We have tested one of Ulefone’s best mid-range rugged phones, the Ulefone Armor 6S, which will be a favorite of many in the future with its great price and great features.
In the recent period, several rugged phones have come into our hands, so during the test we had a comparison basis. After Elephone Soldier and Cubot Quest, this time we had a more powerful hardware-based Ulefone product.
Introduction
The demand for rugged phones has increased dramatically in recent years, and as a result more and more manufacturers have introduced such devices. So now there is a plentiful selection of water, shock and dustproof cell phones on the market.
Early in 2016, Ulefone launched its first staple phone, Ulefone Armor, to launch one of the company’s most successful Armor series. Their latest model is the mid-range Ulefone Armor 7, not only in the Far East but also in Europe
The Ulefone Armor 6S, featuring cordless charging and an ultraviolet light sensor, is a little cheaper at $260 and is more of a mid-range rival to the competition.
The DOOGEE S68 Pro is closest to the Armor 6S, which is now available for purchase. And don’t forget the in-house Ulefone Armor 6E and the huge battery-powered Ulefone Armor 3W, the latter of which we can even buy with walkie-talkie (3WT). If knowledge and speed are not that important, then you can find a little bit more for Oukitel devices (Oukitel WP2 and Oukitel WP5000).
The Ulefone Armor 6S is available from GearBest and is currently available at great prices for $259.99. The purchase is accompanied by the free EU Priority Line shipping, which will deliver approx. The phone will arrive in 2-3 weeks.
You can access this promotion on GearBest:
BUY ULEFONE ARMOR 6S
GearBest promotion
Design
Anyone who has followed the Ulefone Armor series will not be surprised by the outer packaging. The Ulefone Armor 6S, like its predecessors, came in a yellow-black box. Just the version number on the front, with the S in the corner or the IP68 / IP69K.
If you flip the box over, you can read more about the Armor 6S. The 10 small pictograms show the most important and outstanding features of the Ulefone Armor 6S.
Lifting the box, you can see the phone and its various accessories underneath. Luckily, Ulefone didn’t save it, so we get plenty of accessories:
- Charging adapter
- USB Type-C Charging Cable
- USB Type-C OTG Adapter
- USB Type-C to 3.5mm Jack Converter
- SIM needle
- Plastic Spudger
- 9H glass film
- Manual
Holding the phone in hand, you can immediately feel that we are dealing with a rugged cell phone. The housing is surrounded by thick plastic and red metal elements and the connectors are protected by a rubber cover. The back cover is also a mixture of plastic and metal, with the red color appearing on the metal cover. Its appearance is eye-catching at first glance, with red-black coloring that stands out to the outside eye.
The Ulefone Armor 6 is IP68 / IP69K protected, but the new model also receives the so-called MIL-STD-810G standard.
On the front you will find the 6.2-inch IHD display with FHD + resolution, above which is the speaker, various sensors and the 8MP front-facing camera. Although Gorilla Glass is located above the display, the manufacturer has also packed a 9H hard glass for safety, so it is a good idea to install it before first use.
The manufacturer advertises the phone as “All Screen”, but the reality shows something else: at the top, app. half, while below approx. a centimeter black bar surrounds the display. Of course, this is understandable, as we are talking about a rugged phone, where the screen must be protected from possible physical influences.
At the back, we get two cameras, one 16 MP primary and one 8 MP secondary. Underneath the camera was the LED auxiliary light and the fingerprint scanner, which in most cases worked well, but lags behind high-end machines in speed and reliability.
Alongside the primary camera is a special UV sensor that can help prevent unpleasant skin burns on summer days, for example.
On the left side of the Armor 6S we find only the SIM / MicroSD tray and a Shockproof label. On the right side are three control buttons: volume control and power button, no separate control button for the 6S. Only the USB Type-C connector on the bottom of the phone is left out of the list, and fortunately we can charge it with any Type-C cable. I also highlighted this because some manufacturers have a connector much more behind the rubber cover than the conventional one so they can only be charged with a data cable with a longer connector.
The 3.5mm Jack plug is not available on the phone this time, but the manufacturer has included a converter that would still need it.
Hardware
Underneath the back of the Ulefone Armor 6S is an eight-core, 12-nm MediaTek Helio P70 system chip with Cortex A53 and A73 cores that can operate at a maximum of 2.1 GHz. The new Armor Series is perfect for gaming, with the P70’s ARM Mali-G72 delivering the right performance in this area.
