Oukitel has launched what it is calling because the world’s first industrial-grade modular rugged telephone, the WP300. It is significantly powerful, but in addition probably the most enjoyable I’ve had with a smartphone in a very long time.
Chinese language shopper electronics model Oukitel is sort of 20 years outdated, but you could not have heard of the corporate earlier than – until you are after a rugged system and Amazon is the place you are wanting. The WP300 is not launching straight to Oukitel’s on-line shops, however heading to Kickstarter for a funding spherical first – and I’ve spent the final week or so discovering out what it could do.
In some methods the WP300 is similar to the WP200 Pro launched simply a few months in the past, with each handsets together with nifty modules. The newer telephone positive aspects extra girth and a a lot larger battery, however loses a little bit processing energy and loads of reminiscence/storage, although does get AI chops.
Both means, you are not taking a look at a super-slim handset or perhaps a reasonably thick telephone. You are coping with a chunky brick that is designed to snigger in face of the form of difficult situations you would possibly end up in should you work in building or are within the army. The WP300 measures 177.3 x 82.4 x 23.2 mm (6.98 x 3.24 x 0.91 in), and weighs in at 499 g (1.1 lb).
Getting all the way down to modular enterprise
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In my head, once I was opening the field to find what was on provide right here, I imagined being launched to the tech and capabilities by critical tones of Desmond Llewelyn from Q Department/Division of the British Secret Service within the Bond motion pictures. It undoubtedly has that multi-gadget, sensible spy tech vibe. Or possibly that is simply me.
Aside from the chunkiness and heft, one of many first issues I seen as I turned the telephone round in my palms was the 4.2 x 2.4 x 1-cm (1.65 x 0.94 x 0.39-in) modular slot subsequent to the rear digital camera array. Out of the field, this was residence to a LED tenting mild unit that places out as much as 396 lumens over three brightness ranges, plus SOS and strobe modes. The sunshine has an working temperature vary of between -20 °C to 40 °C above (-4 – 104 °F).
However the WP300 additionally comes with a smartwatch module referred to as the BT11 in addition to a silicone strap and spare earplug (extra on that in a bit). The show a part of the smartwatch could be popped out of the metallic body and pushed within the telephone’s slot to offer a secondary show round again.
Nevertheless, this touchscreen primarily simply mirrors the performance of a smartwatch, so that you is likely to be questioning what the purpose is. As I dealt with the watch module, I seen a squishy earphone round again. This permits the unit to do double responsibility as a single-ear Bluetooth earpiece and microphone for taking calls whereas wanting up building blueprints or deployment plans on the telephone. As such, this could possibly be helpful to dock as an alternative of the sunshine module, relying in your deliberate work day.
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This earphone is available in one measurement solely and could be indifferent if desired, however would not plug in like an earbud. As an alternative it kinda hangs close to the ear canal. I discovered the match to be greater than a little bit unfastened, that means that I lacked confidence transferring about with the factor primarily dangling from my ear. However when it stayed put, the decision readability was tremendous at each ends of the dialog.
When used as a primary smartwatch on the wrist, this module capabilities just about as you’d anticipate – monitoring well being and health metrics, serving up a clock face, fielding notifications for calls and messages, and so forth.
It features a coronary heart charge sensor, an exercise heart which data steps, energy and distance, greater than 100 sport modes can be found and there is assist for sleep monitoring too. There’s 128 MB of built-in storage, however the system flings knowledge to Oukitel’s Da Match app over Bluetooth for storage and evaluation.
The smartwatch can be utilized to manage music playback, and to remotely set off the telephone’s rear digital camera. A helpful addition to this module’s toolkit can be a digital view via the rear lens so you would line up selfies utilizing the higher-res digital camera – however maybe that is simply me being grasping.
Its 150-mAh battery is reckoned good for 10 days on standby and I obtained round a working week’s price in common use throughout workplace hours. It is charged over a magnetic cable or you’ll be able to make the most of the telephone’s massive battery and prime up when docked.
Whereas as regards to a module’s battery, the tenting mild has its personal battery too. Away from the telephone, it may be mounted throughout the metallic body of the smartwatch if it is getting used elsewhere, and worn on the wrist or on the top through the provided stretchy band. Nevertheless, the battery right here solely lasted for round half an hour on the highest beam, so might be finest saved for emergency use solely relatively than lengthy hikes after sundown. Docked within the WP300 it would final an entire lot longer.
A powerbank that occurs to be a smartphone
The WP300’s beneficiant 16,000-mAh battery accounts for a lot of its 1-inch girth, together with its sturdy metallic body, to permit you “to discover the outside for days” with out worrying about have to hunt out a wall outlet each few hours.
I have a tendency to change off stuff I do not want and activate them once I do, however I have been utilizing the handset throughout daylight for greater than per week – plus some after-dark excursions – and nonetheless have greater than 50% battery remaining.
Throughout that point of comparatively mild use in comparison with associates who appear to spend all of their waking hours glued to a display screen, I’ve watched movies, made calls, performed round with the modules, took pictures and movies, and checked socials in addition to usually pushing all of the buttons to see what the WP300 needed to provide.
Heavy customers could need to recharge extra usually, however I have been suitably impressed by the battery efficiency up to now. When it’s time to plug in, the telephone helps 45-W fast-charging through the included USB-C adapter, together with very helpful 18-W reverse charging – that means that you should utilize the WP300’s big battery to prime up cell gadgetry whereas on the transfer. Wi-fi charging just isn’t supported.
