UPDATE: The Sonim XP10 has been added to the best rugged smartphones list.

TOUGHEST SMARTPHONES FOR INDUSTRIAL AND CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

TOUGHEST SMARTPHONES FOR PEOPLE THAT PRACTICE OUTDOOR SPORTS

Some screens won’t survive from falls even below 3 feet and there are stories on the web that some phones screens shattered simply by being carried inside the pocket (some previous models from Apple). So, for the people that don’t want to treat their cell phones like jewelry and don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a device that can shatter at any time, I have compiled a list of the best rugged smartphones that, although not indestructible (no phone can ever claim that), are as close as one can get to the perfect drop proof, shockproof and waterproof smartphone.

But, before that, you need to understand that the rugged smartphones are not really a homogeneous group and that, in reality, they are divided in a manner to be suitable for two main audiences: the ones that work in an industrial environment or in constructions and need a fully rugged, durable and no-compromises phone (where the internal specs are not a high priority) and the ones that need a mid-to-high-end smartphone which will survive the occasional fall (even face first) and that can handle splashes or even full submerges underwater (usually, active people who regularly practice different types of outdoor sports).

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2. Sonim XP10 Rugged Smartphone

Sonim seems to have gotten more serious about its rugged smartphones line and it recently made available a successor to the Sonim XP8 (which replaced the widely popular Sonim XP7). And it seems that the rugged exterior remains one of the device’s forte, but has Sonim also improved some of its core elements to make it more suitable for 2023? The rugged smartphone is guilty of putting everything in the tough department, while focusing a lot less on the screen and the inner components.

And it seems that despite what the price tag may suggest, the Sonim XP10 is not on par with the premium flagship smartphone on the market. Then again, the Sonim XP10 is not aiming to charm the general public, but it focuses towards a very specific niche audience which includes construction workers, electricians, the people that work at chemical plants and especially it is aimed at those that are the first responders while working in hazardous and emergency-type conditions.

This is enhanced by the FirstNet certifications, including Rapid Response, MCPTT QoS and Ready for Public Safety. The main idea behind the FirstNest suite of feature is to give the first responders access to a congestion-free broadband LTE network, ensuring that more lives can be saved). Furthermore, Sonim has also kept the Push-To-Talk function (the AT&T proprietary EPTT), which can prove to be a reliable tool in case of emergency or when the user needs a walkie-talkie-type of service (such as while hiking).

I couldn’t really see the Sonim XP7 or even the XP8 as elegant phones, but the point was for them to be designed in a manner to ensure that the device will be waterproof, it will survive falling on all kind of surfaces and that it can be used in dangerous environments. The Sonim XP10 follows the same footsteps, but there are some notable design-wise changes. The top protrusion for the antenna has gotten even smaller, now being a mere bump and the smartphone is also a bit thinner than the XP8, measuring 6.3 x 3.0 x 0.64 inches. And yes, it is a much larger phone overall.

Should a rugged smartphone be that large? Sonim and AGM say yes, while CAT says no. In any case, there are other elements that sets this rugged smartphone further apart from the regular Android handsets.
The ‘analogue’ front-facing buttons of the previous gen are gone, now being replaced by in-screen keys, but there is a SecureAudio connector (for any external speakers) on the side and a PTT button and the Emergency key (when pressed, it automatically sends the GPS location and the user should immediately be contacted by the emergency center).

Some other features that were the norm for a long time and are now turning to be something quite exotic are the removable battery and the microSD card, but Sonim is also guilty of removing the 3.5mm headphone jack (it was missing on the XP8 as well). The last curious addition is the two loud speakers that sit below the display with the fingerprint reader in between them.
Covering most of the front side, there’s the 5.5-inches IPS display with a resolution of 2,160 x 1080 pixels and 439ppi pixel density. The refresh rate remains 60Hz and, to get an idea about what to expect from a rugged smartphone in 2023, know that both the AGM G2 Guardian and the CAT S75 have 120Hz panels.

And don’t get me wrong, the Sonim XP10 is not a cheap smartphone by any means. Obviously, the display will do fine for normal media consumption, but, as expected, the colors don’t pop out as much as on an AMOLED display. Covering the screen and protecting the entire front side (expect for the buttons), there’s the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus which will do a good job protecting against scratches and, considering that the display may be vulnerable if the users drops the phone face-first, Sonim decided to surround the screen with a raised, protective lip.

The two aforementioned 100 dB+ speakers are very loud and surprisingly clear – the mics use Goodix Noise and Echo cancellation for a better call quality. I need to mention that you can still operate the rugged smartphone even if you have wet fingers or gloves.

The Sonim XP8 was able to withstand a lot of abuse and the XP10 didn’t lower the bar. The handset is IP68 and IPX9K rated, which means that it’s as close to being truly waterproof as possible; it can also survive corrosive chemicals and oils, extreme pressure and can withstand a lot of falls before taking actual damage (it’s MIL-STD-810H rated). So, similarly to its predecessors, the phone is not completely indestructible but it is one tough piece of work (probably one of the most durable smartphone available right next to the Panasonic rugged handsets).

Inside the case, the Sonim XP10 is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon SM4350 Pro SoC (six-core Cortex-A55 clocked at 1.9GHz and dual-core Cortex-A76 clocked at 2.2GHz), 6GB of RAM, an Adreno 619 GPU and 128 GB of storage memory (you can add up to 1TB using the microSD card slot). As you can see, Sonim has made significant progress in the hardware performance department as well (the XP8 had 4GB of RAM, and a Snapdragon 630 chip), so the phone will feel more responsive, it will allow some light gaming and the multitasking will be handled better.

It’s still an entry-level chip which will raise some eyebrows considering the price tag of the rugged smartphone. The Sonim XP10 comes with Android 12 and it seems that the manufacturer has promised to upgrade the phone to Android 13 in the near future. Know that the rugged smartphones usually are stuck with the Android version with which they were released.

Moving on to the cameras, we can see that the Sonim XP10 sports a 50-megapixel main rear camera (can’t wait for the 1K+-megapixel cameras on the future phones) and an 8-megapixel wide-angle lens cameras. On the front, there is another 8-megapixel camera suitable for selfies. Just like almost all other rugged smartphones, the rear camera performs decent at best in good light but under-performs in low-light, but, let’s be honest, you won’t use the Sonim XP10 as your main shooter anyway.

Now let’s have a look at the battery. The XP8 had a quite impressive 4800mAh battery that could deliver up to 48 hours of normal usage and the Sonim XP10 aims to top that with its equally impressive 5000 mAh removable battery which, similarly to its predecessor, it will take about two full days of medium to high use until you’ll need to recharge the battery. One last appealing ‘feature’ is the three year warranty. Just like the XP7 and the XP8, the Sonim XP10 will be replaced if it breaks, without questions asked.

Verdict: The Sonim XP10 does feel like it is indestructible and, even if it made significant improvements in both looks and performance, it still isn’t entirely suitable for the wider audience (and I’m not sure that it tries to). That being said, the Sonim XP10 is definitely one of the most rugged smartphones available in 2023 and its mid-range performance will be enough for most of its users, while it will also be a great addition to not only workers in tough environments, but for people that practice outdoor sports as well.

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

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Remember the flashlight that shone bright from the rear panel? Well, there are now two powerful 1,200 Lumen flashlights (warm and cold camping lights) and this just barely scratches the surface. There is IR control (a very exotic, but welcomed feature that very rarely finds itself on smartphones nowadays) and we do have a projector. It’s not the first smartphone that can project the content of the display on the wall since Blackview Max 1 also decided to add this curious feature.

