The Ulefone Armor 10 is a solid (literally) mid-range phone, that should serve you well for a few years. It's not going to suit everyone, but if you're tired of constantly worrying about delicate electronics in the great outdoors, the Armor 10 means you can still enjoy some of the modern luxuries like multiple camera sensors and a large screen. The extended battery life also means you can spend less time worrying about where the next charge will come from.

Specifications
  • Brand: Ulefone
  • SoC: MediaTek Dimensity 800 (MT6873)
  • Display: 6.67" 2040 x 1080px
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Storage: 128GB
  • Battery: 5800mAh (around 2 days)
  • Ports: USB-C (headphone adaptor supplied)
  • Operating System: Android 10
  • Camera (Rear, Front): 64MP main, 8MP wide-angle, 5MP macro, 2MP depth-sensor, HD front camera
Pros
  • Built like a brick... house
  • Great camera system with wide-angle and truye macro lenses
  • Snappy UI
  • Two-day life thanks to 5800mAh battery
Cons
  • Large and heavy
  • 5G adds a lot to price, and most people can't use it
Buy This Product
Ulefone Armor 10 5G

Smartphones are getting thinner, and far from being the coveted communicators of a utopian future, they've become fragile vanity gadgets designed to break at a mere glance in the direction of tiled flooring. How quickly we forget bend-gate, when Apple was ridiculed for making a phone so thin it would literally bend when sat on. That is until everyone realized that all modern smartphones do, in fact, bend when sat on.

But not this one.

The Ulefone Armor 10 is built like a rubbery tank, and I'm confident you could take down an assailant in hand-to-hand combat with it. It may not be the fastest smartphone out there, but the large screen, long battery life, and great imaging system make it perfect for the outdoorsy type. Or, those prone to throwing their phone down the toilet bowl. Come on, don't tell me you've never done that.

Though certainly not as big a brand as Samsung or Xiaomi, Ulefone has been around since 2010 and its rugged phones are up there with the best. The Armor 10 can be found for anywhere from $450 to $600 depending on where you buy. At that price, I expect good performance, a snappy interface, a good camera (or five), and to deliver on the rugged promises. Thankfully, it does all that, and more.

We have another Ulefone Armor 10 to giveaway to one lucky reader. Read on to the end of this review to find out how to enter the competition!

Ulefone Armor 10 Design and Specifications

Featuring an enormous 6.67" display that runs at 1080x2400, a suitable glass screen protector is included in the package, as well as a USB-C to headphone adaptor, a nice thick charging cable, and an 18W charger. As well as fast-charging up to 12V 1.5A, the Ulefone Armor 10 also supports 15W Qi wireless charging.

ulefone armor 10 box contents

At over half an inch thick, and weighing 12oz (333g), you'll need particularly large and well-stitched pockets to carry the Armor 10. Most of that weight comes from the rugged encasement of rubber and metal, and from the oversized 5800mAh battery. That's around twice the capacity of most smartphones. I was able to comfortably get two days of typical use until it needed charging. Light users may even stretch that to two or three days. In my experience, it lost around 10% overnight.

ulefone armor 10 rear close up

Powering all this is a MediaTek Dimensity 800 System on a Chip (SoC), which consists of an MT6873 CPU with four A76 cores and four A55, as well as an ARM Mali G57 graphics chip. A healthy 8GB RAM round this off. 128GB storage is provided, which isn't enormous but can be expanded via a micro-SD slot.

A fingerprint sensor can be found on the rear, and face unlock is also available. Like most Android devices, the face unlock feature relies on image recognition rather than 3D scanning, so it isn't the most secure option. If your work demands higher security levels, stick to a long PIN code.

ulefone armor 10 outside in wood chips

A customizable multi-function button sits next to the SIM and micro-SD card tray on the left-hand side; while volume and power buttons are on the right.

One of the standout features of the Ulefone Armor 10 is that it's 5G ready. Unfortunately, I can't test that. I'm lucky if I get a single bar of 4G, and given we just banned the world's leading supplier of 5G network equipment from being installed here, the prospects of getting it anywhere in the UK are looking increasingly unlikely. While you too may not be able to take advantage of 5G yet, if you're living in a built-up area it's quite likely you will be able to before your device reaches its end of life, so it would be sensible to future proof the next smartphone you buy.

Photo and Video

I'm not sure why the camera systems are often overlooked on rugged phones. Photography and a love of the outdoors often go hand in hand, so it's great to an imaging system on the Armor 10 that punches well above its class.

ulefone armor 10 camera system

The primary rear sensor is 64MP, which is assisted by a 2MP depth sensor in portrait mode. For photos using the main sensor, you'll also find AI features that attempt to identify the type of photo you're taking, and adjust settings accordingly. If the AI detects a human face occupying most of the frame, for instance, it'll suggest portrait mode. (Note: these have been downsampled, as the full images are 9216 × 6912 pixels, and up to 20MB each.)

Greenery and sunset are also presets that I encountered during testing.

From the main photo mode, you can also switch to using the wide-angle lens, which uses an 8MP sensor with a 120-degree field of view. Wide-angle shots are great for capturing more of a landscape, or a large object in a small space.

Rounding off the four rear camera sensors is a 5MP macro lens. This allows for true macro photography at a fixed focal distance of around 3cm from the subject.

Macro images capture an incredible larger than life level of detail of small objects. I've tried macro photography before with some tacky clip-on lenses, and those just aren't in the same league.

