Ulefone Armor 11T 5G

PRICE

• Ulefone Armor 11T 5G $299.99
  View Offer

Ulefone Armor 11T 5G Rugged Phone

Ulefone has launched its first outdoor smartphone with 5G technology, the Armor 10. The device convinced us in the test, but the smartphone’s retail price of around $400 is not exactly low. Now – 3 months later – Ulefone already presents the successor with the Armor 11 5G. Or? Not quite. The model name suggests that it could be the successor, but the Armor 11T 5G is rather an addition to the product range. This is made clear by a few compromises that the new model has to make compared to its big brother. Fortunately, the cost-cutting measures ensure that the device is already available for around $300 at market launch.

The Ulefone Armor 11T 5G is unmistakably an outdoor smartphone. The dimensions of 164 x 83 x 15 millimeters and a weight of just under 298 grams primarily contribute to that. Compared to the Armor 10 5G, the device is more compact and lighter, but it is still difficult to use with one hand.

The front of the smartphone features a 6.1-inch display surrounded by conspicuously thick edges. A waterdrop notch protrudes into the display on the upper side and creates space for the front-facing camera. Fortunately, there is also a notification LED to the right of it. The Armor 11T 5G is charged via USB-C on the bottom, as it should be. The charging port is not covered by an annoying rubber cap like in other outdoor devices. Nevertheless, the smartphone is protected against dust and water according to MIL-STD-810G and IP68/IP69K, so even a dive of 30 minutes at a depth of up to 1.5 meters is possible.

The bottom line is that the Armor 11T 5G is a solidly built outdoor smartphone that exhibits the usual characteristics of this class. However, it is regrettable that the device looks a bit more old-fashioned compared to its predecessor. Especially the thick display edges are no longer appropriate in this price segment.

In order to achieve a lower price than that of the Armor 10 5G, Ulefone had to cut corners with the Armor 11T 5G. Unfortunately, this is particularly evident in the smartphone’s display. With a resolution of 1560 x 720 pixels on a 6.1-inch display diagonal, the display only achieves a pixel density of 281 pixels per inch. The difference to a Full HD resolution is therefore perceptible and pictures as well as texts look a bit more granular. For a smartphone that costs over 300€, the meager resolution is actually a no-go.

In terms of performance, the Ulefone Armor 11T 5G is clearly based on the Armor 10 5G. The newcomer also relies on the fairly new Dimensity 800 SoC from Mediatek. The octa-core processor is manufactured in a 7nm process and directly competes with Qualcomm’s 700 Snapdragons. Four Cortex-A76 cores with a maximum of 2 GHz provide maximum performance and four Cortex-A55 cores with a maximum clock rate of 2 GHz are supposed to ensure low energy consumption in less demanding tasks. In a direct comparison, the mid-range chip is narrowly beaten by the Snapdragon 750G, but it provides enough performance in combination with the Mali-G57 GPU to render current games smoothly. Accordingly, everyday tasks are no challenge for the Ulefone Armor 11 5G. Everything runs smoothly and without jerks or noticeable waiting times.

Let’s start with the main camera. It uses Sony’s IMX582 sensor with 48 megapixels, which is also installed in the Redmi K40, for example. Colorful and dynamic photos with a decent quality can be taken in good light conditions. Only the artificial sharpening disturbs the details a bit and sometimes makes the pictures look unnatural. However, smaller details are usually still perceptible.

A 5,200 mAh battery is installed in the Ulefone Armor 11T 5G for the necessary energy. It provides a runtime of approximately 14.5 hours in the PCMark benchmark. That is a strong rate and proof that Mediatek’s more modern processors have become much more frugal. Thus, the Armor 11 5G can easily be used for two days without having to go to the power outlet.

SPECS