And, while my question would be why do we need a projector on a smartphone, the developers thought why not? It could be fun for the kids and there is a huge battery to keep the projector running for a long time. Indeed, the Unihertz Tank2 has a 15,500mAh battery which is a step down from the 22,000mAh battery of its predecessor, but I suppose still more than enough to keep most of the functions running for a long time.

Of course, we’ll test the battery life and see how many days we can get on a single charge. Besides the cool hardware features, the Unihertz Tank2 also offers some tools that can be helpful on a construction site, such as the Bubble Level, the height measurement, the Protractor or the Plumb blob. That being said, let’s check out the Unihertz Tank2 and see if all of these features have been properly implemented and whether the huge size of the smartphone is justified.

The Design and Build Quality

I know that some manufacturers have moved away from creating large flashy rugged smartphones, but just like the AGM G2 Guardian and the Horizon Pro, the Unihertz Tank2 steered in the complete opposite direction. The smartphone is huge, has lots of angles and it’s quite literally flashy thanks to the duo flashlight system. The case measures 9.4 x 6.9 x 3.3 inches (24.0 x 17.5 x 8.5cm), so it’s larger than the AGM G2 Guardian which is quite the feat considering that it barely fit into the pocket of my pants.

And the weight is also impressive. The Unihertz Tank2 weighs almost 1.2 pounds (530g), so yes, you need a very serious belt to keep your pants on. And yes, it is currently the heaviest and largest smartphone I have tested so far, outdoing the flagships from AGM. Then again, I am sure that the targeted audience doesn’t mind one bit, quite the contrary. It does make me wonder if the screen would have been a bit smaller, so that instead of a large brick, we would have a smaller brick, but I digress.

The frame of the smartphone is made of hard plastic at the top and bottom while on the sides, it does seem that we’re dealing with a metallic plate which contains all the buttons. And there are quite a few of them. On the right side, there’s the Power button which also has embedded a fingerprint sensor (it’s very accurate). Above it, there’s a removable slot for the microSD and the two SIM cards, and it does have a metallic cover as well as a silicone ring to prevent water or dust from entering the enclosure. The other side of the smartphone is home to the volume keys, the programmable button and the camping light switch (press and hold it) – all are metallic which is a very nice touch.

The programmable button functions are a bit limited and you can’t add SOS as a shortcut. Don’t worry though because if you press the Power button five times quickly, it will play a sound alarm, call emergency services, contact numbers that have been pre-added and even record an emergency video. There are some other Safety features that you can enable from the GUI, such as the alerts, the medical info and more. At the bottom, the Unihertz Tank2 has a silicone cover which, once removed, it will expose the USB-C port and the 3.5mm headphone jack.

It’s worth noting that the canal leading to the USB-C is not too narrow, allowing for most cables to easily reach it – I say this because AGM has made it difficult to use universal USB-C cables. At the top, you can see the IR sensor and next to it, there’s a fairly wide area which contains the projector lens (we’ll talk more about it in the dedicated section). Now let’s check out the rear panel.

There is a lot going on here, but what’s going to immediately stand out are the two colorful sections (yellow and orange) and they’re not just a strange design choice, no, these are the camping lights, the top displays a cold light, while the bottom one has a warmer light. The manufacturer has also included Red and Blue warning lights within these sections, so I guess you can mimic the police lights.

The speaker points outwards from the rear panel (we’ll see if it muffles the sound) and near the bottom, I noticed a sort of exhaust hole. Apparently that’s used for checking whether the smartphone is water resistant (sort of QC helper of sorts). The last section of interest is the camera area which has gained a flashlight LED (was it really needed?), so the design is slightly changed from the original Tank phone. The main camera, the wide-angle lens camera and the night vision + the IR LEDs are still there.

How rugged is the Unihertz Tank2?

The Unihertz Tank2 is big and heavy, but is it actually tough enough to survive harsh conditions? Let’s just start with the most important aspect: will the screen survive if you drop the phone? The Tank2 does have a huge display (6.81″) which is not really ideal on a rugged smartphone, but the developers were careful enough to add a substantial lip around the screen. And, while it does not have Gorilla Glass protection, there is Panda MN228 Glass (same as on the original Tank) to prevent the display from shattering.

Of course, the screen is the most vulnerable part and will remain so unless we return back to plastic screens. The rest of the case can handle any type of shocks and I am fairly sure that the Unihertz Tank2 can be used as a self defense weapon (blind them with the bright light and then smack ’em in the head). Jokes aside, the smartphone has passed some MIL-STD-810G tests; the manufacturer hasn’t mentioned which in a clear manner, just that the phone survived mechanical shocks, high temperature and humidity.

But, just like the monocular thermal camera on the G2 Guardian, is the projector a vulnerable part? I imagine that it isn’t much so than the suite of cameras on the back panel. I won’t deny that it does take a bit from the overall ruggedness, but we do get some cool features in return. It’s also worth mentioning the IP68 and IP69K ratings which means that dust will not enter the enclosure and it’s not just water resistant, you can actually swim with the smartphone – there is an actual Underwater Camera app where the display is turned off, so you need to rely on the physical buttons to operate the device, which makes sense.

The Display

The Unihertz Tank2 has a 6.81-inch TFT IPS display with a resolution of 2460x1080p and a pixel density of 396ppi which is fine for the size of the screen. You won’t see any pixels, don’t worry. What was interesting to see was that the smartphone apparently supports 120Hz refresh rate, but does it truly? I have switched to 120Hz from the Settings, but it doesn’t seem to have made a difference.

I even restarted the phone, but what confirmed my suspicion was the Display Checker app which showed 60Hz despite the setting – there’s even an adaptive mode which also doesn’t seem to work. So yeah, at least at the moment, the display goes up to only 60Hz. Now let’s talk about the image quality. I initially thought that it’s about the same as on the AGM flagships, but it’s actually closer to the H5 Pro. The black levels, although acceptable, were not very deep, especially when ramping up the brightness.

The color tone is a bit warm, so the white has a very slight red tone. Now let’s talk about the brightness – you do have adaptive mode available and it works well. At the highest level, the display should be visible when it’s sunny outdoors, but if you’re on the beach, it may be necessary to find some shade to read your messages, especially since the coating is a bit reflective.

Then again, it’s nothing that the dark mode won’t fix, at least to a certain point. I am not sure what’s the deal with the refresh rate, so in case it’s a software issue (like a pending firmware to enable it), I will update the article with the new info.

How accurate is the fingerprint sensor?

After the AGM Horizon Pro experience, I am wary of the fingerprint sensor on rugged smartphones, but they have improved it on the G2 Guardian and it seems that the Unihertz Tank2 has a similar type of sensor embedded within the Power button. As for its accuracy, it’s good and it very rarely fails – like one time in 7 or even less, so it’s a decent fingerprint sensor. If you’re wearing gloves and can’t operate the display or the sensor, then you can rely on face detection.

The Internal Hardware and Performance

The Unihertz Tank2 is equipped with an eight-core ARMv8 processor (six-core at 2GHz and dual-core at 2.2GHz) – the SoC is MediaTek Helio G99 (MT6789) and the Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. The MT6789 seems to be a bit better than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 and it should be enough to handle 1080p gaming really well, but we will see the synthetic benchmarks results.

Also, know that the smartphone is equipped with 22GB of RAM (12GB + an additional 10GB RAM) which is more than what I have in all my laptops (not the PC which has 32GB, but damn close). So multitasking and any other extensive app should be handled with ease – I only experienced some stutters when running the benchmarks, since I could barely open any other app.