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Up entrance is a 6.8-inch FHD+ show (1,080 x 2,460) topped by scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 5. This boasts a handy guide a rough 120-Hz refresh charge for buttery easy movies and cell video games, and shines shiny with 650 nits. Heart prime is a 32-MP selfiecam for 1080p video chats at 30 frames per second.
Round again, a 108-megapixel important digital camera is constructed round a 1/1.8-inch-type Samsung picture sensor, and comes with AI smarts for automated optimization of “sharpness, element and vivid colour.” There’s 4K video at 30 frames per second accessible, poorly lit topics could be captured with the assistance of a LED flash, and there is a 2-MP macro lens for grabbing close-ups.
The digital camera app presents numerous digital camera modes – night time, video, image, magnificence, 108M, portrait, panorama, a GIF maker, macro, slow-mo, QR reader, and monochrome. There is a Professional mode too – which primarily places the person accountable for parameters. AI instruments are included as nicely, permitting customers to take away objects from a photograph or change the background, in addition to make an avatar or create a “digital human.”
The WP300 runs Android 15 out of the gate, which seems to be just about inventory – in different phrases, little to no bloat from ineffective proprietary apps. One helpful further right here is the Oukitel ToolBag, which gathers collectively things like a sound meter, plumb bob, magnifier, gradient device, and digital spirit stage. There is a separate app for activating the tenting mild when docked, and the Da Match well being app is onscreen too.
Inside is a MediaTek 7050 5G chipset with 2.6-GHz octa-core processing and built-in graphics, supported by 12 GB of GDDR5X RAM cooked in, however the telephone can dip into the beneficiant 512 GB of UFS3.1 storage for twenty-four GB extra when wanted, making a complete of 36 GB of mixed precise and digital reminiscence. MicroSD card enlargement is included as nicely, ought to extra space be wanted on your digital archive.
Rounding out the important thing specs are Wi-Fi 6 and 5G for zippy connectivity, together with Bluetooth 5.2, and the telephone can faucet into GPS, GLONASS, Beidou and Galileo satellites for international navigation potential. A facet fingerprint scanner and face ID assist are additionally onboard for peace-of-mind safety.
For many who wish to nerd out on rugged capabilities – the telephone is licensed sturdy to MIL-STD-810H requirements, which implies that it has been drop examined a number of instances from a peak of 1.5 m (~5 ft). An IP68 score may see it submerged in water at a depth of 1.5 m for as much as half-hour with out situation, whereas IP69K mud score retains particles from spoiling the smartphone celebration. It is designed to function in temperature extremes, do you have to ever end up in environments the place -20 °C or 55 °C (-4 to 131 °F) is the norm. Oukitel does be aware {that a} powered-off telephone may truly stand up to -40 °C to 70 °C (-40 – 158 °F) although.
The underside line
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A pal steered that you would merely purchase an inexpensive Android telephone, wrap it in a tricky case, purchase a separate headlamp, seize a health tracker or easy smartwatch, add in a capacious energy financial institution and at last carry a BT earpiece to the celebration, and get near what’s on provide right here – presumably for much less cash.
However I might argue that the convenience of use, the army toughness and the multi-tool nature of modular gadgetry designed to match this Transformer telephone completely out of the field all go to make the all-in-one case for the WP300. Plus should you tape a battery brick and a handset collectively, it will most likely be an in depth name on which is thinnest and lightest.
Bond-like modularity apart, this proved a strong performer with a handy guide a rough response and fashionable smartphone expertise. There’s loads of storage and reminiscence cooked in, the dearth of bloat within the app division was welcome, and a 100+ megapixel important digital camera ought to present all of the element wanted for recording imagery within the area.
Sure, it is a chunky monkey and will not be to everybody’s style – notably when super thin appears to be in again – however it’s designed to be a survivor. I dropped it, dunked it, buried it and usually abused it and nonetheless it carried out with out situation. Whereas the battery isn’t the biggest in the rugged phone world, it saved me away from the wall outlet for the entire evaluation interval (and nonetheless has juice to spare at time of writing) whereas sharing its cost with the docked modules.
The tenting mild is not as shiny as my headlamp of alternative, however not having to hold further gear when heading into the wild after darkish was very welcome certainly. It is a pity that its personal battery would not final lengthy, however docked within the telephone sees it final and final.
Sadly, a person handbook for the smartphone is not accessible, so you will have to stab on the display screen to find what in can do. But it surely’s not overly difficult and lacks most of the bells and whistles of extra succesful standalone wrist sweet from the likes of Samsung, Apple or Google. Briefly, it is a primary smartwatch and well being tracker that may additionally function a wi-fi earpiece for calls. Nifty.
Initially revealed at CES 2025 again in January, the WP300 will carry a steered retail value of US$599 at its shopper launch. However earlier than that occurs Oukitel is launching on Kickstarter. Early backers will be capable to make the most of a 33% low cost, that means that they are going to solely need to stump up $399 to nab certainly one of these multi-tool smartphones – and that features free worldwide transport.
After all, all crowdfunders carry a component of threat, however Oukitel is a longtime firm relatively than a startup or storage undertaking, and judging by our production-level evaluation unit, we might say it is a fairly protected wager that this stuff will probably be launched into the wild. If all goes in accordance with plan, transport is estimated to start out from July.
I had loads of enjoyable with this brick of a rugged telephone and its modules, regardless of it being pitched as a critical work telephone, so it is a straightforward advocate. I simply have to don my army workwear extra usually so I’ve pockets massive sufficient to deal with it when on the transfer.
Supply: Oukitel
