Ulefone’s armored phone is quite impressive, although its grip experience wasn’t very good. Still, their phone arrives with some extraordinary features on board. The same thing applies to the Ulefone Power Armor 13 smartphone, as it brings a lot of battery power. Fortunately, the phone is viable for its main markets such as the United States, China, and Europe.
But, as usual, you won’t notice this phone on the global stage. Also, the Ulefone Power Armor 13 is a kind of device you might not have seen before, covered in the last part. But first, if you’re looking for something unique to review, then Armor 13 is worth your while. With that said, let’s go to the detailed review of the Ulefone Power Armor 13 smartphone.
Table of Contents
Ulefone Power Armor 13 Review
Highlights
- The phone features a fairly decent sized 6.81 inch IPS LCD that offers 1080p resolution.
- As for the processing section, you will get Helio G95 chipset support behind the scenes.
- At the same time, the company has implemented a near-standard Android 11 interface on the board.
- Camera quality reaches up to 48MP main camera configuration with a 16MP selfie camera.
- The world’s largest battery smartphone comes with a 13,200 mAh battery that appears to be 33W wired and 15W wireless for charging support.
Design and Display
Ulefone always tries to do something different for users. Compared to the previous generation, the recent lineup has slightly altered the look of the design, but the Armor 13 can still maintain the weight criteria. On this smartphone, the weight goes up to 492 grams, almost half a kg, and when you pick up this phone, you will literally feel like you’ve picked up a brick.
Without a doubt, you’ll get all sorts of layers of protection, coating, and certification, ensuring your phone survives harsh conditions at a slow pace. Even though the Armor 13 looks a little bulky, the armored layer of glass, fiber, and rubber make this phone stand out from the competition. While there are some factors where the screen is lacking, the overall design looks fabulous.
On the side panel, you have the fingerprint reader, power switch, and volume control buttons, while on the other hand the ports are sealed with removable rubber at the bottom. The screen quality is average, as the 6.81-inch IPS LCD panel lacks the vividness of color and a smooth refresh rate. However, the brightness aspect could have been better with this mid-ranger device.
Memory and Internal
It’s been a while since Ulefone used a decent chipset under the hood, but the story changes when you hear that the Ulefone Power Armor 13 powers the Helio G95 chip. The chipset may not be the best on the market, but in terms of the mid-market with MIL-STD-810G compliance and IP rating, it’s a pretty reliable arrangement you should look forward to in the future.
The processing speed is neither the fastest nor the slowest, as the 2.05GHz cloaking speed exceeds the bottleneck limits. Although games are still an issue on this phone, don’t worry as you can play in mid-level settings. In addition, the Armor 13 smartphone offers a fairly standard Android 11 operating system that offers adequate custom options and features, but there’s no room for custom UI.
Unlike last generation phones, this device didn’t support the 5G bands and was stuck on 4G connectivity. But you’re getting dual-SIM hybrid support in which you decide whether you want to use two SIMs or boost storage with an SD card slot and use one SIM. Well, with the 8GB RAM configuration and 256GB storage, it’s more than enough for users’ daily use needs. So opting for dual-SIM options seems like a more substantial deal.
Camera
In terms of the spec sheet, you will get a quad-camera island on the back with LED flash, and of course, the camera module fits precisely on the back panel and renders a flat surface. With this, you won’t get into trouble by dropping your phone. On paper, Armor 13 supports a 48 MP primary snapper that covers all your photo and video needs without hassle.
On the other hand, photos in low light are still miserable ​​as before, but the quality of HDR and daytime images improves thanks to the software. But you’ll notice grain in the photos, while the quality would be hit or miss in some instant cases. As for the videography aspect, recording the video in 4K is not a big surprise, but if the phone had offered the EIS-gyro, it would have added feathers on top.
The rear panel includes the 8MP ultra-wide lens that renders medium photos and videos in the secondary section of the camera. Adding the useless pair of 2MP macro and depth was a missed opportunity, as AI software can perform these things accurately. Aside from that, the tiny 16MP dot notch selfie lens can take decent HDR stills and record videos up to 1080p without any problem.
