Two Chinese efforts in the rugged world: Doogee Smini and Ulefone X32 Pro

 So.


The hunt for the decent sturdy smartphone continues, and I thought that I've found the phone to get me pass the goal line in the Doogee Smini. 



Sporting good features (4,3'' screen, SD-card support, very decent camera) it was a very little trade-off that the phone is quite bulky - the small frame quite comfortly compensates for this issue. 


It doesn't have 5G support (which I don't consider a big issue), or a 3,5 jack, but otherwise you will get a very decent phone...

The screen is, admittedly, small, but you can easily enlarge the keyboard on make it work with a craftsman-sized hand. One-hand use is brilliant!

The camera is perhaps not top notch, but these days even mid-range will do quite well. Especially with software such as FV5 Camera, that allows you to quickly adjust shuttertime, light etc. 

The software is a very non-bloated Android 13 - even with some useful tools, and a user-defineable button.

So... I thought I was set until 2027. And then the fingerprint reader disconnected.
Literally. It suddenly after four months said on the screen: "Fingerprint hardware disabled", and suddenly I had to use alternative screen lock to unlock screen, No biggie, right?

But then it fell into a overheating-issue, which weirdly enough was solved by disabling some of the features on the back screen. Until it suddenly fell into a restart-loop from which it never really seemed to be able to recover. This was after some eight months of use...

I managed to convince the offical eBay store, that since I was a citizen of EU, I was entitled to repairments within the first two years, and only have to pay the shipping to a repair shop in Poland.

Long story short, the phone is back and working - but I am not going to call it a great phone, or claim that I'm in any way encouraged by it's build quality. 


The good:
- Good size, good camera, good features all round.

The curious: 

A back screen that no-one asked for, but which quickly becomes very convenient with it's clock, but useless as a thermometer and air humidity-indicator (it's always off). Fortunately it can be customized.
The bad: 
- Build quality
- Battery life (in spite of the small frame, it'll only last a day+). 


When my Doogee Smini crashed, I quickly went back to my Xcover 4S, and though I love the frame, time is catching up with the device: 
You *CAN* run Danish security service, MitID, on it, but that requires the Samsung Browser as standard. That upsetting!

Still, it's impressive that a phone of that age runs quite well and is a pleasure to use. 

Eventually a trip to Tanzania and requirements to camera with that, I started looking for a new phone for the purpose. 
I was most inclined to go Ulefone Armor 20 Mini Pro, as it had a similar screen size to the Smini, and even sports a heat camera, which I might find useful in my house. 
It would be an upgrade to the Smini on many points, but I wasn't ready to shell out €300+, thought about the non-pro version... And ended up going in a different direction with the 

Ulefone Armor X32 Pro



What convinced me?

+ 5.5'' screen size which I consider optimal
+ Sturdy design
+ 3.5 Jack
+ Great rating on water- and dustproofness.
+ Otherwise other great specs. My first 5G phone when my provider supported it! 

So. 

Got it from China, no tariff (yay!) and instantaneously regretted. Or. Realized just *HOW* bulky it is. It's heavy. The screen-to-face ratio is not great. 
It's sturdy.
I barely can fit it in my phone holder on my bike. 

But... It's good. 
It has curious features such as a night vision camera, that I never found a use for on safaris, but curiously enough caught some good pics of live shows (where too little or too much 'normal' light would make pictures terrible). 
Even low-light pictures are rather crisp, and using the now-standard presets are really making photos and video shape up. 

The larger screen even allowed me to read a few books on the phone, as I forgot my Kindle on the kitchen desk at home. 

Had the thickness and weight not been so great, I'd kept it. The thickness is the thing that gets me...
But the weight is an issue: my arm literally hurt from holding it up while reading, the phone-holder issue is, yeah, an issue... 
I will, however quite enjoy the pictures it has taken and actually made good use of the 3.5 jack. 

I'd certainly recommend it for trekkers, as battery life easily is three days with use. It just is a good phone!

But. I am going to revert to the Smini, and have - as I got a bargain for a slightly used Xcover 6 Pro (which doesn't make any sense) have a backup, which I may do a review of, if/when the Smini breaks down again. Hopefully some trekker will give a bit for the now-used X32 Pro. 

I will not miss: 
- The screen size. Admittedly a 5'' or even 5.5'' is preferable to the Smini's rather small screen, but it's surprising how fast you get used to using a more pocket-friendly sized screen. Add to that that the smaller frame makes it faster to use the phone horizontally, which enlarges writing on the screen. 
I still maintain, that there's so much more sense in the smaller screens - and the Xcover 6 Pro's 6.6'' is ridiculous.

Even more ridiculous is the Xcover 7 (which is poorer on so many accounts than the 6 Pro), and the barely-upgrade Xcover 7 Pro does not feature the 3.5'' jack. 


Anyway. 
I should of course have shelled out for the Armor 20 Mini Pro. Perhaps I will.

We'll see...

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