Ulefone Armor 27T Pro review - Rugged phone with night vision and thermal imaging camera
Universal tool.
The Ulefone Armor 27T Pro is a rugged smartphone that not only impresses with its durability but also boasts several special technical features. These include a night vision camera and a FLIR camera, as well as a uSmart connector for connectable accessories. We put it to the test.Daniel Schmidt, 👁 Daniel Schmidt, ✓ Anton Avdyushkin (translated by DeepL / Ninh Duy) Published 🇩🇪 🇫🇷 ...
Possible competitors in comparison
Bewertung | Datum | Modell | Gewicht | Laufwerk | Groesse | Aufloesung | Preis ab | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72.2 % | v8 | 10 / 2024 | Ulefone Armor 27T Pro Dimensity 6300, Mali-G57 MP2 | 441 g | 256 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | 6.78" | 2460x1080 | |
| 73.3 % | v8 | 08 / 2024 | Doogee V Max Plus Dimensity 7050, Mali-G68 MP4 | 539 g | 512 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | 6.58" | 2408x1080 | |
| 79.6 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 06 / 2024 | Oukitel WP35 Dimensity 6100+, Mali-G57 MP2 | 360 g | 256 GB eMMC 5.1 Flash | 6.60" | 2408x1080 | |
| 79.1 % v7 (old) | v7 (old) | 03 / 2024 | Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 Dimensity 6100+, Mali-G57 MP2 | 240 g | 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | 6.60" | 2408x1080 |
Note: We have updated our rating system and the results of version 8 are not comparable with the results of version 7 available here.
Case and features - Armor 27T Pro is extremely tough
The Ulefone Armor 27T Pro is quite thick and, at 441 grams, also heavy. Visually, it is a typical rugged smartphone and feels rather utilitarian. However, the workmanship is good and leaves an indestructible impression. It also has numerous certifications attesting to protection against dust, water, drops (up to 2 m), and extreme temperatures (-30 to 55 °C). The option of attaching a lanyard to the housing is both practical and useful.
The features include a number of special features. In addition to the FLIR night vision and thermal imaging camera, this is primarily the uSmart connector. This allows additional accessories to be connected to the Ulefone. These include a microscope (uSmart C01) and an endoscope (uSmart E02). An analog radio receiver is also integrated, which does not require connected headphones as an antenna, as this is already integrated in the housing.
| SD Card Reader - average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Oukitel WP35 (Angelbird V60) | |
| Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 (Angelbird V60) | |
| Average of class Smartphone (7.7 - 77, n=76, last 2 years) | |
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro (Angelbird AV Pro V60) | |
| Doogee V Max Plus (Angelbird AV Pro V60) | |
Cross Platform Disk Test (CPDT)
Communication and software - 5G, but only Wi-Fi 5
For mobile connectivity, the Ulefone Armor 27T Pro ideally uses 5G Sub6 with broad frequency coverage. Only Wi-Fi 5 is available for Wi-Fi, but it delivers stable transfer rates in combination with our reference router, the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000.
The user of the 27T Pro occasionally sounds a little tinny during phone calls, but otherwise, the voice quality is fine. The suppression of ambient noise does not work at all in the test.
Google Android 14 is used as the operating system, which at the time of testing was based on the security patches from August 5, 2024, and is therefore still quite up-to-date. Unfortunately, there is no precise information on the update supply, but this will probably not be very long and will be rather irregular. Even an update to Android 15 is rather doubtful.
The capacitive touchscreen works reliably and a fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button for biometric security, which works reliably and quickly. Alternatively or additionally, facial recognition is possible via the front camera, but this has its difficulties, especially in dark environments. The ERM vibration motor is very powerful, but also spongy.
There is a configurable button on the left-hand side, which can distinguish between single, double, and long presses. It can perform predefined actions or open an installed app.
| Networking | |
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
| Doogee V Max Plus | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
| Oukitel WP35 | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
| Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
Sustainability - Only a little information about the Armor 27T Pro
The Armor 27T Pro is delivered in a large cardboard box made of laminated cardboard, which is also shrink-wrapped. The inserts inside are also made of plastic.
Ulefone does not provide any information on the use of recycled materials or the smartphone's CO2 footprint. The 27T Pro should be easy to repair, but spare parts are not readily available on the market.