That being said, I first ran the Geekbench 6 and, as you can see Single-Core Score is 731 (a bit above the Realme 7 Pro), while the Multi-Core Score is 1972 for the CPU test (slightly below Nokia 9). The GPU benchmark produced a score of 1304, which is just below the score of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 10.5.

Moving forward, I ran the GFXBench suite of tests (which took a while to conclude) and, as can be seen from the screenshots, the Unihertz Tank2’s score is somewhere underneath the Samsung Galaxy S7, but above the iPad Pro – a slightly better score than the AGM H5 Pro. Some interesting results were from 1080p Aztec Ruins OpenGL which showed that the average FPS was 16, while the Car Chase test also showed approx 15FPS.
The Manhattan and T-Rex tests were the most favorable and overall, it shows that you should be able to play most mobile games at a decent frame rate.

Lastly, I ran the 3DMark benchmark and specifically the Slingshot test: the score was 3527 which apparently places the Tank2 somewhere near the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is not bad, I guess. But let’s see how the smartphone behaves with some actual games. I first installed the game that plays itself, Asphalt 9 and, as expected, it worked well – no stutters or freezes.

I dislike mobile games with a passion, so I quickly installed Steam Link to stream some games from my PC and, to my shame, I still haven’t installed anything else than Tomb Raider. So check out a minute of the character moving around the forest aimlessly – you really need a controller since it’s not a pleasant experience to use the screen. The point that I am trying to make is that you can play games on the Unihertz Tank2 without experiencing any type of issues.

The Software and Support

The smartphone uses Android 13 which is excellent, but let’s check out its one-year old predecessor, has it transition to the newer Android version? No. Well, as I anticipated, you’re not going to see an upgrade to the the latest Android version, so the Tank2 will most likely remain on Android 13 indefinitely. That being said, the Android is pretty much stock, but there are a few apps which are actually useful, so I won’t classify them as bloating.

There’s the Underwater Camera and ZazaRemote for IR remote controls. And there’s also the Toolbox suite of apps which contain various useful software, such as the height measurement app, the Plumb blob, the Protractor, the Pressure measurement and more. They’re apps useful for construction workers and for people that go on camping, the two main targeted audiences. The Projector also has a dedicated option in the Settings area, as well as in the Quick access menu (slide from the top to access it).

And this is yet another rugged smartphone that lacks an Always-on display function. I get it that it will cut some percents from the battery, but just let it be an option that the user can enable, I mean this is Android, not iOS. There are some very annoying issues though. First, I was not asked what browser I wanted to use, so Google Chrome by default – let’s curb Alphabet’s dream at a browser monopoly.
And second, where is the Back button? I navigated the web a bit and there was no Back button. I have not seen it on any app, so maybe I am missing something obvious, but I could not see the Button anywhere.

The Cameras

The Unihertz Tank2 has a 108-megapixel main camera and a 16-megapixel wide-angle lens on the rear side and I would love to add some other info, such as the aperture, but the manufacturer did not make it available. In any case, I did take a few photos outdoors with lots of sun with a focus on macro and, as you can see, the autofocus is done well and the amount of detail is definitely impressive, especially on the strawberry photo.

Next, I took a shot of the sky and, while it’s not overblown, the trees lose a bit of detail. Lastly, I took an indoor photo in the afternoon and the huge sensor does make it worth its money since there is little noise and the overall everything in the photo is clear and detailed.

Next, I decided to capture a video and I was not very impressed. It’s not bad or anything, just that the cars and other objects in the distance seem to be less detailed. Plus, the digital stabilization is not very present and, as you can see from the video, it’s a bit shaky. Nothing a gimbal can’t fix, just be aware of the thickness of the smartphone since not all gimbals are going to be suitable for it.

We’re not done because the Unihertz Tank2 has a 64-megapixel night vision camera along with four IR LEDs, a system rivaling security cameras and an upgrade over what the Tank offered last year.
And yes, the Unihertz Tank2 does behave in a similar manner to the night vision security cameras, offering a black and white view of your surroundings.

I have added a couple of photos to get an idea about how far it can ‘see’ and you’re going to be able to clearly check about 200 feet in front of you. And obviously it can see farther, but there is a loss in quality and clarity, as expected.

The Projector

Although a projector is not the main feature I have in mind when thinking about rugged smartphones, 8849 decided to add it to the Unihertz Tank2. And considering that people who go camping may want to have a source of entertainment, then why not have the phone project a larger image, playing a movie or a video for more than one person to see. The projector relies on the laser technology, it has a low brightness, reaching only 40 Lumen, but then again, it’s a smartphone, not an Epson or XGIMI projector.

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Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

Furthermore, the camera will allow you to see the heat signature of people or animals (for hunting purposes) and it seems that the AGM G2 Guardian can indeed detect them from up to 0.3 miles which is quite impressive, especially for a smartphone. And it’s definitely a step up from the previous flagship, the Glory Pro, but who actually needs a thermal monocular camera? I am sure that not only hunters, but some hikers and overall, people that like to go on outdoor adventures would benefit from a thermal monocular camera.

It could also work in an industrial setting, where it’s difficult to see through dust or fog – and machines do generate a lot of heat. Also, let’s not forget that the AGM G2 Guardian is indeed a rugged smartphone and the manufacturer made sure to keep the signature look of the previous models. So, expect the large circular speaker embedded on the rear panel which can be very loud, up to 109dB, and, besides the thermal camera, there are four other cameras, including infrared night vision and a macro shooter.

Since CAT moved to a 120Hz display panel, AGM also added a 120Hz panel to the G2 Guardian , so it’s much smoother than on previous models. Furthermore, the rugged smartphone is equipped with a 7,000mAh battery, it supports 5G and it seems that it will also connect to WiFi 6/6E networks, so let’s put it to the test and see if it can be considered the best rugged smartphone to date.

The Design and Build Quality

I noticed that some manufacturers have taken important steps towards ensuring that their rugged smartphones don’t really stand out when put next to the regular phones (such as the newest CAT), but AGM targets a different category of people. Those that want to use their phone to hammer nails. And yes, the AGM G2 Guardian is unapologetically rugged, sporting a large case that measures 7.0 x 3.3 x 1.0 inches (17.7 x 8.5 x 2.5cm), so it’s actually thicker and taller than the Glory Pro. Quite the feat.

The rugged smartphone also weighs 0.9lbs (405g) which makes it heavier than the Glory Pro and one of the heaviest smartphones I have ever put my hands on. If you’re going to put it in your pocket, make sure that you have a solid belt since it’s going to try and pull your trousers down. I guess this is both impressive and a negative aspect of the phone, but then again, the AGM G2 Guardian wants to sit more in a tool box or travel bag than in your pocket. The frame and the rear panel are solidly made and there is no chance you’re going to bend this device, and for a moment, I thought that the rear may be Kevlar, but it’s just a similar pattern.

Then again, I would like to see a bullet-proof smartphone sometimes in the future. It seems that the wireless charging is still there (10W) and I think it’s a bit better placed than on the Glory Pro, which had that area slightly depressed. But you will still have to account for the large circular part that covers the top half of the smartphone. In a market where no smartphone stands out anymore, I won’t judge AGM’s pursue on trying something new, but I still consider the idea to maintain that speaker in the middle and still pointing outwards a bit uninspired. I say this for two reasons.

One, you never get to put the smartphone flush on the desk. Two, because the speaker gets muffled when the AGM G2 Guardian sits on its back and, when on its front, it’s very loud, but not always very clear (it depends on the room layout). It just never gets the chance to show its true potential. The good news is that the speaker grille is made of metal (while it was plastic on the Glory Pro). Surrounding it, there’s the 2-megapixel Macro camera along with the air pressure balance hole, the 108-megapixel main shooter and the flash LED.

