €450, which is half of what the CAT is asking for its S61. The most powerful CAT so far has a 5.2" LCD 1080p screen, a dated Snapdragon 630 chip, and a single 16MP camera. This CAT has something the Armor 7 doesn't have - a thermal FLIR camera. It's up to you to device whether the thermal imaging skill is worth €450 or more though.

CAT has the S52 model priced the same as the Armor 7 but it's a far inferior entry-level smartphone with 5.65" HD screen, a rather feeble Helio P35 chip, a 12MP main camera, and small 3,100 mAh battery. It is as tough as the Armor 7, but that's about the only match you'd find between the two specs sheets.

The Galaxy S8 Active may be one very limited and 3 years-old phone, but it is as rugged as the Armor 7 and is way more powerful with premium 5.8" Super AMOLED QHD screen, Snapdragon 835 chip, and a high-end 12MP camera with OIS. It has been upgraded to Android Pie and was about $500 the last time it was officially available. With enough determination, we are sure you will be able to find one somewhere around the globe and ship it to your location. Then again, it's a 3-years old smartphone.

Cat S61 • Cat S52 • Samsung Galaxy S8 Active

The verdict

In this rugged CAT-dominated niche, Ulefone has consistently offered better and more thoughtful offers. And the Armor 7 is no different. It is a tough one to break, if possible, at all, with lots of modern specs and outstanding battery life.

You can see Ulefone has put commendable efforts on all fronts, including the impressive retail package, and we liked what we saw a lot. And that's why it's just mind-blogging how the maker did not consider the complications of the fingerprint reader and function key positions. And even then, it's still one of the best rugged phones you can get today.

Pros

• The toughest phone we've met, handsome at that
• Large enough screen with excellent contrast
• Top-notch battery life
• Good enough performance
• Pleasant photos and videos, once you get the handle of the camera
• Clutter-free and ad-free Android OS

Cons

• Compromised experience because of the fingerprint reader position
• The camera always defaults to the upscaled version of the photos it should be saving
• Dedicated night camera is quite poor
• The USB-C hole is a bit deeper and renders most of the USB-C cable useless
• No 3.5mm jack

Special thanks to GearBest for providing the review unit.