Ulefone is a brand popular with its rugged devices, and we visited the company’s booth to gaze on its latest behemoth – the Armor 23 Ultra.
This smartphone has a massive battery, powerful cameras and a flagship-tier chipset. What is most impressive about it is the under-display selfie camera, making it the first fully rugged phone with such a feature. The company was also proud to announce the Armor 23 Ultra brings two-way satellite messaging, which makes this device extremely helpful in challenging conditions in the middle of nowhere.
Every Ulefone we handled is a heavy device, and the Armor 23 Ultra is no stranger to this feature. The massive body acts as extra protection for the fragile internals, and while it is heavier than other Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 phones, it is definitely on the lighter side compared with other Armor products.
Speaking about the chipset, it is not the only top-tier specification. The 6.67” AMOLED screen comes with Full HD+ resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate, and more importantly, it lacks the massive bezels we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on rugged phones. The storage is 1 TB, and there is 16 GB RAM as well, which can be artificially expanded with up to 8 GB more.
Ulefone Armor 23 Ultra
The trio of cameras is lined up vertically – the main 108 MP is in the middle, the 64 MP ultra-wide is on the top, and the 64 MP periscope telephoto camera is on the bottom. It looks a lot like what Samsung implemented in its last few Ultra devices, and the name resemblance is probably not a coincidence.
Ulefone Armor 23 Ultra
The selfie camera is just 16 MP, and the way it is hidden below the panel makes the browsing and content streaming experience smooth. We certainly enjoyed how well the camera stays hidden behind the OLED.
We weren’t able to test the battery life or the performance of the phone, but the company said the 7,000 mAh battery supports 120W fast charging. This would make the Ulefone Armor 23 Ultra one of the best IP68-certified MIL-STD-810H-rated flagships that can take a beating.