Next to it sits the star of the show, the thermal camera (the large central circular thingie) and the infrared camera with the IR LED hidden underneath the plastic cover. A bit lower along the rear panel there are two pins for the optional standing charging case. At the top of the AGM G2 Guardian, on the frame, there had to be the dedicated flashlight (a single, not a dual LED as on the Glory Pro, which is fine) and a microphone. On the rear side, to maintain the waterproof aspect of the smartphone, AGM has added a silicone cover that, once removed, it will reveal the type-C charging port and the 3.5mm jack (never remove it, AGM!).

I have the same complaint about the charging port as I had with the Glory Pro and the H5 Pro – the tunnel leading to it is just too narrow. This means that you either are forced to always use their own charging cable or just hunt for cables with a thin head – not cool. You may have noticed that I have not yet mentioned the fingerprint reader and that’s because it is now positioned on the right side, embedded within the Power button.

Above it, there’s the volume rocker, while on the other side of the smartphone, still on the frame, there’s the programmable button and the slot for the microSD + SIM card, hidden by a silicone cover, of course. And just like the Power button, the programmable button is orange – this color theme can also be traced on the rear panel. The function that you can use for the programmable button are for it to enable the Push-to-talk function, to play audio, the start the camera or enable the flashlight. It can also work as an SOS button, but know that this function is already embedded into the Power button – press it quickly five time to play a loud sound and to even call for help (112 or a different, user-defined number).

How rugged is the AGM G2 Guardian?

There was a design element that I noticed right away and it was the lip around the screen which is a bit higher than on the Glory Pro, therefore offering a better protection for the screen. But is the display finally covered by Corning Gorilla Glass? I got mixed info online and since there is no mention on the official website (and there’s no way for me to test it), I am just going to assume that it’s not – there is a protective screen already installed and an extra in the package. Then again, there is no perfect protection for such a large screen, so you should still be careful with mechanical shocks.

Only those directed at the screen, because the rest of the body is pretty much sock-proof. Indeed, the AGM G2 Guardian has passed a few MIL-STD-810H tests, such as dropping the device from 5 feet, high pressure, sudden changes in temperature and it will remain operational when the temperature ranges between -14°F to 140°F (or -10°C to 60°C). The arctic battery of the AGM Glory Pro doesn’t seem to have payed off, so it has not been ported to the G2 Guardian – then again, its applications were very limited, so I suppose the extra cost would not have been justified.

The rugged smartphone is also IP68 and IP69K-rated, which means that it’s dustproof and pretty much close to being waterproof. To be specific, the AGM G2 Guardian can survive being submerged under water down to about 20 feet for 30 minutes. So, if there’s very high humidity or you drop the phone in water or other liquid (not corrosive since that will damage the lens), then it should not get any damage.

The Display

The AGM G2 Guardian uses a 6.58-inch IPS TFT display, so it’s a bit larger than on the Glory Pro, and the resolution is slightly elevated to 2408 x 1080p. I have seen how 2K can look an a phone (Pixel 2 XL and iPhone 12) and truth be told, the resolution of the G2 Guardian is perfectly fine for the size of the screen. You won’t see any individual pixels. But, this is not an OLED display, so how is the color reproduction? It’s very similar to the Glory Pro performance.

The colors are a bit saturated, but it seems that the whites are better reproduced, looking brighter. There is also a good amount of detail and since we mentioned brightness, would the AGM G2 Guardian handle a bright sunny day at the beach? The display can get very bright and should remain visible when it’s sunny outdoors, but do take the glare into account.

If you were expecting a bezel-less display, know that the thickness of the frame will reproduce very noticeable bezels around the screen and AGM also opted for the teardrop-style front-camera. I did complain that the Glory Pro was stuck on a 60Hz panel, so the AGM G2 Guardian is indeed equipped with a 120Hz display and yes, it will make a difference. A big one because it feels so much smoother than the iPhone 12 that’s I used more extensively lately. The animations are smoother and the overall interaction with the display seems better. I don’t know what other manufacturers are waiting for – make the change now!

How accurate is the fingerprint sensor?

The fingerprint sensor on the Glory Pro was not good and it would only register once every 4-5 attempts. The H5 Pro was so much better in this regard, and the fingerprint sensor on the AGM G2 Guardian is also an upgrade. It does fail to detect my finger once in 6-7 tries, but it’s far more usable than on its predecessor. I guess it’s the nature of a narrower side sensor.

The Internal Hardware and Performance

The AGM G2 Guardian is equipped with an 8-core 2.7GHz Qualcomm QCM6490 SoC (Kryo 670 CPU) and the Adreno 643 GPU. If my past experiences serve me well, then the QCM6490 should be a veritable mid-ranger, but we will see for sure after running a few benchmarks. The rugged smartphone is also equipped with a 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but you do have the option to also get the 12GB RAM version for extra cash, of course. I did get the 12GB version and everything feels ridiculously fast even after opening multiple apps at the same time. And I didn’t experience any freezes or stutters when using the 120Hz panel, ever.

That being said, I installed the Geekbench version 6 and single-core CPU score was 1,121, while the multi-core score was 2,876. This score puts it next to the OnePlus 9 Pro and above the Galaxy S21 Ultra for single-core uses. As for multi-core, it sits slightly below the iPhone 11, but above the S20 Ultra. I also ran the GeekBench Compute test and the result was 2,503, so the performance is very near the Sony Xperia 1 II.

Overall, so far, the AGM G2 Guardian seems a bit above average, which is very good news because manufacturers of rugged smartphones have a very bad habit of putting entry-level hardware surrounded by a hard exterior, while pushing the price to flagship level phones. Still, let’s not yet jump to conclusions and check a graphics-intensive benchmark, the GFXBench.

The results show that the G2 Guardian performs well in games, even if they’re graphics-intensive. The Higher-Level test show that it won’t reach the max 120fps, but you’ll still not see any stutters or freezes.

Moving on, I installed and ran the 3DMark app and, after it ran the Sling Shot test, it apparently outperformed the iPhone 12 Max Pro. The Slingshot Extreme test shows that the G2 Guardian outperformed the Realme X7 Pro, but it’s a bit below the Mi 10T Plus 5G. Yes, yes, synthetic benchmarks are great and all, but let’s run an actual game on this phone. Since I am still lazy enough to still not install the Callisto Protocol, I ran Tomb Raider again (as I did with the LeadJoy M1B) using the Steam Link and, as you can see from the professionally made gameplay, it’s clear that the AGM G2 Guardian can handle pretty much any game you throw at it.

The Software and Support

Similarly to the H5 Pro, the AGM G2 Guardian uses Android 12 and I am very much certain that this is the only version that the smartphone is going to see. I still have the AGM Glory Pro and it currently uses Android v11 – it’s perfectly usable, but it just shows that you should not expect any future Android installments on AGM smartphones, which is a bit of a shame. That being said, the G2 Guardian has a nearly stock version of Android and I mean it, there is no bloatware at all from AGM, just from Google with its Google TV, Meet and other nonsense.

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Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

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On a serious note, some games will work better with the former, while other with the latter, so, being able to extend the functions of an iPhone without breaking the bank is always welcomed. But, after Stadia left a hole in the mobile gaming industry and a hole in my heart, are there any ways left to simulate traditional gaming (PC and consoles) and which will work on an iPhone?

