Typically, rugged phones that make our best rugged guide tend to have the elegant scale of an average house brick. The Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro dismantles that expectation from the outset; it’s the size and weight of a much smaller handset, so it will fit into most pockets easily. It has the specifications of a typical rugged phone with the addition of a FLIR thermal camera. But is this durable phone worth it? Let’s find out.
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Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro
The Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro is a tiny, go-anywhere smartphone that delivers an Android 14 experience in a practically indestructible rugged form factor. The flagship in Ulefone’s new Mini series, this design incorporates a FLIR thermal camera alongside its basic 50MP visible light sensor.
- Decent performance
- Good battery life
- Incredibly waterproof, dustproof, and drop-resistant
- FLIR thermal imaging
- Screen is too small for big fingers
- Thermal imaging adds significant cost
- Case kit is confusing
Price, availability, and specs
The FLIR camera adds extra cost
Direct from Ulefone, the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro costs $470 at the time of writing, and the maker bundles it with a case for $30 or a charging pad for $40 extra. The cheapest place to buy the phone is via AliExpress, where the basic phone with a US charger is closer to $350. That’s a big difference and makes it a much more affordable option for those waiting longer for delivery.
This model’s band coverage is good for the USA, with nine of the fifteen commonly used 5G bands and all but one of the 4G frequencies supported. It is certified for T-Mobile but isn’t listed as a compatible device on Verizon despite supporting almost all of that carrier’s 5G and 4G frequencies.
Based purely on the supported bands, it should work with H20, Cricket Wireless, C spire, Google Fi, AT&T, U.S. Cellular, Ting, Lycamobile, Boost Mobile, and GCI Wireless. However, please confirm with your carrier that it is certified before purchasing one since this is a relatively new device.
Specifications
- SoC
- MediaTek Dimensity 6300
- Display type
- IPS
- Display dimensions
- 4.70 inch
- Display resolution
- 1600 x 720 pixel 373 PPI
- RAM
- 8GB
- Storage
- 256GB
- Battery
- 6200mAh
- Charge speed
- 33W
- Charge options
- 15W Wireless
- Ports
- USB-C, 3.5mm audio jack
- SIM support
- Dual Nano
- Front camera
- 32MP
- Rear camera
- 50MP
- Cellular connectivity
- 5G
- Wi-Fi connectivity
- Dual Band WiFi 6
- Bluetooth
- 5.2
- Dimensions
- 133.5 x 63.3 x 24.9 mm
- Weight
- 301g
- IP Rating
- IP68/IP69K
- Colors
- Black
What’s good about the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro?
Easily pocketable rugged phone
A concern with small, rugged phones is that the makers must make significant compromises to achieve this dimensional wizardry. But amazingly, there are relatively few of those here. The Armor Mini 20T Pro still sports impressive robustness; it is rated to withstand complete water immersion up to 2m (6.5ft) for up to 30 minutes and copes with drops from the same height onto a hard surface. The boat-shaped chassis is styled to evoke functionality, and while it feels heavy, it is easy to hold and operate with only one hand.
Even at the device’s small size, the included battery capacity is still more than that of a typical smartphone. It can deliver more than a couple of working days before recharging. The phone can also fast charge at 33W, wirelessly charge at 15W, and even wirelessly charge another phone or tablet at up to 5W. As clever as that last feature might seem, those with a cable should directly connect to the other phone, as fewer mAh will get wasted in the transfer.
The Armor Mini 20T Pro’s headline feature over its cheaper 20 Pro brother, is the inclusion of the FLIR thermal imaging camera. The resolution of FLIR Lepton 3.5 sensors is relatively low, only 160 x 120 pixels, but they cover a reasonable temperature range and can identify peak values in the image. And the phone’s FLIR sensor and the primary camera are close together, allowing the thermal information to be overlayed on the more detailed visible light capture.
The FLIR doesn’t use the normal camera tool but has dedicated software that can be configured to do plenty of useful things. These include setting off an alarm if it registers a temperature above a predefined threshold. This functionality might be super helpful for those working on engines, fixing electrical faults, or problematic heating/cooling systems.
