Ulefone launched its latest new budget rugged smartphone from the Power Armor Series, and this series is undoubtedly one of the best budget rugged smartphones that offer us value for the price, now Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro has been launched, and its upgraded version of Power Armor 14.
This is an upgrade with great specifications in terms of MediaTek Helio G85 Octa-core processor, 6GB RAM and up to 128GB storage, Android 12, 20MP rear camera, with a capacity of 10000mAh, and most importantly a durable design with IP68 and IP69K protection, regardless of these specifications, how well it performs and whether it is worth an upgrade, all this and more in this review.
Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro Features
- Stock Android 12
- Mediatek Helio G85 Octa-Core
- 6GB RAM + 128GB eMMC
- 6.52″ HD+ Waterdrop Display
- 20MP Triple Rear Camera
- 10000mAh Battery, 18W Quick Charge
- Waterproof IP68/IP69K
- Dual 4G Network, NFC
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Design And Build Quality
The design in the Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro is a rugged smartphone that has an appearance solid and durable, as Ulefone has got us used to, it features a large screen on the front and on the back a high-quality synthetic rubber layer with a length of 175.6mm and a width of 82.5mm with a solid metal frame and with rubber cushions to suck the impact and give a large thickness of 17.2mm a wonderful feeling when held in your hand despite its weight of 358.2g, yes it’s very heavy, But it’s acceptable in a durable phone, I hope it performs as well. If you ask me about the manufacturing quality, there is nothing to complain about, at an affordable price.
On The Front
In front of the device is a full screen measuring 6.52 inches with very thin bezels on the sides, and at the bottom, there is a very narrow chin, in addition to the Dot Drop notch from the top that contains a 16MP camera on the middle of the top for taking selfies and video chats, which we will talk about a lot soon.
On The Back
On the back, has a rugged-looking panel made of a high-quality synthetic rubber layer, which gives it an appearance of solid and durable, What will catch your attention is the Triple cameras and flash in the upper with a protrusion. Under the camera is the name “Ulefone” and what makes it more durable, in the corners, there are cushions for extra protection and comfort when holding the phone.
Ports And Buttons
As for the ports, the phone comes with a USB Type-C port from the bottom, while there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack at the top. The buttons are, as usual, the power button with a built-in fingerprint sensor, the volume button, and the dual SIM with the memory slot. It should be noted that there is a customizable shortcut button on the side that can be programmed to 6 different function shortcuts or quickly start any other app you preset.
Waterproof
The Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro is covered by high-quality synthetic rubber and rated with IP68 and IP69K, which means it is dust-resistant, scratch-resistant, shock- and drop-resistant, and water-resistant up to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes.
Power Armor 14 Pro – Display Quality
Even in 2022, if you’re talking about a Chinese budget smartphone, it will most likely be an LCD IPS screen, and that’s what the Ulefone Power Armor 14 offer, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad because it’s a big 6.52 inches HD+ with a good resolution of 720 x 1600 px giving you bright, sharp colors and wide viewing angles which are more than great for consuming visual content or otherwise. So, I will not say that it’s the best screen, but in the budget category, you will get the best value for what you pay, a large and high-quality screen suitable for media consumption, whether you are watching videos, or playing games, or browsing social media.
Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro – Cameras
One of the main points of the Ulefone Armor 14 Pro is the cameras. In terms of their specifications, there is nothing to worry about, but the last word remains in the actual performance. On the back, you get a Triple-camera setup that features a 20MP primary camera with SONY IMX350 CMOS sensor, 1.0µm, 6 piece lens, FOV 81°, ƒ/1.8 large aperture, For the rest of the cameras, you have a 2MP Macro Lens with GC02M2 CMOS sensor, FOV 75°, FF (4cm), ƒ/2.8 aperture and a Depth sensor.
So far, the technical specifications are fine, so let’s move on to the realistic performance, in photography under good lighting, the cameras can take really good pictures and capture a lot of details with beautiful color saturation, so I liked the cameras, but in the night photos, they lacked quality with that, still more than just good cameras considering the price.