Yes there are, you don’t have to succumb to those ‘free-to-play’ (aka whale hunting) mobile games when there’s Steam Link available as well as GeForce Now and Boosteroid. Apparently there’s also support for a 3DS emulator which was unexpected, but very much welcomed. So it’s clear that a lot of people are going to be interested in this inexpensive mobile controller, but does it actually deliver in terms of performance?

The layout that LeadJoy went for is somewhat similar to the Nintendo Switch and, from first impressions, it does seem that it will be comfortable to hold and use. But, let’s put it to some actual tests and see if it’s worth considering or whether there are better solutions out there.

Design and Build Quality

When you connect the LeadJoy M1B to an iPhone, it’s going to look very much like a Nintendo Switch – the two controllers on the sides and the screen in the middle. But unlike the switch, the two sides are interconnected by an expandable section. The mechanism is spring-operated and it expands in both sides, so that the middle piece always stays in the middle, even when expanded. The entire device measures 7.74 x 3.74 x 1.28 inches (or 19.6 x 9.5 x 3.2cm) before being expanded and it is made completely out of plastic that’s covered by a matte black finish.

There is a noticeable wobble when I took the LeadJoy M1B into my hand, but it does become more solid after I connected an iPhone to it. I suppose the lightness of the device (0.31lbs – 140g) will alter the perception of the controller, but then again, a heavy device around the phone is not going to be that comfortable. The curvature of the controller sides is not very pronounced, so if you like that curvy plastic that pushes against the palm of your hands, the LeadJoy M1B is a bit more conservative in that regard.

Furthermore, there is a pattern on the rear side to ensure that the controller won’t slip out of your hands and it seems that the device is the right size to allow me to access each button with my fingers. A more pronounced curve would have made it more comfortable, but even in its current state, the controller does get a passing mark. The place where you need to install the iPhone does have some silicone cushions where it gets in contact with the phone. But it’s only for the sides and the rear of the iPhone, while the section that gets in contact with the screen is just ordinary plastic.

I suppose a rubber case would pretty much negate the need of any cushioning, but can you actually use a case with the LeadJoy M1B? The Lightning cable protrudes from the right side of the case and unfortunately, it’s not tall enough for my rubber case. The iPhone would not connect to the controller when using a case, so it’s necessary to use it without any cover (unless it’s a very thin one). I have wondered about the thermal management of the LeadJoy M1B, especially since it solely relies on passive cooling.

So I decided to use a thermal camera (the AGM Glory Pro) to see just how hot it gets after a session of gaming. As you can see, the controller does not get hot and the warmer spots are mostly from my hands – there’s also the passthrough connection which will raise the temperature a bit. Lastly, I need to mention the Lightning port on the right side of the controller which allows you to charge up the iPhone while playing games.

The Buttons

I have seen that some other brands, such as GameSir, have added some very interesting design elements, such as the active cooling and the replaceable buttons of the X3, but the LeadJoy M1B stuck to the basics, at least for now. The buttons on both joysticks are not removable and all are made of plastic. On the left side of the controller, there is a thumb stick towards the top and there is another identical one on the right side of the controller, positioned in a more central position.

And, while there is no silicone cover to improve the gripping, there is a textured ring surrounding the top of the thumb sticks. Also, they’re not that big, but even with my large fingers, I didn’t have issues operating them, especially since the thumb sticks are very responsive. Still on the left side, there’s a D-Pad and I am not really fond of how only the four sides can be pressed, while the travel space in the middle is zero.

Might as well just add four buttons and call it a day. Interestingly enough, the manufacturer had indeed added the ABXY set of buttons on the right joystick and they feel so much more satisfying to press (like pushing on little M&Ms). There are a couple of additional buttons on the left side, one for the enabling the Menu (there’s an LED ring around it) and one for the Capture function (double press for screenshot, long press for starting the Record action).

There is no RGB on this controller, but thankfully, it’s up to this single LED to push those FPS to the maximum. On the right side of the controller, there are also an additional two buttons, one for the Options and the other for returning to the Home window. Of course, no controller is ever complete without the shoulder buttons and the LeadJoy M1B offers two sets on each side (L1, L2, R1, R2) and I guess the L1/R1 set is a bit stiff, but the L2/R2 buttons are actually surprisingly good.

What if my iPhone doesn’t properly fit the LeadJoy M1B?

I noticed that there have been a few complaints that some iPhones (mainly the 13 Pro Max) would not stay properly connected to the LeadJoy M1B, so the manufacturer has included a rubber cushion that you need to add to the left side of the controller in order to get a tighter fit. I used an iPhone 12 and I experienced no issue where the connector would came loose from the phone, so it seems that only a few models are impacted.

There’s an app?

The LeadJoy M1B does indeed come with an app, although there isn’t much that it can offer to improve the experience. After opening the app (called Vlead), it asked to connect to the controller via Bluetooth. I, of course denied since the M1B does not connect via Bluetooth and, after attaching the controller, the app immediately took me to the GamePad Test.

Here, it’s possible to check if all the buttons work properly and that’s about it.

The Gaming Experience with the LeadJoy M1B

The LeadJoy M1B mobile controller can be used with any iPhone that support iOS 13 and above, so you can go quite a bit back with the device that you can use. I have an iPhone 12 available, so I connected the controller to it and decided to check some games. Since Stadia is gone (thanks Google), I decided to check out the Steam Link, especially since I finally managed to get a better graphics card than the GT710 I have been using for years.

I had the first Tomb Raider available (since I was too lazy to install the Callisto Protocol) and I have added a few minutes of my initial ‘professional’ gameplay. As you can see, the buttons are responsive and easy to press even with my long fingers. I can see myself losing hours on a tinier screen than the PC monitor, but as I mentioned before, the case needs to be a bit curvier as to not induce fatigue over time. This is more of a praise towards the Steam Link, but I have seen no latency between my monitor (connected to the PC) and the iPhone, which is amazing. As for the controller, it’s connected to the iPhone via the Lightning cable, so there is no perceptible latency as you would see with Bluetooth or WiFi controllers.

I also decided to play some games from the App store (sigh) and I installed Asphalt 9 to see how the controller handles racing games. The game pretty much plays itself, but I could use the shoulder buttons for some basic control of the car – for this specific experience it worked really well, I guess. Apparently Genshin Impact is now available on mobile, so I suppose I could check it out. I installed the Trial version and the controller would not work at all, so I decided to just download the full package to ensure that it’s not some limitation due to the trial version.

It still didn’t work and I just realized that I was being dumb and had to actually manually enable the controller. The good news is that the game developers are also dumb since you have to do this every time you start the game. Furthermore, I had to go through the first mission and I finally managed to switch to the LeadJoy M1B controller which, as before, worked perfectly well with the game.

LeadJoy M1B as a 3DS console emulator

The official website suggests that I go with the EGG-3DS emulator and there’s the link to their official webpage and everything. But there seems to be some drama with stolen code, so I am not going to follow the guide provided by LeadJoy and instead I am going to install the emuThreeDS which seems to be the original developer. The process is not very difficult as long as you have a sideloading app (I used Altstore) and as long as you have your own legally purchased ROMs, you can play them on the iPhone.

But in its current state, the EmuThreeDS does not support touchscreen commands, only controllers. And that’s perfect for us because we can use the Elemake M1B. The controller works wonderfully well, the problem is the emulator that crashes a lot, but the developers are improving things little by little, so it will get better. I do not want to deal with the Japanese wrath, so I won’t add any footage or photos, but know that it is possible to successfully use the LeadJoy M1B as a 3DS emulator.

