The Ulefone Armor 7 is a phone design I wish others would build to give more choice
There are so many amazing new phones released seemingly every week, if not day, but pretty much every single one requires a case if you want to keep it in good nick for more than a few months.
Samsung has dabbled with ruggedised versions of its flagships, and in the past manufacturers like Motorola have produced rugged models. Yet for some reason, nobody seems interested in making them today. If you want a new phone the chances are it will have a glass front and back.
These look amazing in press shots, and feel nice in the hand. Sadly, they’re often a nightmare to live with; from gaining fingerprints almost just by looking at them, to the obvious fragile nature that’s at odds with modern daily living.
So people obviously buy a protective case. These then add bulk and potentially hide much of what made the all-glass phone look so good in the first place.
Out of fashion
So why aren’t more rugged phones being offered? A decent, high-spec, phone that simply looks like it has a case added already – but reducing the overall size by not having to fit around a fragile shell? Or perhaps incorporating a far bigger battery for a similar footprint.
Well, it seems the industry just doesn’t seem interested. Perhaps this is in part due to networks, who are the ‘real’ customers, not wanting to sell them and thus reducing demand.
They also don’t look as sexy for marketeers to promote, which is perhaps the principle reason you won’t likely see Samsung, Huawei or Apple producing anything like this soon. Perhaps Samsung will dabble again, the active range have never been a thing for UK customers.
So if the big boys won’t do it, it leaves the likes of Ulefone to fill the void for what I’m sure isn’t an insignificant number of people who would like a phone that can be used and abused, and still keep on working – and looking – like new.
Its latest release is the Ulefone Armor 7, which may not quite be flagship territory, but is certainly not far behind. If other models are anything to go by, it will also be very aggressively priced.
Powered by a MediaTalk Helio P90 chipset, with AI support, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, the Ulefone Armor 7 has a very respectable specification.
It ships with Android Pie and perhaps the only concern will come from the level of support the handset receives going forward, from OS updates to security patches.
Screenwise, there’s a 6.3-inch teardrop notch display for the front-facing 16-megapixel selfie camera.
It’s also equipped with a 48-megapixel main camera on the rear, with a 16-megapixel night camera and 8-megapixel telephoto lens (with 10x zoom support) accompanying.
I’ve not personally owned or used a Ulefone handset, but there are plenty of handsets for sale from Amazon, which seem to get very good reviews. The obvious ‘buyer beware’ motto plays a part here, but buying from Amazon provides greater peace of mind than a random stab-in-the-dark purchase from China direct.
An exact release date and pricing is not yet available, but the company states you will be able to find out more from its website soon.
Thanks for your article on the forthcoming Armor 7. I bought a Armor X (£101) and a Armor 5 (£145), both Android 8.1 over a year ago, plus two wireless chargers (£15 each) direct from dx.com, delivery took up to 45 days from China, had them over a year now, and they have been great. Have had a couple ota updates, no bloatware. I like their toughness, especially the protruding rubber on the corners, which makes them easy to hold onto. I like them better than anything else available, but imagine might struggle to get any warranty/service. Armor 7 spec looks good, hope it is no bigger/heavier than Armor X, which is max size I wish to have.