Finally, of course, you'll find an HD front camera, though this is nothing remarkable.

Video can be shot using the main 64MP sensor at a maximum 4K@30FPS resolution, and results compared favorably to my iPhone X. In a low-light environment, you can see the Armor 10 is significantly sharper, with less noise. For a better idea of the video quality, be sure to watch the full review video up the top there.

ulefone armor 10 video frame sample

Though it's not unusual to find a myriad of camera senses on high-end handsets nowadays, if you're upgrading from something a few years old, I think this is one aspect of the Armor 10 that you'll really appreciate.

Media Experience

You'd think that watching movies would be a glorious experience on the Armor 10, thanks to the large 6.67" display. However, at a 9:20 size ratio, the majority of standard HD content is going to be shown with half an inch of black bars to the left and right. A better point of comparison might be of the size of image you'll see when watching a YouTube video full screen. This works out at 5.5 inches diagonal, though of course, you can scale it up simply enough if you don't mind cutting off a portion at the top and bottom.

But to be clear, this isn't unusual with modern smartphones, with tall and slim displays being the norm and as controversial as ever. If you want a screen perfectly suited to 16:9 HD content, you'll be restricted to very few models.

uelfone armro 10 watching youtube

The screen is therefore more suited to 21:9 cinematic movie viewing than YouTube, but in truth, I don't think you'll be doing much of that either, thanks to an intolerably bad speaker. It's best described as purely functional. Emanating from a single point situated on the rear of the device, audio is badly muffled when placing it on a table. Even when not placed on a table, it just can't compete with smartphones that have dual front-facing speakers.

Of course, this phone isn't primarily designed for media viewing, and you could skirt around this lack of decent audio just by using some inexpensive headphones.

Performance

Performance testing was tricky. GeekBench would run through an initial suite of tests, but crash out the moment they finished without assigning a score. Antutu was removed from the Google Play store last year.

In the end, I used 3DMark Wildlife test to pit the Armor 10 against my old iPhone X, and Sony Xperia XZ2. The Armor 10 beat the Xperia XZ2 by a few frames per second, but both were eclipsed by the iPhone X, which is now coming up to four years old.

I then turned to PerformanceTestMobile from PassMark, with results below for you to compare against.

In terms of raw performance then, the Armor 10 is mediocre at best, with scores putting it somewhere around the same level as an iPhone 6S Plus, or Mi 10.

That said, I'd always suggest caution when looking at raw performance. If you're looking at performance for gaming specifically, I went a few rounds with Call of Duty Mobile and it ran fine. Remember that smartphone games are designed to run on the most handsets they can, so unless you're right at the bottom of the pack or using an outdated OS, you should be fine.

Far more important is the feel of the UI, and how responsive the device is to touch actions. In that respect, the Armor 10 flies along, with no obvious slowdowns. Apps opened quickly, and everything was responsive to touch. Face unlock was quick.

Repairability and Ruggedness

The ruggedness claim is backed up by an IP69K rating for water, dust ingress, shock, and drop resistance. The only stipulation is that the USB-C port must have the rubber cover fully sealed, and you should refrain from using the speaker until it's fully dried out.

I'm not a fan of deliberately trying to break a device, but I put the Armor 10 through a fair beating.

armor 10 ruggedness testing soil and sand

I started with dust and soil, burying it in raised beds. The chickens were not amused.

armro 10 mud bath

Then I moved on to a relaxing mud bath, dropping and squishing it around until it was unrecognizably dirty.

wateproof testing the ulefone armor 10

Lastly, it needed a rinse, so I throw it into the river for a good long soak.

It remained on the whole time, and continued to function afterward, with but a few superficial scratches to the case. (Just remember not to use the speaker until it's dried fully)

The Armor 10 battery is not user-replaceable, and on a rugged device like this, any attempt to open it up for repairs would almost certainly impact the water and dust resistance. iFixit doesn't have a repair guide, and I was unable to source a screen replacement. I suspect you'd have difficulties getting this serviced by any third-party repair shops simply because it isn't as popular as the big brands.

On the other hand, it's hardy enough that you shouldn't need to get it repaired soon. If you do, you've probably broken it beyond the possibilities of repair anyway.

The large battery also offers a positive outlook for the lifespan of the Ulefone Armor 10. With other smartphones that may only last a day, after a few years, 50% battery loss would be frustrating. With the two-day life of the Armor 10, it would still be usable even if it needed charging every night.

Should You Buy The Ulefone Armor 10?

The highest praise I can give to the Armor 10 is that having swapped my SIM card out of my iPhone X a few weeks ago, I haven't looked back since. I really appreciate the large display and the long battery life, but as someone who works in the garden a lot, it's a peace of mind knowing I can drop it and not worry.

ulefone armor 10 and box

The 5G capability future-proofs the device, but it does add a fair chunk to the price. If you're confident your area won't get 5G in the next 5 years, you can get somewhat comparable specs elsewhere in the Ulefone range without 5G.

Ultimately the Ulefone Armor 10 is a solid (literally) mid-range phone, that should serve you well for a few years. It's not going to suit everyone, but if you're tired of constantly worrying about delicate electronics in the great outdoors, the Armor 10 means you can still enjoy some of the modern luxuries like multiple camera sensors and a large screen. The extended battery life also means you can spend less time worrying about where the next charge will come from.