In front of selfies or video chats, you get a 16MP camera with SONY IMX481 CMOS sensor, 1.0µm, 5 piece lens, FOV 77°, ƒ/2.2 aperture.
You can record videos on 720p, 480p video recording, and 30fps from both front and back cameras in well-lit environments with some poor stability.
Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro Performance
As although we want resistance, we also want quality, the smartphone has decent specifications to fulfill most of the features, Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro offers great performance in most of its basic and entertainment uses such as browsing the web, watching videos on YouTube, using social media applications, even playing games, as everything worked efficiently and without facing any problems with stopping applications or high degrees.
Well, Its time to expose Power Armor 14 Pro to some tasks that need more effort and there is nothing better than playing games with high settings, the conditions here differ according to the application, game, or any type of program that need large resources, and because the processor used is Mediatek Helio G85 Octa-Core SoC based on two fast ARM Cortex-A75 cores with up to 2GHz for performance tasks and six small ARM Cortex-A55 with up to 1.8 GHz for efficiency and 12mm architecture. This processor provides decent performance for general usage was everything smooth even in medium-graphics games. Also this processor it’s present in many models of famous brands such as Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 2021 or Infinix Note 10, Realme 7i, Xiaomi Redmi Note 9. So, Smartphone with this CPU at price under $200 is a good choice.
GPU
Thanks to the integrated Arm Mali-G52 GPU, the performance was good in games, but it depends on the type of game and its requirements, and sometimes there is a kind of delay, although it did not constitute an obstacle. However you will be able to play demanding Android titles online like Call of Duty: Mobile without suffering any noticeable drop in frame rate across games and it is also capable of running PUBG Mobile very efficiently in HD with frame rate set to high.
Memory
Most of the applications run very quickly and thanks to the 128GB storage space, it would be suitable for installing any application you need, with the ability to expand via a Micro SD card to 1TB.
And for multitasking, browsing between applications was smooth because it is equipped with 6GB RAM which is more than enough for most of the tasks that you can do with a smartphone such as keeping many applications or large games running in the background. In Short, for multitasking, this smartphone will give you a positive experience.
Playing Content & DMR Information
To play the content on YouTube, was very smooth. You can play videos at a maximum of 720p at 60 FPS without any problems or lag, And this is the highest quality you can get.
Next, let’s take a look at the DMR information and Widevine security. I can tell you I’m a little disappointed with this because it’s only Level 3, so you won’t be able to get HD on Netflix or other streaming services. and this level maybe not be found on all Chinese smartphones without exaggeration. However, you can still enjoy Netflix and all other streaming services in 480p resolution.
Software
First of all, one of the standout features of the Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro is that it will be an early adopter of Android 12 for a better user interface, privacy dashboard, and some interesting customization additions with UI that has better gesture navigation controls, a Dark Theme, and contains most of the features that come with the system, the most important of which is the presence of all Google services, Making the smartphone experience smoother and more personalized.
As I always say, the stock Android system is best for cheap devices, with a simple and smooth launcher for better performance, especially since it does not contain pre-installed apps or games, I really hate this because of the large number of ads, Thanks here it is different. However, it has some toolkit apps but does not burden the device and is without pop-up ads.
Connectivity
Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro is a dual-SIM smartphone equipped with a SIM slot that accommodates two 4G nano-sim cards that support all bandwidth offerings of 4G and 3G and so on, so its expected that you will get wide coverage and good signal quality for making phone calls and accessing the Internet easily, In addition to having a MicroSD card on the same socket.
To connect to WiFi networks, the Power Armor 14 supports dual bandwidths of 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and of course, there is Bluetooth 5.0. That’s not all, there are also some basic sensors for a smartphone, including a gyroscope, accelerometers, and even an electronic compass. Also, Armor 14 has NFC so you can make mobile payments ( Supports Google Pay ).