Battery and Others
Last but not least, the battery department of the Ulefone Power Armor 13 gives a mixed sense of wonder and doubt, as the phone features a 13,200 mAh battery. It’s suitable for monstrous battery capacity while you’ll undoubtedly get long battery life compared to the competition. But at the same time, this massive size works as a double-edged sword because it feels the worst in the hand.
However, the company’s positive point is that they have added 33W fast charging support to Armor 13, but the phone also supports 15W wireless charging so everything goes smoothly with the charging process. Although, charging takes 2-3 hours to fill the battery from fully discharged, even with the quick charge support. But, it will be totally worth it, as you can quickly get over 12 hours of screen time on a single charge.
After that, the phone also offers unique sensors like infrared distance measurements and features the latest sensors and communications so the Armor 13 can stay alive in any traffic conditions. In parallel, NFC features are enabled and Radio is available. In terms of the price range, the Ulefone Power Armor 13 smartphone comes in at $299 (Rs 22,000) approx, which is considered excellent value for money.
Ulefone Power Armor 13 Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Ulefone Power Armor 13 smartphone.
| Specifications | Ulefone Power Armor 13 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G |
| Announced | July 2021 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 7.23 x 3.36 x 0.82 inches |
| Weight | 492 g |
| Size | 6.81 inches |
| Display | IPS LCD 20:9 ratio ~386 PPI density |
| Protection | IP68 dust/water resistant Drop-to-concrete resistance MIL-STD-810G compliant |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| OS | Android 11 |
| Chipset | 12nm – Mediatek Helio G95 |
| CPU | Octa-core 2×2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Mali-G76 MC4 |
| Card slot | Yes (uses shared SIM slot) |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Internal | 256GB |
| Camera | 48 MP (wide), PDAF 8 MP (ultrawide) 2 MP (macro) 2 MP (depth) Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama Max – 4K@30fps |
| Selfie | 16 MP HDR, panorama Max – 1080p@30fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | Yes |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Side-mounted fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, baroceptor, coulombmeter Infrared distance measure |
| Battery | Li-Po 13200 mAh Fast charging 33W Fast wireless charging 15W Reverse wireless charging 5W |
| Colors | Black |
| Expected Price | $299 (Rs 22,000) approx. |
Ulefone Power Armor 13 Pros and Cons
Down below you can see the list of pros and cons (advantages and disadvantages) of the Ulefone Power Armor 13 smartphone.
Pros
- Large battery capacity.
- Infrared distance measurement.
- Camera quality is above average.
- Decent level processing power.
- 4K video recording with the main camera.
- Armor pattern design on the back.
- Sufficient RAM and storage configuration.
- Gorilla Glass 3 Protection.
- Support 33W fast charging with 15W wireless charging.
- Advanced radio features with NFC enabled.
- Dust/water resistant with MIL-STD-810G compliance.
- Suitable for use in harsh conditions.
Cons
- Use a shared SD slot instead of a dedicated one.
- Mid-level refresh rate and brightness display.
- Lack of 5G connectivity.
- Phone is quite bulky and heavy.
- No custom UI support.
- Without gyro-EIS support for stable video.
Conclusion
Ulefone Armor phones aren’t for everyone, they have their communities and people love Ulefone phones for their durability. With the Ulefone Power Armor 13 smartphone, the company reaches new heights in the battery industry, as you have already realized that you have a huge battery. But the overall features and above-average camera quality are also noteworthy, overshadowed by the battery life.
Not everyone would shake the bulky brick-shaped phone, and many will say it’s a power bank, not a smartphone. Still, if you’re an adventurer or a professional who moves to different places and don’t have options to charge your phone, the Armor 13 is a great combination with lasting screen time. While there is currently no similar alternative that we can recommend, you can check the other Ulefone Armor phones like the Ulefone Armor 11 smartphone.
