Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro Smartphone Review – In the rugged smartphone market, Ulefone has been a pioneer in bringing new technology with a sturdy build. Not long ago, the company also completed 10 years of running and creating a pretty niche-armored phone segment. Though rugged phones were available before, nobody has approached armored phones like Ulefone devices. Although, they might not be the first choice for regular users unless they are looking for a bigger battery and a smaller body.
Recently, the smartphone makers introduced a compact Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro. Unlike its siblings, the phone has a slightly thin body according to their usual standards. Alongside this, the company also unveiled its flagship Ulefone Armor 28 Ultra, which is expected to arrive in a few months. However, the company didn’t discard its core features. But is it worth spending your money or not?! Let’s find out from the following review.
Table of Contents
Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The phone equips a standard 4.7-inch IPS LCD panel HD resolution display with 90Hz refresh rate support.
- The Android 14 software layout will appear on the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro.
- As for the hardware configuration, you are getting a Dimensity 6300 chipset with decent graphic uint support.
- The Mini 20T Pro introduces a 50MP thermal camera with a 32MP selfie camera on the front display.
- Lastly, the device brings a 6200 mAh battery with 33W wired and 15W wireless charging support.
Design and Display
The first thing that we liked about the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro would be the compact build. It feels like we are reliving the 2010s era once again. However, we aren’t denying the fact that other brands have released compact rugged phones before. But, the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro got the class.
The overall building isn’t disappointing, instead, it looks pretty fascinating with a yellow semi-circular camera island. This hexagonal camera model does look pretty unique with a classic black body. Besides this, the phone attains top-level IP certification, a multigrade body, and soft corners to reduce drop impact. Long story short, the phone got everything that you expected from a rugged device from a build standpoint.
However, the thick bezels on the 4.7-inch screen with a big-notch camera module might not be everyone’s favorite. However, the resolution does go up to HD, while a 90Hz refresh rate gives appropriate touch reposence. Having a slightly better touch response won’t matter when the screen has a low brightness level. During the day-to-day usage, you won’t notice many issues. But, the highest brightness level of this phone is lacking.
Memory and Internal
The Mediastek Dimeisity 6300 chipset on Armor Mini 20T Pro is an upgrade as compared to the previous year’s phones. With this hardware configuration, the users won’t face trouble performing advanced activities, mutilating, and daily tasks. Besides, the phone works well with Genshin Impact with low resolution and graphic settings. But still, the graphic end does level up to the name.
The octa-core processing unit can push the clocking speed up to 2×2.4GHz speed, while the chipset got a decent CPU benchmark score. Though, it’s an average chipset, which usually appears on the mid-range phones. But, the downgrade in hardware is common in the rugged segment of smartphones. Anyway, the company added the Android 14 interface out of the box.
Similarly, the phone offers a lightweight software skin, unlike its heavy body. Some pre-installed system apps can be disabled, while other apps can be uninstalled if you want. As for the software experience, there are tons of customization options available in the latest Android version. Still, it’s not confirmed whether the Mini 20T Pro will receive an update. Lastly, the phone offers 8GB RAM with a 265GB UFS 2.2 storage unit with a dedicated microSD slot.
Camera
After reviewing many Ulefone Armor series phones, we understand one thing. Don’t expect much from the camera department. However, the company does claim to improve the overall image processing quality with new hardware configuration. But, it only does the bare minimum job and produces mediocre results from the camera module. Yet, it’s positive news that the 50MP primary lens can utilize colors and contrast properly.
Following this, the native camera app also introduces the dedicated thermal camera features by Flir. Through these advanced features, you can take thermal readings of your work site. As a site engineer of a thermal plant or anything related to the work profile, this feature might be used. But as an ordinary user, it doesn’t make sense since people will get bored after using this feature once or twice. Again, the lowlight photography gives underwhelming results.
The low-light camera quality is distorted and noise is visible in most of the photos unless there’s a proper light source. As for the video recording aspect, the phone will provide up to 1440p resolution recording, which is considerably great. On the front display, you are getting a 32MP selfie lens that can click excellent photos using the native camera features, while offering the same video quality as the primary setup.
Battery and Others
The Li-Ion 6200 mAh battery setup of Armor Mini 20T Pro attains 33W wired charging with 15W wired charging. In a typical condition, the phone can be refilled from zero to 80% in less than an hour with the wired charger. However, the wireless charger will take more time. In terms of screen time, the phone arrives with the ability to deliver up to 7 hours of screen time. You can also expand the battery usage by reducing the screen time to moderate.
As for the additional features, the phone offers a 500 lumens flood flashlight near the camera module. Plus, the security aspect is supposedly handled through the biometric scanner. For comms and sensors configuration, the users are getting the standard Bluetooth, Wifi, and NFC features with mediocre sensors. As for now, the phone is expected to be released at a price point of $476 (Rs 39,999 in India) approx.
Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro Pros and Cons
Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro smartphone.
| Specifications | Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | September 2024 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 5.26 x 2.49 x 0.98 inches |
| Weight | 301 g |
| Size | 4.7 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 90Hz 20:9 ratio ~373 PPI density |
| Protection/Others | IP68/IP69K dust/water resistant Drop-to-concrete resistance from up to 10m MIL-STD-810H compliant 500 lumens dedicated flood flashlight |
| Resolution | 720 x 1600 pixels |
| OS | Android 14 |
| Chipset | 6nm – Mediatek Dimensity 6300 |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G57 MC2 |
| Card slot | microSDXC (dedicated slot) |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Internal | 256GB UFS 2.2 |
| Camera | 50 MP (wide) Thermal camera by Flir Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 1440p@30fps |
| Selfie | 32 MP (wide) Max – 1440p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band |
| Bluetooth | 5.2, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | GPS, GALILEO, GLONASS, BDS, QZSS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | Yes |
| Radio | Yes |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Sensors | Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer |
| Battery | Li-Ion 6200 mAh 33W wired 15W wireless 5W reverse wireless |
| Colors | Black |
| Expected Price | $476 (Rs 39,999 in India) approx |
Conclusion
Overall, the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro is a compact option in the rugged smartphone segment. If you are interested in that feature, feel free to purchase this phone. But as usual, if you don’t like bulky phones with mediocre hardware performance, then it might not be the right choice. Gaming is barely possible on this phone, while photography isn’t that great either. But, the battery life is worth praising.
It’s clear that the company released this phone to compete against the Blackview N6000 and Doogee SMini. Both are equipped with rugged bodies with their unique offering. Still, they don’t give challenging competition to the Armor Mini 20T Pro. However, the extra thermal camera isn’t something that everyone would like, especially when the phone is equipped with an adequate camera. Apart from this, the rest of the specs are pretty much what you expect from an armored phone.
