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The purpose of providing consumers with capable hardware that does not require constant monitoring and maintenance is the primary goal of rugged phones. Ulefone, on the other hand, takes a somewhat novel approach with its Armor 15 smartphone by incorporating a set of wireless earbuds into its design.
Ulefone is well-known for producing durable phones at an inexpensive price and with unusual designs. Although many of the company’s models are made to be affordable on virtually any budget, the Armor series is the most successful line for the brand because it combines excellent durability with a substantial battery.
On paper, the Ulefone Armor 15 seems like it would be an excellent choice for explorers, but how does it perform in practise? The purpose of this review is to make an attempt at responding to that question.
Specifications
| Passmark | 4505 |
| Connectivity | 4G/3G/2G, 2.4G Wi-Fi / 5G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC |
| Dimensions | 170.2 mm x 18.2 mm x 79.6 mm |
| RAM and Storage | 6GB, 128GB |
Ulefone Armor 15 review: Design
The Armor 15 is one of Ulefone’s most attractive designs, and it looks like it was made for an outdoor lifestyle rather than to protect against mortar fragments. This design is also a little bit smaller than a lot of tough designs because the designers only used a 5.45-inch screen and nothing bigger. This device is lighter than the 14 Pro, but only by a few grammes. It weighs 346 grammes.
Even though some of the corners are rounded and made of rubber, this isn’t something you’d want to hit you with on purpose or by accident. As with many other rugged phones, the camera cluster on the back is pushed out a few millimetres to make more room inside. Making it so that the device can’t sit nicely on a flat surface.
To make room for this protrusion, Ulefone also made a bulge on the bottom that stands out almost as much. This keeps the phone from slipping and keeps the coloured back from getting scratched. The only bad thing about this design is that it makes wireless charging impossible, which would let the user avoid unplugging the USB-C port and keep the phone waterproof.
The rubber plug-covered charging port is on the bottom, where you might expect it to be, and there are two similar covers on the other end that hide a secret about this design that we’ll talk about later. The layout of the buttons is mostly by the numbers. On the right, there is a dedicated camera button, the volume controls, and the power button. You can buy this smartphone from its official website.
Ulefone Armor 15 review: Display
In 2022, a display with a size of 5.45 inches and a resolution of 1,440 x 720 pixels is not the norm. But since the diagonal of the screen is still pretty small, the blurriness that a person sees is still not very big. The way the colours look and how the brightness is spread out are both fine, but the brightness itself is not.
Even though the Ulefone Armor 15 is brighter than the competing AGM Glory G1S, the 407 cd/m2 causes reflections when the phone is used outdoors, which is what the manufacturer had in mind. The lowest brightness setting is very bright, which makes it hard on the eyes to use at night. The screen has a slight blue tint that can be measured, but it doesn’t bother me when we use it. There were signs that temporal dithering was used in the test.
Ulefone Armor 15 review: Performance
The average processor in the Ulefone Armor 15 was a big letdown that ruined my overall experience with the phone. As soon as we got my hands on the phone. Since the performance is bad, it’s hard to switch between apps and games.
Even using a different launcher didn’t help, which was not what I thought would happen when we installed the Nova launcher. We were specially unhappy with how well games like PUBG Mobile worked on the phone. The Armor 15 had trouble keeping up with the game, and there was often lag, especially in scenes with a lot of graphics.
Ulefone Armor 15 review: Camera
Before, the SONY IMX350 was often used as the main camera on the back of the Ulefone, and the SONY IMX481 was used for selfies on the front. On the back, there is a Samsung S5K3M3 wide-angle camera to back up the newer SONY IMX363 camera. But the front has the same SONY IMX481 sensor.
The Pixel 3 and iPhone 11 both have the SONY IMX363 sensor, which is a great one, but it can only record 1080p videos. With a maximum resolution of 4032 x 3024, still images are usually very good, and a dedicated photo button makes it easy to get ready to shoot.
Ulefone Armor 15 review: Price and availability
The Armor 15 costs only $349.99 (plus shipping) from Ulefone North America, but it’s only $259.99 from the global Ulefone website (plus shipping). But the cheaper option is a global model, where the Armor 15 sold in the United States has been changed to work better with mobile communications.
Ulefone also sells a protective case for the phone, which is meant to protect it even more. When bought together on the global site, the phone and case cost $284.98. The back panel of the Armor 15 comes in black, red, and blue, but all three colours are mostly black.
Final words
This isn’t the most powerful rugged phone Ulefone has ever made. However, because the interface is pretty quick, most users won’t notice its limitations right away, which is a good thing.
Other problems include not being able to record better than 1080p video, not being able to use 5G communications, and only being able to stream Netflix in 480p. +Most of these problems have to do with the Helio G35 SoC and how it uses the ARM Cortex-A53 processor.
Ulefone Armor 15 Ratings
Pros
- Still image capture is decent
- Built-in wireless earbuds
- Dedicated photo capture button
Cons
- Weak display
- Limited to 1080p 30fps video
FAQs
Are Ulefone a good brand?
This is a good phone for pretty much everybody who usually has their headphones plugged in regardless. Price is reasonable, and it’s not something that’s going to break easy. In general, this phone is fantastic, especially considering that the whole price is less than $340. 5 out of 5 stars awarded Sound Done Nicely.
Who is the manufacturer of Ulefone?
Chinese trademark for mobile phones and other electronic devices; held by Shenzhen Gotron Electronics Group Co., Ltd.; either the mobile phones used in the British or European animation are owned by Gigaset or the Chinese trademark is owned by Shenzhen Gotron Electronics Group Co., Ltd.
Does Ulefone have Google?
The Google Discover app may be accessed by swiping to the right from the Home Screen. There is no bloatware to speak of on the Ulefone Armor 12, which comes with a standard set of software.