This rugged and affordable smartphone has superpowers - but it's not a tank!

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ZDNET's key takeaways

The Ulefone Armor 25T Pro is available from Amazon for $420.Packed with features that engineers and outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy, yet not as bulky as your average ruggedized smartphone.
Battery life is not the best, and RAM can get bogged down under heavy workloads.

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While I can't see myself replacing the iPhone as my daily driver -- I'm so deep in the Apple ecosystem now, there's no hope for me anymore! -- that doesn't mean I don't have secondary Android handsets. And my favorite Android smartphones are those aimed at engineers. You know, handsets with thermal cameras and night vision built in. 

Also: Insert relevant link

Recently I've been using the Ulefone Armor 25T Pro, a 5G, Android 14-powered smartphone, and this has proven to be a fantastic and versatile handset packed with features that iPhone users can only dream of enjoying!

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Ulefone Armor 25T Pro tech specs

Octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 6300 6-nanometer SoC (2x2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6x2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) and Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPUAndroid 14 operating system6.78-inch, 1080 x 2460 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate display, ~396 pixels-per-inch density, with Corning Gorilla Victus glass12GB memory (6GB RAM + 6GB virtual RAM)256GB internal storage (expandable up to 2TB using microSD/TF card)50-megapixel wide-angle rear camera, f/1.65 aperture and 1/1.31-inch ultra large sensor with 1.2um pixel size64-megapixel f/1.8 aperture night vision camera with two infrared LEDs illuminators32-megapixel f/2.5 aperture selfie cameraThermoVue thermal imaging sensor, up to 160 x 120 high resolution, up to 25Hz refresh rate, up to 1000m measuring range, -20C to 550℃ range6,500 mAh battery (478 hours standby, 48 hours call time, 16 hours video playback) 33W fast chargingReverse wireless chargingBuilt-in infrared and NFCFingerprint readerIP68/IP69K, MIL-STD-810H rated for water- and dust-resistance177.4 x 81.4 x 12.5 mm326 gramsCarrier support list can be found on the Ulefone website

There are two parts to the Armor 25T Pro; first, let's consider the smartphone side of things.

Looking at the spec sheet for the processor, the display, the battery, and the camera, it's fair to categorize this as a mainstream handset, and you can feel where some compromises have been made. For example, while the processor, GPU, and RAM are enough to keep the handset moving smoothly most of the time, there are rare occasions when things start to feel a little bogged down. I suspect this is mostly down to the 6GB RAM and 6GB virtual RAM configuration sometimes not being enough.

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Pitted head-to-head against the Blackview BL9000 Pro, the Blackview wins every time thanks to its faster processor and additional RAM. But that handset costs hundreds more.

Still, the performance of the Armor 25T Pro is enough most of the time.

The same goes for the cameras. They're packed with megapixels and the output is OK, but not iPhone Pro Max or Galaxy Ultra level good.

But again, it's more than enough for most. 

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Does this phone need a 50-megapixel main camera and a 32-megapixel selfie camera? Probably not, but megapixel counts help sell, and as sensors get cheaper, the megapixel counts will go up and up.

To build a handset that doesn't feel like a brick in the pocket, Ulefone had to decide on what's important. At 6,500mAh, this battery is at the small end when it comes to rugged handsets, but again, it's good enough.

Also: I'm adding this iPhone thermal camera accessory to my toolkit (especially at this price)

But let's be honest: No one is buying the Armor 25T Pro for the display or processor or battery life. People are buying this for the thermal camera and night vision.

This brings us to the second part of this handset -- the superpowers!

The excellent ThermoVue thermal camera is fast, with a very good refresh and a high level of accuracy. 

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Thermal cameras have a wide range of uses, from finding where a pet rat is hiding in a bedroom to identifying a failing component on a circuit board. Yes, they really are that versatile.

I've said it before: A thermal camera is an essential tool for diagnostics and repairs, on par with a screwdriver, multimeter, or soldering iron.

I used to think that night vision was a bit of a gimmick, but when you're crawling around in a pitch-black loft looking for an electrical component, night vision becomes invaluable.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

And using IR night vision is a whole lot better on the eyes that blasting a flashlight about the place. 

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

Yes, this tool also has its place in the engineer's toolbox.

ZDNET's buying advice

Ulefone is one of my favorite Android smartphone makers, continuously hitting it out of the park with its rugged handset range, and always managing to build a device that's perfectly suited to the lives of engineers and outdoor enthusiasts. 

The Ulefone Armor 25T Pro is no exception, taking mainstream smartphone components and adding useful features such as a thermal camera and night vision. These aren't features for the masses, but if you need them and know how to use them properly, then they're going to be enormously useful.

And this is one of the few armored smartphones to not feel like a tank in the pocket.