The Conclusion

The LeadJoy M1B is an attractive option to gain a Nintendo Switch-like experience while gaming on your iPhone. And the fact that it’s fairly inexpensive is also a plus. The D-Pad and the L1/R1 shoulder buttons are a bit stiff, but the thumb sticks worked well, just as the L2/R2 shoulder buttons. I also did like the passthrough option to charge up the battery of the iPhone while gaming. And, while the developers do advertise the option to play 3DS games, it’s better to just stick with the mobile games or the GeForce Now / Steam Link options since they work excellent on a small screen especially alongside the LeadJoy M1B controller.

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

The Atuvos Bluetooth tracker does make use of the Find My app which has undergone some changes over the last year to address the privacy issues (especially the grave stalking aspect which is still isn’t completely solved). So, the entire suite of features is available here as well, including the chirping for detection, the almost infinite range (depending on the number of Apple devices in the vicinity) and the notification that you may be tracked by a malicious third party (if someone implanted a tag on you).

There’s also the QR code that can be scanned to show specific info, such as phone number, but here is where we see one of the new elements that’s missing on the AirTags and other Bluetooth trackers. And that’s the ability to turn off the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker.

Indeed, there’s a small button that will turn off the device, but, at the moment the QR code is scanned, the device will turn on again. Furthermore, the battery is removable, which is excellent news and the advertised range is 400 feet, so, let’s put the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker to the test and see if it’s a better device than the Apple AirTag.

Design and Build Quality

The Atuvos Bluetooth tracker has a small plastic case and yes, it’s not quite as compact as the Apple AirTag, but does it really matter? At 1.37 x 1.37 x 0.27 inches (3.5 x 3.5 x 0.7 cm), it’s probably a bit thick, but you should have no issue carrying around with you. And there is a hole to allow you to add the tracker to the key chain, so there truly are no complaints about portability.

Also, the size of the AirTag is a convenience and an inconvenience at the same time. First, you need to get an accessory to add it to a keychain and secondly, it’s more likely to notice that someone has put a thicker rectangular tracker within your belongings than a coin-sized and shaped metallic device. So yeah, the point of these tags are to be found when they’re lost. I know that some of you may frown upon the use of plastic, but the idea is for the tag to be dust and water resistant.

The Atuvos Bluetooth tracker case does have an opening within the canal that surrounds the frame of the tag, so is it truly a rugged device? The Bluetooth tracker is IP67-rated, so, just like the AirTag, you can submerge the it under water down to 3.3 feet for 30 minutes without experiencing any damage. Also, the device should be sealed against dust ingress, so what’s with the opening in the case?

I am fairly sure that it’s there for the speaker (which can get fairly loud, up to about 90dB). The way the case is shaped should allow you to detach the two sections to reveal (and change) the battery, so I decided to check just how easy it is to do so. It’s not easy at all, because I had to use a prying tool to pop the upper part of the case open.

The manufacturer says that it’s a measure to keep children from potentially ingesting the battery, but I am fairly sure it’s protection against dust and water. And yes, you should be able to see a silicone seal glued into place which surrounds the battery when the top cover is re-attached.

Let’s talk about the button

Next to the Atuvos logo, there is a small circular button which, when short pressed, it will power on the Bluetooth tracker (the small speaker will let out two chirps), but you do have the option to turn off the tag as well. Just long press the button for about 3 seconds (it will do a long beep).

Lastly, it’s also possible to reset the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker by holding the button for 10 seconds – after 7 seconds, the speaker will let out two long beeps and then two short beeps to confirm that the device has been indeed reset.

What’s inside the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker?

As I said in the Design section, I used a prying tool to detach the top cover and it revealed a sealed CR2032 battery that should last for about a year. But, while doing so, I noticed that I could also pop off the bottom-placed cover as well.

This way, I could see the PCB, but nothing really stood out to me, with the exception of the WW03012229008689 IC. I also saw that there were three small screws which I removed and it made possible to detach the PCB entirely, revealing the bottom-placed speaker.

Working with Find My app

The Find My app should be already installed on your iPhone, so just open it and tap on the Plus icon on the right side of the Devices section. Then, from the list, choose Add Other Item (Add AirTag is not going to work) and then short click the button on the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker.

After the speaker chirps twice, the Atuvos Tag should appear as available in the app. Name it, select an Emoji (?) and then the tag should be linked to the Apple ID. That’s about it for setting up, but the app offers a few more options. You get to see the location of the tag on the map (with the Emoji), you can Play the Sound to find the tracker and you can check out the Directions to how to reach the tag. Slide up to open even more options, from which there’s the Notifications which will let you know that you left the tag behind (useful to not lose your keys, for example) and you can also enable the Lost Mode.

Tap on it to personalize the behavior of this mode. You can receive a notification when the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker has been found and you don’t have to worry about someone else linking the tag to another Apple ID (the reset doesn’t seem to erase all the info). There is more because you can also leave the person that finds your belongings a message containing a phone number or an email address – this info can be accessed by scanning the QR code.

The Atuvos Bluetooth in action

First, let’s talk about range. Atuvos says that the maximum range is 400 feet (or 120 meters) and this is the distance that the Bluetooth tracker will connect to a single iPhone. If there are more in the vicinity, the range is extended since the device will connect to the closest one – the Apple devices will essentially behave as access points, while the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker is a client device.

But is the 400 feet range claim actually true? Yes, it can actually go a bit more as long as it’s in open space. Add trees, buildings and other type of interference and the range is going to be slightly shorter. In my case, a large concrete building cut the range to about 250 feet, but it was an industrial construction (lots of steel) – a residential building will be more forgiving. I have mentioned that the chirping of the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker goes up to about 90dB, but that’s only if you stay very close to the device, which is not really the case when you lose it.

Instead, it’s going to be a few feet away from you and that’s in best case scenario. So, is the tracker loud enough? It depends. If it’s near a highly trafficked area, you’ll need to keep very close attention to the specific beeps, otherwise, it’s going to be very difficult to hear the speaker. A feature that’s missing from the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker, but it is present on the AirTag is the UWB (Ultra Wideband). What this technology does is to increase the precision of the tracking, allowing you to pinpoint the location of the object with a lot more accuracy than when using only Bluetooth.

But do be aware that UWB works over a short distance. So, I do admit that I would have liked to see this feature built into the Atuvos tracker as well, but the device will work fine without it. Now, let’s talk about the security features.

The fairly unique characteristic of the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker is its ability to be turned off. This means that in case you do find a tag tracking you, it’s possible to disable it without taking the battery off (some trackers don’t even offer this option).

Also, I did like that in case someone finds the tracker when it’s turned off and decides to scan the QR code, but doesn’t bother calling or emailing you, the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker will turn on automatically and will send a beacon with the location information to you.

The Conclusion

So, is the Atuvos Bluetooth tracker a good alternative to the AirTag? The answer is yes, it offer most of the features of the Apple tag and a few more. It does work with the Find My app, it has a fairly loud beep, there is the possibility to change the battery and most importantly, there is the possibility to turn off the device. Furthermore, the case is water resistant and you don’t need any accessory to add it to the keychain. Yes, there is no UWB, but the Bluetooth signal reaches quite far and if there are enough Apple devices in the area, the range gets pretty much limitless.

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

This means that there’s still a loud speaker mounted on the rear side of the smartphone, the cameras are positioned in a similar manner and, to be honest, when putting the AGM H5 Pro and the Glory Pro side by side, I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart if it wasn’t for some different color accents. This does mean that the AGM H5 Pro is pretty much just as rugged as the Glory Pro, right? It does seem so because the smartphone is IP68 and IP68K-rated, as well as certified for some MIL-STD-810H standards.