Armor 14 Pro Battery And Charging Time
Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro has a built-in 10000mAh non-removable Li-Po battery that allows 12-15 hours of continuous use for surfing the Internet, Google, YouTube, and following social media, of course, the time is less when playing games and with moderate use, it will stay with you for a whole day on one charge it mostly takes about 4 hours to fully charge 10000mAh using Type-C with support wireless charging at 15W, and there is fast charging supports 18W is not very fast but better than the basic 10W or 5W. However, I can say that the battery was very good.
For a regular user, the battery will easily last for a whole working day, depending on your usage such as the times you open the screen, and the type of applications you run, also it suffices for more than 12h consecutive of watching videos. however, its performance was good and this is mostly because it is equipped with stock Android 12 doesn’t have many pre-installed programs, even the interface is simple without any complications or processes in the background and this is what limits battery drain.
Final Verdict
Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro is another rugged phone with a good screen and great cameras, long-lasting battery with 18W fast charge, and one of the main selling points is Android 12, plus 20MP AI tripel-camera, etc. All this does not mean that it is flawless because cannot watch Netflix in HD resolution even the GPU is not above average. But, compared with rugged phone counterparts, it’s excellent in every aspect while being affordable. So, Power Armor 14 Pro will not disappoint you and is well deserved to be one of the best-rugged phones for 2022 in this range.
Power Armor 14 Pro Price And Where To Buy
The Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro Smartphone is currently available on the AliExpress Store and Banggood for a very good price So, don’t miss out on this great deal. And to view its price or buy it, you can access the offer by clicking on the store icon.
What’s in the Box?
- Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro Smartphone
- Data Cable (100cm)
- Protective Film (Pre-installed)
- Tempered Glass Screen Protector
- EU Charger
- SIM needle
- Sling
Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro Specifications
| Model | Ulefone Power Armor 14 Pro (6GB+128GB) |
| Network | 2G: GSM B2/3/5/8 3G: WCDMA B1/2/4/5/8 4G: LTE-FDD B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28A/28B LTE-TDD B38/40 SIM Card Slots: Dual SIM Card Dual Standby (Nano-SIM), Card Slot 2 supports Nano-SIM Card/TF Card |
| Hardware | OS: Android 12.0 CPU: MTK Helio G85 2*Cortex-A75 2.0GHz+6*Cortex-A55 1.8GHz GPU: Arm Mali-G52 1GHz RAM: 6GB ROM: 128GB Card Extend: Supports an external TF card up to 1TB (VFAT) |
| Display | Display Size: 6.52 inch Type: Waterdrop Screen 60Hz Refresh Rate Resolution: 720*1600 pixels Multitouch: 10 points |
| Rear Camera | Main Camera: 20MP SΟNY IMX350 Main Rear Camera + 2MP Macro Lens + Depth sensor Rear flash, Touch Focus Video Recording Resolution: 1080P |
| Front Camera | Sub camera: 16MP SΟNY IMX481 front camera |
| Language | Multi-Language |
| Battery & Charging | Battery: 10000mAh, Built-in Li-polymer battery Wireless Charge: 15W Charge Interface: USB Type-C Charger Type: EU Type, 9V/2A |
| Other Features | WIFI: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4G/5G VoLTE: Whether you can use VoLTE depends on the local carriers, because not all of the local carriers can support this function. Bluetooth: 5.0 Positioning: GPS+GLONASS+Beidou+Galileo Material: PC Sensor: P-Sensor, L-Sensor, Acceleration Sensor, E-compass, NFC, OTG, Side-Mounted Fingerprint, Face Unlock FM Radio: Yes Cell Broadcast: Yes Audio Jack: 3.5mm CTIA Waterproof: IP68/IP69K Waterproof Smart PA: AW87359 Notification Light: Yes Battery Status Light: Yes |
| Size & Weight | Product Size: 175.6*82.5*17.2 mm Product Weight: 358.2g |