Camera - Average fare in the Armor 27T Pro, but valuable additional optics
Photography is not one of the core competencies of the Ulefone Armor 27T Pro, as there is only one camera on board, which delivers rather mediocre results. There is no ultra-wide angle or zoom, but a night vision camera and a thermal imaging camera from Flir are on board.
The infrared-based night vision only allows black and white images, but has a high resolution and works well. Only the autofocus is slow. The thermal imaging camera also performs solidly and enables reliable measurements.
The front camera delivers pale and poorly detailed images. Videos are possible on both sides in 2k (2,560 x 1,440 pixels) or Full HD with 30 FPS. OIS is not available.
Image Comparison
Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.
Main cameraMain camera4/5x ZoomLow-Light
Display - Ulefone Armor 27T Pro with flicker-free LCD
The 6.8-inch IPS display of the Ulefone Armor 27T Pro is surrounded by thick edges but is also well protected as a result. The resolution is high and allows for a sharp display of content.
The brightness is at a similar level with a pure white display and reduced white areas (APL18) and is quite high for an LCD, but this will still not be sufficient on very sunny days.
The black level is slightly higher, but still provides a crisp contrast ratio. The display is cool and colors tend to be oversaturated, but this is not a problem in everyday use.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 85 %
Center on Battery: 781 cd/m²
Contrast: 1474:1 (Black: 0.53 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.2 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.91
ΔE Greyscale 6.6 | 0.5-98 Ø5.2
99.9% sRGB (Calman 2D)
Gamma: 2.27
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro IPS, 2460x1080, 6.8" | Doogee V Max Plus IPS, 2408x1080, 6.6" | Oukitel WP35 IPS, 2408x1080, 6.6" | Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 PLS, 2408x1080, 6.6" | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Response Times | -45% | -32% | -61% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 36.46 ? | 44.47 ? -22% | 40.6 ? -11% | 43.9 ? -20% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 16.01 ? | 26.68 ? -67% | 24.4 ? -52% | 32.3 ? -102% |
| PWM Frequency | ||||
| Screen | -12% | -20% | -6% | |
| Brightness middle | 781 | 552 -29% | 552 -29% | 600 -23% |
| Brightness | 727 | 539 -26% | 549 -24% | 561 -23% |
| Brightness Distribution | 85 | 90 6% | 94 11% | 89 5% |
| Black Level * | 0.53 | 0.23 57% | 0.42 21% | 0.57 -8% |
| Contrast | 1474 | 2400 63% | 1314 -11% | 1053 -29% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.2 | 6.7 -29% | 7.22 -39% | 5.07 2% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 9.5 | 12.1 -27% | 13.09 -38% | 8.1 15% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 6.6 | 14 -112% | 10.1 -53% | 5.7 14% |
| Gamma | 2.27 97% | 0.27 815% | 1.785 123% | 2.249 98% |
| CCT | 8287 78% | 7499 87% | 9036 72% | 8162 80% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -29% /
-19% | -26% /
-23% | -34% /
-17% |
* ... smaller is better
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 16.01 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 4.272 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 11.74 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 34 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 36.46 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 15.66 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 20.8 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 49 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (32.8 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM not detected |  | ||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8705 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. | |||
Performance, emissions and battery life
The Ulefone Armor 27T Pro is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6300, which is supported by a generous 12 GB of RAM. The memory is reasonably large at 256 GB and can be expanded via microSD, but was surprisingly slow in the test. The SoC can be categorized as lower mid-range and offers solid everyday performance, but nothing more.
The surface temperatures of the Ulefone smartphone remain harmless at all times. We cannot detect any thermal effects on the processor. The speaker can get very loud and delivers a decent sound.