The MediaTek SoC comes with 6GB of internal memory and 128GB of internal storage, which can be expanded with up to 256GB of Micro SD card. Thanks to the large system memory, there was no software slowdown or freezing during use. Quick switching between programs was also fast. And 128GB of storage is likely to be sufficient for most users for some time.
Ulefone has also released three different models in the 6 Series, of which Armor 6, Armor 6E and 6S have been added to virtual store shelves at the same time.
The following table shows the differences between current Armor devices:
| Armor 6 | Armor 6E | Armor 6S | Armor 3W | Armor 7 | |
| Display | 6.2″ IPS 1080×2246 | 6.2″ IPS 1080×2246 | 6.2″ IPS 1080×2246 | 5.7″ IPS 1080×2160 | 6.3″ IPS 1080×2340 |
| SoC | Helio P60 | Helio P70 | Helio P70 | Helio P70 | Helio P90 |
| Memory | 6 GB | 4 GB | 6 GB | 6 GB | 8 GB |
| Storage | 128 GB | 64 GB | 128 GB | 64 GB | 128 GB |
| Battery | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh | 5000 mAh | 10300 mAh | 5500 mAh |
| Weight | 267 g | 267 g | 267 g | 364 g | 290 g |
| Size | 166x83x13.3 | 166x83x13.3 | 166x83x13.3 | 164.8x79x18 | 165.8x81x13.6 |
| Camera | 21MP + 13MP | 16MP + 2MP | 16MP + 2MP | 21MP | 48MP + 16MP + 8MP |
| Price | 299,99 $ | 184,99 $ | 259,99 $ | 239,99 $ | 359,99 $ |
The Ulefone Armor 6S equipped with MediaTek’s Helio P70 did not come as a surprise, it did deliver the expected results. Application tests clearly show that not only in raw power, but also when running 3D applications, the Helio P70 chip, which is used by other renowned manufacturers (Oppo, Vivo, Motorola, Realme), is not ashamed.
I looked at the standard test programs on the device, the results of which are shown below:
Software
Ulefone Armor 6S is installed with the multilingual Android 9 operating system, which is likely to remain forever. The security updates were last autumn, and since then no further patches or system updates have been received.
With 128GB of internal storage, the system takes up about 10GB, leaving plenty of room for apps and our own photos. Thanks to the 6 GB system memory and the fast Helio P70 system chip, the system is extremely fast, no stops and programs load quickly.
A gyári alkalmazásokon túl az Ulefone egy úgynevezett Műszerek alkalmazás csomagot telepített a készülékre, melyek között megtaláljuk a szokásos mérőeszközök mellett a légnyomásmérőt illetve az UV mérőt is.
Communication
The Armor 6S is a must-have for data communication, so it’s no surprise: we get global 4G (Cat 7) support, Bluetooth 4.2, dual-band Wi-Fi and NFC.
The conversations on the 4G network were of high quality, the speaker spoke clearly, no distortion, and the caller heard everything perfectly.
GPS-based positioning is fast, accurate and does not discard signals while navigating.
Battery
The Armor 6S has the same 5000mAh battery as the Armor 6E or its predecessor Armor 6. The replacement of the previous version of the Helio P60 not only had a positive effect on performance but also on uptime. The Helio P70 increases performance by almost 13%, while consuming approx. Decreased by 12% thanks to 12nm production technology.
Thanks to this, the Ulefone Armor 6S produced excellent operating times while I was with me. In a PCMark battery test that included synthetic tests, it scored 11 hours 14 minutes, which is very good.
We don’t have to worry much about discharging, as the included 18W quick charger instantly recharges our large power source.
Summary
We already knew about the Ulefone Armor 6S before the test that it is one of the best value for money rugged phones on the market today. The tests also showed that you should not be ashamed of performance or usability. During the nearly one-week test period, no particular freezing, restarting, or operational problems occurred. And if you look at your predecessor Armor 6 for less than $60, then if you had to choose between the two, we would definitely recommend the 6S.
And even if you don’t want to spend $259.99 on a new rugged mobile, you can still have the Ulefone Armor 6E, with less memory, storage and a lower resolution camera.
The positives can be followed by criticism, mainly affecting the software part. Armor 6S has not received a software update since its release and is likely to continue to do so. This could now be really taken into consideration by the aftermarket manufacturers as they will lose many customers for this very reason.
Those who like the phone can order the Ulefone Armor 6S for $259.99 from GearBest:
Ulefone Armor 6S
GearBest
Price: 249.99 USD
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