The manufacturer seems to have also kept the night vision camera which I suppose could come in handy in some situations, although I assume pretty niche. The main and front-facing cameras still appear to be the same which is great because there was a large Sony sensor which could take in a lot of light.

But, there are also some downgrades, such as the resolution, which is 720 x 1,600p and I will have to check if it’s actually enough for such a large display (6.5-inches). And the battery is no longer able to withstand those extreme temperature, but the silver lining is that it’s actually larger, having a capacity of 7,000mAh. I do think there is a lot to unravel with this rugged smartphone, so let’s put it to the test.

The Design and Build Quality

I knew that the AGM H5 Pro looks similar to the Glory Pro before I actually received the box, but I didn’t really expect it to be pretty much identical. Well, at least on the front side. The bezel width, the teardrop approach for the front-facing camera and even the frame looks the same. It’s made of robust rubber with four elevated corners to protect the smartphone from shattering when dropped on its side. These elevated corners are more prominent on the AGM H5 Pro, but the protective lip around the display is the same.

I would have preferred if it was a bit deeper to ensure a better screen protection, especially since the display is so large, therefore more vulnerable to mechanical shocks. The position of the ports and buttons is the same on the AGM H5 Pro as it was on the Glory Pro, which means that on the right side of the frame, there’s the volume rocker and the Power / Wake button. And yes, both are made of metal, which is excellent.

On the left side, there’s the User Defined Key which is orange (on the Glory Pro, it was red) and it serves the same function – you can set it as Push-to-Talk, Camera shortcut, LED torch and more. But it does not have an SOS function which is very important for people that travel a lot in isolated locations and it can make a difference if they get injured or lost.

At the bottom of the AGM H5 Pro, there’s a protective cover which, once removed, will expose the USB-C port alongside a 3.5mm jack for headphones. I didn’t expect that we would reach a point where we would rejoice at the sight of a headphones jack, yet here we are (kudos to AGM).

But what I didn’t like here and neither did on the AGM Glory Pro is that not all USB-C cables can be used to charge up the AGM H5 Pro. That’s because the manufacturer made the canal too narrow, so that only the cable provided into the package can be used. I guess there are always means of circumventing the rules for an universal charging port (I bet Apple is furiously taking notes). The SIM/microSD card slot is positioned in a similar manner to the Glory Pro, so you can find it above the User Defined Key and it’s also protected by a silicone cover.

I did like that there are no logos or any other flashy signature anywhere on the front side, since it made the phone look a bit more elegant and serious, but do be aware that this is a huge smartphone. If the 6.5-inch screen wasn’t a giveaway, know that the entire case is bulky, measuring 6.9 x 3.3 x 0.9 inches (17.6 x 8.5 x 2.3 cm), but the slightly better news is that the AGM Glory Pro is less heavy than the Glory Pro, weighing 12.7oz, so, not really by much.

Yes, you need a good belt when carrying this rugged smartphone around with you (I mean, you could use it as a self-defense instrument ..). The star of the show is the rear panel which does have a similar layout to what we saw on the Glory Pro.

So, towards the top, there’s the circular speaker which is the same as on the more expensive Glory Pro, meaning that it can reach 109dB. It’s going to be loud, very loud, but it does suffer from the same shortcomings as well. I know it sounds cool to have a 3.5W speaker that can reproduce the sound with relative high fidelity, but how does the sound get reflected? Well, if you keep the smartphone on the table, the sound is going to get muffled and, if you hold the device in hand, it’s going to reflect on the nearby wall.

That’s why a lot of manufacturers point the speakers on the frame, so that a table or any other flat surface amplifies the sound. Still, because it’s loud, you’re going to hear what’s going on in a video, just that there will be some loss in clarity. Surrounding the speaker, there is an LED ring which doesn’t really have any purpose above the aesthetic value (if you’re into RGB).

It’s also strange that there is only a setting that turns on and off the LED ring, while also plays a song, but it’s not associated to any other app.

On the left and right side of the speaker (and ring), there seems to be four cameras, but on a closer inspection, one of them is the flashlight. The other three consist of the main 48-megapixel camera, the 2-megapixel macro camera and the 20-megapixel IR night vision camera. Besides this assembly, the AGM H5 Pro is covered by an Aramid-like texture and there is a Fingerprint sensor in the middle.

And I am happy to say that it’s a better sensor than on the AGM Glory Pro. It’s not perfect since it does fail about 1 times out of four, but it’s definitely better than the Pro’s sensor which almost never works. As expected, the wireless charging is gone, but the manufacturer did leave the dock charging pins in case you want to use the optional charging station.

How rugged is the AGM H5 Pro?

The outer shell of the AGM H5 Pro seems to be just as strong as on the Glory Pro and this is confirmed by the MIL-STD-810H certification but, unless the manufacturer discloses the actual tests that were passed by the smartphone, this certification doesn’t really tell that much.

In AGM’s defense, they have disclosed that the H5 Pro has survived from repeated drops from up to 5 feet, it can resist water ingress when submerged down to 5 feet for 30 minutes and that the chassis will offer protection against dust ingress up to 99%. Furthermore, the AGM H5 Pro is also IP68 and IP69K-rated which put an emphasis on the previously mentioned tests, where the smartphone has proven to resist dust and water.

I did see that the extreme temperature-resistant battery is gone (the Arctic Battery), so if you need to be exposed to that type of harsh environment, it’s better to give the AGM Glory Pro a chance. I have already mentioned the protective lip around the display which is not really that prominent, but should still provide some level of protection.

I was interested whether AGM went with Gorilla Glass this time since it hasn’t with the Glory Pro. I haven’t found any mentions that the AGM H5 Pro uses Gorilla Glass, so it’s safe to assume that it doesn’t. Which is why you should leave the pre-applied screen protector in place, to keep it scratch-free as much as possible.

The Display

The AGM H5 Pro uses a 6.52-inch LCD display with a resolution of 720 x 1,600 pixels, so it’s a step down from the 2340 x 1080p resolution of the Glory Pro.

And yes, when I put the two displays next to each other, I could tell the difference since the H5 Pro was less sharp. At the same time, considering the 269ppi, I wasn’t really able to tell pixels apart and, considering the price tag, the display is not really half bad. Still, if the screen would have been smaller, the resolution would have made more sense. Furthermore, since it’s not AMOLED, the black levels aren’t very deep.

The white is on the cool side, without displaying any type of tint. The contrast is slightly elevated which does help when viewing movies and pictures, and I haven’t noticed any color bleeding. Also, the text is fairly sharp, so, if you’re not constantly comparing the screen with higher-res displays, you won’t even notice that the resolution is not that high. And the good news is that it’s also going to go easy on the battery, as long as the SoC is efficient.

I wasn’t happy about AGM’s decision to ignore the Always-On Display feature yet again because this is one of the most frustrating things about the iPhones. Android phones are more flexible, so I don’t really understand why the AGM H5 Pro is also missing this great feature. Sure, the battery life will be extended, but then again, the AoD doesn’t really consume that much battery to being with.

The Internal Hardware

Unlike the Glory Pro which went with the Qualcomm platform, the AGM H5 Pro uses the Mediatek platform and, to be specific, the SoC is an octa-core Helio G85 MT6769V clocked at 2GHz. I was tempted to think that the G85 was more powerful, but it’s not. Unlike the Qualcomm Snapdragon 480, which is a decent mid-ranger, the Helio G85 falls a bit in the entry-level segment but does it truly matter, considering that the refresh rate of the screen is 60Hz and the resolution is HD+? I ran the GeekBench 5 benchmark and the single-core score (334) was a bit above the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, the same as the multi-core score (1278).