The primary camera is only 50MP, using the Samsung GN1 sensor that first appeared in 2020. While Samsung has since made better sensors, the GN1 uses a Tetracell configuration to take 50MP source data and effectively double the pixel size. It can take some excellent images in the right conditions, and the seven-lens optics enable it to work well in macro mode.
The camera’s weakness is that the results can be awkwardly grainy in low lighting unless you specifically activate Night Mode. The irony of this as a camera phone is that it’s not ideal for nighttime party use without a flash, though if you end up falling in the pool, it should handle that.
One curiosity is that the primary camera takes 1440p resolution video at 30fps, and the 32MP selfie camera can also record at that quality setting.
Comparing these specifications to the Ulefone Armor 26 Ultra, a more conventional rugged design from the same maker, the Armor Mini 20T Pro is a more practical phone to carry but doesn’t offer a premium camera sensor or the advanced SoC used in the Ultra.
Read our review
What’s bad about the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro?
Screen size could be an issue
After using the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro for a few days, the display size is the one part that started to grind a little. It’s not that Ulefone used a poor-quality panel, but it has been a while since 4.7-inch displays were present on mainstream devices, like the Apple iPhone 6.
For those with bratwurst-sized fingers, choosing controls and icons from a 1600 x 720 pixel 373 PPI panel can be a challenge, and that resolution isn’t ideal for watching a streamed show or playing back video captures.
The display size undermines this as a gaming platform, too. While the Dimensity 6300 chip used here isn’t ideal for demanding 3D games, the relatively low screen resolution enables it to handle demanding titles like Geshin Impact smoothly. However, controlling onscreen characters with fingers obscuring most of the screen can make it a challenging gaming experience for an adult. This phone is more at home with puzzle and platform titles, where screen size is less of an issue.
Ulefone provided the Case Kit with the phone to experience that, and what an odd one that turned out to be. Those expecting a protective cradle will be disappointed by this accessory, as the phone fits into it with the screen facing down.
You can use the clip to hook this into a chest pocket or collar and then let the phone provide illumination or even video capture. My attempts to do this weren’t entirely successful, primarily because of limitations with launching apps and features when you can’t access the screen.
The camping light that encircles the cameras has an app launchable with the user-defined key, but the light can’t be activated without the screen input. There is a function to record video using the custom background recording button and a green flashing LED to indicate a recording, but whatever it captures is obviously in portrait mode. The only way to get the camping light on when it’s in the case is to tick a box to activate it when the camera is recording.
Despite these minor issues, the Case Kit is solidly made, easy to get the phone in and out, can be used as a stand, and has an extra hook that should keep it on a belt reliably. But my biggest issue with this phone is the price. It’s substantially more expensive than the ordinary Mini 20 Pro, which is practically identical except for the camera sensors. As helpful as the FLIR sensor can be, should including it nearly double the phone’s cost? I think not.
Should you buy it?
Consider the alternatives
The Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro represents a new generation of rugged designs that deliver many signature features in a substantially more compact form. However, making smaller, rugged designs isn’t an exclusive idea for Ulefone.
The alternatives that come to mind are the Blackview N6000, Doogee Smini, and Unhertz Tank Mini. The Unihertz Tank Mini costs around $250 for a similar phone without thermal imaging. That’s the same price as the Doogee Smini, another compact option with a smaller battery but a similar performance profile.
Similarly, the Blackview N6000 is a paired-down option with a lower battery size and no thermal imaging, but it is only a little over 200g, making it both lighter and cheaper at just over $200. The idea here is that if you can pass on the thermal imaging camera, a similar design can be had for nearly half the price, and that’s what Ulefone offers with the Armor Mini 20 Pro — an almost identical design devoid of the thermal image camera, for less than $240. And we can now add the Unihertz Jelly Max to these options, another small but tough contender that costs less.
Therefore, if you don’t need the thermal capability but like this design’s compact and robust nature, Ulefone has you covered with the more affordable Armor Mini 20 Pro.
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Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro
The Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro is a tiny, go-anywhere smartphone that delivers an Android 14 experience in a practically indestructible rugged form factor. The flagship in Ulefone’s new Mini series, this design incorporates a FLIR thermal camera alongside its basic 50MP visible light sensor.