Thanks to its 10,600 mAh battery, the Ulefone Armor 27T Pro achieves enormously long runtimes.
| Octane V2 - Total Score | |
| Average of class Smartphone (2228 - 100368, n=204, last 2 years) | |
| Doogee V Max Plus | |
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro | |
| Average Mediatek Dimensity 6300 () | |
| Oukitel WP35 | |
| Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 | |
| Geekbench AI | |
| Single Precision TensorFlow NNAPI | |
| Average of class Smartphone (191 - 4619, n=35, last 2 years) | |
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro | |
| Average Mediatek Dimensity 6300 () | |
| Doogee V Max Plus | |
| Half Precision TensorFlow NNAPI | |
| Average of class Smartphone (192 - 32432, n=35, last 2 years) | |
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro | |
| Average Mediatek Dimensity 6300 () | |
| Quantized TensorFlow NNAPI | |
| Average of class Smartphone (118 - 44657, n=35, last 2 years) | |
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro | |
| Average Mediatek Dimensity 6300 () | |
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro | Doogee V Max Plus | Oukitel WP35 | Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 | Average 256 GB UFS 2.2 Flash | Average of class Smartphone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AndroBench 3-5 | 103% | -73% | -16% | 14% | 106% | |
| Sequential Read 256KB | 532.56 | 1860.16 249% | 292 -45% | 488.2 -8% | 887 ? 67% | 1867 ? 251% |
| Sequential Write 256KB | 525.58 | 1611.59 207% | 149.5 -72% | 501 -5% | 694 ? 32% | 1451 ? 176% |
| Random Read 4KB | 279.08 | 239.64 -14% | 61.7 -78% | 212 -24% | 228 ? -18% | 279 ? 0% |
| Random Write 4KB | 318.6 | 225.34 -29% | 9.4 -97% | 240.2 -25% | 238 ? -25% | 311 ? -2% |
Temperature
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 35.7 °C / 96 F, compared to the average of 35.1 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 63.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 32.7 °C / 91 F, compared to the average of 33.9 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 26.6 °C / 80 F, compared to the device average of 32.8 °C / 91 F.
3DMark Stress Test
Speaker
Ulefone Armor 27T Pro audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (93.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 22.5% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (3.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 4.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 4.8% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (15.5% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 3% of all tested devices in this class were better, 2% similar, 95% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 20% of all tested devices were better, 4% similar, 76% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.3 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 25.6% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (10.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 6.3% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (7% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 5.4% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (6.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (20.9% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 34% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 58% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 37%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 53% of all tested devices were better, 8% similar, 39% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Battery life
| Battery Runtime - WiFi Websurfing | |
| Doogee V Max Plus | |
| Ulefone Armor 27T Pro | |
| Oukitel WP35 | |
| Average of class Smartphone (476 - 3244, n=203, last 2 years) | |
| Samsung Galaxy XCover 7 | |
Pros
Cons
Verdict - Armor 27T Pro is a powerful tool
The Ulefone Armor 27T Pro is less of a classic smartphone and more of a robust tool aimed at craftsmen and outdoor enthusiasts. And it does this job really well: it is robust, has a long battery life, and offers both a configurable button and the uSmart Connector for optional accessories.
The Ulefone Armor 27T Pro offers a comprehensive overall package but is aimed at a rather small target group.
Seen as an everyday cell phone, the Armor 27T Pro relies on rather slow technology and also only offers a very short update supply. The camera also does not meet higher demands, but in return has both night vision and thermal imaging optics.
If you need even more battery life, you should consider the Doogee V Max Plus, while the Galaxy XCover 7 is a good alternative.
Price and availability
The Armor 27T Pro is advertised by Ulefone with an RRP of around $600, for Europe, it is 600 euros. Users also can purchase the smartphone via online retailers such as Amazon.
Note: We have updated our rating system and the results of version 8 are not comparable with the results of version 7 available here.
Ulefone Armor 27T Pro
- 10/11/2024 v8
Daniel Schmidt
Total Sustainability Score: 
Transparency
The selection of devices to be reviewed is made by our editorial team. The test sample was provided to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or retailer for the purpose of this review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review. We never accept compensation or payment in return for our reviews. As an independent media company, Notebookcheck is not subjected to the authority of manufacturers, retailers or publishers.
This is how Notebookcheck is testing
Every year, Notebookcheck independently reviews hundreds of laptops and smartphones using standardized procedures to ensure that all results are comparable. We have continuously developed our test methods for around 20 years and set industry standards in the process. In our test labs, high-quality measuring equipment is utilized by experienced technicians and editors. These tests involve a multi-stage validation process. Our complex rating system is based on hundreds of well-founded measurements and benchmarks, which maintains objectivity. Further information on our test methods can be found here.
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