The Ulefone Armor 9E is the most affordable smartphone we have reviewed in a while. But it’s an ugly thing, and even worse in the looks department. If you have a budget to spare, then it may just be the phone for you.
But if you don’t have such a budget to spare and are looking for a phone with a reliable camera and great battery life for a decent price, then there’s a good chance you will be put off buying this device.
However, if you want to give the Ulefone Armor 9E a try and are not on a budget, then this may be the phone for you.
You may also be interested in our review of the Ulefone Armor 9: the 9E isn’t a lot different on the hardware side, but the 9 has several software features that the 9E doesn’t.
Ulefone Armor 9e Review
The Ulefone Armor 9E costs a mere $29 (or Rs 1900) in India. It weighs just under a hundred grams and is a mere 8.1 mm thick, meaning that it’s easy to hold and easy to pocket. It has a 5-inch Full HD display and the body is a combination of plastic and metal.
The Ulefone Armor 9E may look ugly at first, but it’s very durable and has a few useful features. It comes with a micro-USB charging port for charging and an in-line microphone and front-facing speakers that sound pretty good. The phone has a 3,000 mAh battery with a standby time of up to 4 days and a talk time of up to 15 hours.
People nowadays love traveling for that reason they prefer rugged smartphones and Ulefone is the world’s topmost well-known rugged smartphone manufacturer brand; Ulefone also has many rugged smartphones. Mobile Arrival makes a super list of Top pick Ulefone Armor Power Rugged Smartphones Reviews.
Ulefone Armor 9E display
We noticed the display in the Ulefone Armor 9E wasn’t as clear as that of the Ulefone 6. The display has a resolution of 1,280×720 pixels. The display is quite bright and a nice size, but the colors are a bit inaccurate.
We found the colors were better when we tested the phone outdoors than inside the phone.
While the design may look ugly at first, the phone has a decent build quality. We found the Ulefone Armor 9E to be really sturdy, and we think it would be able to take some serious blows without losing its look.
The Ulefone Armor 9E also comes with a microSD card slot for expansion of storage and supports up to 64GB of data.
Ulefone Armor 9E specifications
The Ulefone Armor 9E has a 1.8GHz quad-core processor and 1.3GB RAM, so it shouldn’t suffer from slow performance. For storage, the Ulefone Armor 9E has 8GB of internal storage and can also expand with a microSD card for more storage.
The Ulefone Armor 9E has an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus. It also has a front camera for taking selfies.
While the Ulefone Armor 9E doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor, it comes with a security system that can make text messages and calls from unknown numbers unrecognizable. However, we were unable to test it ourselves.
If you have an interest in this smartphone, you can currently get it for Php1,995 (around $36). For the price, the Ulefone Armor 9E offers a good value for money, and its rugged build is what makes it unique.
But if you’re looking for a smartphone that gives you the full Android experience, you should check out the Ulefone Armor 6 instead. It’s one of the best smartphones in terms of its build quality and display.
As the company with the best battery technology in its smartphones, Ulefone’s Armor series has been designed with military-grade durability in mind.
With a unique way of manufacturing, the company has taken care to not compromise on the quality of the devices and ensure it can withstand a whole day of hard knocks and falls without any issues.
We have been using the latest version of the Armor series for the past few months now, and its build quality stands out. It has been a pleasure to test the device and know how it handles.
Design and build
The Ulefone Armor 9E is available in a variety of colors that range from gray to classic black, but as always, there is a dark gray model for those who prefer a more subtle look.
The design of the Ulefone Armor 9E is simple. The front of the phone is a large curved glass. The left edge of the front houses the earpiece and the front camera, while the top part of the edge holds the front-facing speaker.
There’s no display notch, but there is a cutout for the front-facing camera on the left side. It is a fairly standard cut out but that’s something you can’t see unless you look close up at the phone.
The right side of the phone, between the earpiece and the front-facing camera, houses a volume rocker and the dedicated Bixby button. The volume rocker doesn’t get stuck as it has a bit of lip to prevent it from getting in the way of your thumb while you are pressing the button.
The back is made of metal, and there is a small round indent for the Bixby button. The company has gone for a metal finish for the rear, so the design isn’t in keeping with the plastic design of the phone.
The bottom edge of the phone has an in-display fingerprint scanner and a micro-USB port.
Software and performance
Ulefone has introduced its latest Android phones in a range of colors. It could be white, gray, dark gray, black, and now there are also red and blue as well.
It is very likely that the red and blue models will also be offered in India since the company has launched the Ulefone Armor 9E in these colors in the country, while it has not released it in other parts of the world.
The phone comes with an Android 9 Pie. The company hasn’t gone for any new feature in this release. It has tweaked the UI just enough to make it easier on the eyes. The company has also introduced new animation for phone notifications.
Battery and performance
The Ulefone Armor 9E comes with a 4000 mAh battery with fast charging support. It supports fast-charging up to 5V / 8A in India. You can use the fast charge feature at a rate of 25W.
The phone supports a quick charge feature as well. The fast charging of the phone takes almost a full hour and the battery life of the phone has seen a good boost when you use it fast. The battery is expected to last up to 6 hours when you use it at normal power levels.
There are two variants of the phone. One of them has 2 GB of RAM and the other one has 3 GB of RAM. Both the models support a maximum of 32 GB of internal storage and the phone comes with a microSD card slot.
It supports Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 5.0. It also has a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer.