Ulefone Armor 8 Review

Overview

As long as it concerns the Armor series of ruggedized smartphones, Ulefone does not follow a strict pattern of offering every consecutive model with better specs than the previous one. The same is the case with the Ulefone Armor 8. It precedes the Armor 9 (check out our in-depth review here) and follows the Armor 7, both of which offer higher specifications. However, the Armor 8 should not be underestimated. For a rugged smartphone, it is quite a looker, comfortable enough to hold, and works just like any other mid-range smartphone out there. Moreover, its price is quite tempting. Let's delve into the details and begin with a thorough overview of the Armor 8 specifications.

Specifications

The Ulefone Armor 8 is built around a 6.1-inch in-cell IPS display with an HD+ resolution (720 x 1560 pixels). It has a solid body that combines metal with tough polycarbonate and TPU to remain protected. The device has a MIL-STD-810G certification for resistance to drops, shock, pressure, humidity, acidic atmosphere, temperature extremes, and similar types of impact. Under the IEC standard 60529, it is also IP68 and IP69K rated for water- and dust-resistance.

The smartphone is fueled by a 5580 mAh battery with 15W fast charging. Ulefone specifies that it would last for 16 hours of talking and 570 hours of standby. A MediaTek Helio P60 (MT6771) chipset ticks under its hood. Built on TSMC's 12 nm process, it packs an octa-core CPU with a couple of Cortex-A75 cores and six Cortex-A55 cores, all eight clocked at 2GHz. A tri-core ARM Mali-G72 MP3 clocked 800 MHz is responsible for the graphic performance. There are 4GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 64GB of storage onboard. The latter can be expanded up to 256GB.

A waterdrop notch above the display houses the 8MP front-facing camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 5-element lens. On the back, there are three shooters headed by a 16MP primary unit with an f/2.2 aperture. It is adjoined by a 5MP macro lens and a 2MP depth-sensing snapper.

The Armor 8 has a hybrid, dual Nano-SIM tray with both SIM cards supporting 4G VoLTE simultaneously. The network bands supported by both cards are as follows: 2G GSM (2/3/5/8), 2.5G CDMA (BC0/BC1), 3G WCDMA (1/2/4/5/8), 4G TDD-LTE (34/38/39/40/41), and 4G FDD-LTE (B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28A/28B/66). The wireless connectivity options of the Ulefone Armor 8 include Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Display. The smartphone also supports NFC and works with GPS, GLONASS, and Beidou.

The model is equipped with a USB Type-C 2.0 port with OTG support, a 3.5 mm jack, and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. The Armor 8 runs on slightly customized Android 10.

Complete Ulefone Armor 8 specifications.

What's in the box

The Ulefone Armor 8 arrived in the same updated box for the Armor series smartphones. Yellow, grey, and black colors with an industrial-style print convey the idea of toughness. The brand and model names are imprinted on the lid with the IP69K and IP68 rating icons. On the back, the usual data about main specs, features and certifications are provided. In addition to the phone, which sits on top of everything, the box contains:

• 5V/3A charger (EU plug)
• USB Type-C data cable
• Handling string
• Screen protector
• SIM-tray pin
• User manual in several languages
• Warranty card