My requirements for mobile phones are different to those of most people, and that’s because of cycle touring and camping. For starters, I need a phone that is waterproof. Next, it needs to be rugged, and thirdly, it needs a large capacity battery. The Armor 25T Pro ticks all these boxes, plus a lot more.
Initial impressions
The Armor 25T Pro is physically big – I’d say it’s larger than what I would have preferred. However, that has benefits, which you’ll see in a while. In terms of weight, it’s not very much heavier than my previous phone, a Doogee S40.
Switching to a new phone can be extremely disruptive, and I only made the switch because my old handset, though a 4G phone, can only make or receive calls via 3G, or G. With the 3G network shut down across the UK, I often had severe trouble making or receiving calls. The new handset doesn’t suffer from that, and supports 5G.
From the moment I picked it up, the Armor 25T Pro felt solid in my hand. It created an immediate impression of quality. Having said that, an immediate impression isn’t the same as an impression after a year of daily use. Because of this, I’ll do a follow-up review a year on.
The specs
Though I am a techie, usually I don’t particularly care too much about the technical specs of a phone. There are a few exceptions to that: the amount of storage it has, the quality of the camera, and the data speeds it’s capable of.
Cameras
The main camera has a 50MP sensor, and the photos it takes are really good. It also includes slow-motion video, and more. Believe it or not, that’s not the best camera on the phone though!
The infra-red night vision camera has a 64MP sensor. It relies on active infra-red, meaning the phone has some infra-red LEDs that “light” up the way for the camera to see. It works extremely well. I took the photo below on the left on a completely dark lane, using the infrared camera.
Though I tend to rarely take selfies, the front camera is a 32MP one, and is capable of producing some really good quality photos.
Finally, the handset has a ThermoVue thermal sensor, and can take pictures that show heat. While I appreciate that to many people this would simply be a gimmick, I think on camping trips it can be a game-changer. After all, the thermal image sensor can detect heat sources up to a (claimed) kilometre away.
So what?
My phone needs are different to those of many (most?) people. My phone is an integral part of my cycle touring and my camping kit. Being able to take great photos is a major benefit. Being able to take night vision photos opens up a whole new dimension. Finally, being able to track heat sources means I’d be able to find wildlife easier, even in the dark. That, and find places where my home loses heat in winter, so I can more effectively insulate it!
Note: All the images in this post are of reduced quality, to prevent this page from loading too slowly.
Other specs
I prefer my phones to be rugged and waterproof, and the Armor 25T Pro is no exception. It has IP68/IP69K waterproofness, and obtained the MIL-STD-*10H certification for drop-testing. I’ll hold my hand up here and tell you straight that I have no idea exactly what the MIL grading actually means.
It’s powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 8-core CPU, and has a dedicated GPU alongside. The simple terms is this phone’s pretty fast. It comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM, but you can expand that further with a micro-SD card.
The battery is impressive! Rated as 6500 mAh, that’s bigger than most power banks, and the handset can do 16 hours of video playback. The standby time (depending obviously on what apps may be running in the background) is up to 478 hours. That’s impressive by anyone’s standards.
To put that in perspective, I used Google Maps, when driving from Bristol to Plymouth, plus the 40 minutes home from Plymouth, without having the handset on charge. That was after a full day of taking lots of photos, and checking social media. By the time I stopped at home, the phone was still on 64% charge!
The Armor 25T Pro supports wireless charging, and also wireless reverse charging. That means, you can use it to wirelessly charge your earphones, or perhaps another phone. And speaking of earphones, this handset retains a headphone hardware socket.
So what?
Starting with the obvious, this handset was built to withstand a rough life, making it perfect for camping. The phone has decent performance, meaning it can easily run even demanding apps. Long battery life is essential for off-grid activities.
5G
5G is the latest standard in mobile data connections, and is significantly faster than 4G. However, the fact that this handset is 5G wasn’t a primary selling point to me. You see, where I live, there’s no 5G signal at all, from any operator. Besides, 4G is (at present) fast enough for my needs.
Much more important is the dual SIM capability, without losing the use of a memory card. My phone is my backup Internet connection, in case my fibre-to-the-premises broadband should go down. Because I often work from home, I have 2 SIM cards, from 2 separate networks, to provide further redundancy.
So what?
5G gives the device the biggest degree of future-proofing currently available.
Why a waterproof phone?
Simple: I rely on the superb RideWithGPS app, and that means my phone is often mounted on my handlebars when touring. To point out the obvious, in the UK it will rain from time to time. I need a phone that will easily survive me getting caught in heavy downpours.
My bicycle computer is a back-up device, acting primarily as speedometer, route recorder and gradient measuring tool.
So what?
Having a waterproof phone means I don’t have to worry about the phone getting wet if I’m caught in the rain. Or fall in a canal.
The verdict
This is a very capable phone, with several superb cameras, a fast processor and graphics processor. It also has plenty of storage, with the ability to expand it further. The handset has a headphone socket, which is rare on phones these days, and an infrared transmitter (unrelated to the camera) so you could even use it as a TV remote control. It also has a hardware button that you can choose what functionality you want to assign to it.
Overall, I’m well impressed with it, and I have no doubt you will feel the same. Best of all, it costs less than half the price of a new iPhone!
You can get the uleFone Armor 25T Pro here.