The Geekbench Compute score was 1195 which came as a complete surprise since it’s higher than the AGM Glory Pro‘s score. So, how did that happen? Well, it seems that the ARM Mali-G52 GPU is better (or at least better optimized) and, when paired with the lower-res screen, the AGM H5 Pro may actually perform better in games than its more expensive sibling. But, before reaching any conclusions, let’s check the GFXBench results as well.

This benchmark is focused on the graphical performance of the smartphone and, it seems to have done decently well. The High-Level Tests where the Aztec Ruins OpenGL ran at 1461 x 720p, the was an average of 8fps, while the normal-tier Aztec test showed an average of 15fps. That was pretty much the case with the Car Chase test (at the suitable resolution) and the surprise came from Manhattan 3.1 which showed 28fps.

Both T-Rex and Manhattan tests showed good fps (53 and 41fps respectively). Moving to the Compare section, we can see that the AGM H5 Pro sits above the Apple iPad Pro, but just below the Samsung Galaxy S7. This is an overall score which takes into account higher resolutions that the rugged smartphone can support, so I decided to simply run some games and check the performance by myself.

It’s worth noting that the AGM H5 Pro has 8GB of RAM and native 128GB of storage (upgradeable using the microSD card up to 512GB). So, I first installed Asphalt 9, a racing game and playing it for a few minutes didn’t show any issues, the frame rate was fine, the movement smooth and no stuttering.

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Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

But, as we will soon see, there is a catch and it involves using two separate USB-C cables since the fan and the RGB are powered on separately. Some other interesting improvements are the use of magnetic buttons, allowing the user to change the D-pad and the thumb stick caps.

All these are nice changes, but are they enough to justify leaving behind the GameSir X2 for the new gen of USB-C mobile controller? I admit I was very fond of the X2 and I did use it over the past year along with Stadia, but it is true that after some minutes have passed, the phone would start heating up.

So, I do see the value of the cooling fan, but being a complete separate part of the device is a bit disconcerting. I assume that a power bank may do the trick during train rides or while traveling by plane. Other than that, the GameSir X3 is still very much able to maintain that Nintendo Switch look and feel, and I do need to mention that a new player has recently entered the game, the Steam Deck.

The GameSir X3 is obviously going to be a bit cheaper and, if you’re using a Cloud streaming gaming platform, it may prove to be better in some ways that the dedicated consoles. But, before anything else, let’s have a closer look and see if it’s worth purchasing.

Design and Build Quality

The GameSir X3 has still kept the look and feel of the X2, but, as I already said in the intro, there are some fundamental changes as well. The manufacturer still used black and white for the case (matte finish) and I did see that the GameSir X3 isn’t that much larger than the X2. It’s 7.09 inches long and 3.46 inches high, but it is far thicker than the X2.

And, with a width of 1.89 inches, it’s not going to be that easy to carry around, not as easy as the GameSir X2. The increased width is due to the cooling fan that the manufacturer has embedded into the rear panel of the GameSir X3 and it does protrude quite a bit to make room for the outer plastic grille. Was it necessary to be that big, though?

Probably not considering that a phone such as the Lenovo Legion Duel 2 managed to add a smaller set of fans without making the device huge. Obviously, the cost will have a say, so the solution that GameSir has found works at the moment. I do hope that on the next iteration, they’ll make the fan more subtle, but still efficient enough. Did I mention that the fan has RGB?

Oh yes, you can’t have a gaming device without RGB – how else do you get the extra FPS? Indeed, when you power on the fan, the RGB lights will also turn on and move through various preset patterns and I haven’t found a way to personalize them or to turn them off. I say that because they don’t really serve a purpose except to ‘impress’ other people with your new toy.

The increased width does have some benefits and the main one is the better grip. GameSir has removed the rubber portions that were present on the X2 and instead went for a full remodel of the rear panel to accommodate your fingers. And it works, especially for my big hands since the grip was better and I felt that the GameSir X3 controller was more comfortable than its predecessor, being far closer to a console controller (such as the GameSir G4 Pro).

The buttons layout remains very much the same, including the shoulder buttons, but there still are some changes that they made which we will talk about in a separate section. The place where you insert the smartphone has also witnessed some relevant adjustments.

Instead of opening only from one side, as you would with the X2, there are now two spring-operated parts that can be extended, leaving the fan always in the middle, which is a nice touch. And you can insert large phones, up to 7-inches long or down to 4.3-inches short. I don’t look forward to 7-inches long smartphones, but I guess it’s possible to reach that point considering that the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 is 6.23-inches long when fully extended.

I do like the adjustable USB-C port which allows for an easy insertion of the phone and, certainly, there are lots of rubber pads to prevent the scratching of your expensive handset. On the bottom side of the controller, there are two USB-C ports, the middle one for the fan and the RGB, while the other is for allowing you to charge up the phone when it’s connected to the GameSir X3 controller.

I would have preferred for the smartphone to also power on the fan since it feels like a completely separate device at this moment and I am sure that a lot of people will not want to use two cables to charge up the phone and power on the fan at the same time.

The buttons

This is one of the sections where GameSir payed special attention because the users have expressed the need to be able to replace the buttons. And now you can, up to a certain point, of course. The ABXY buttons are magnetically attached and can be moved to match the XBOX layout or that of the Nintendo Switch.

There are also two options for the D-pad and to be honest, I do prefer the default one, with the four arrows, but the one inside the package will work as well if you want to emulate that XBOX One Elite feel. The thumb sticks can also be customized and you can choose between high-rise of low-rise caps. But it’s also possible to go for a concave set of caps – you just add the silicone cover on the existing convex caps.

I admit I do prefer them a bit depressed since the finger sits better on the thumb stick this way. So, overall, there is the option to adjust the way the buttons feel to your liking. But what about the switches? GameSir uses the Kailh switches which do have a tendency to get clicky which means that they’re louder and the actuation force is a bit higher than the linear switches.

For this reason not all people like them, so, I suppose it is a matter of preference. The idea seems to be that the controller should feel like the buttons on your mouse. Furthermore, GameSir has reduced the distance to 0.6mm and the advertised actuation force is 75+/-10 GF, so the response should still be fast.

Let’s talk about the fan (GameSir X3 Teardown)

The role of the fan is to keep the temperature of the smartphone in check for a longer period of time than it would be able to do by itself. That’s because while gaming, pretty much all smartphones get hot and the battery level drops like a rock. So, does the extra cooling actually help? Before answering this question, I thought it would be interesting to see how GameSir built the X3 controller, so I took it apart.

This process involved removing the four screws on the bottom of the controller and the two other screws that are hidden underneath the silicone cover which protects your phone from scratching. This way, I could disconnect the two sections with the buttons and I could identify the CH573F 32-bit RISC processor MCU BLE module. And it surprised me since the controller doesn’t actually support Bluetooth – I assume they use the processor for the USB port only.

To see how the fan works, I had to remove the middle placed silicone cover. But only partially since I had to remove the side screws – I could see that there is a thin copper foil on the silicone cover and a proper copper layer underneath it.

Its role is to quickly make the temperature transfer between the metal and the phone. And you will be able to see the metallic portion which gets cooled down by the fan, as well as the thermal paste that allows the colder temperature to move to the copper. It’s a very similar concept to the cooler you install four your PC CPU.

To check out if the fan actually makes a difference, I decided to start up a game and see how hot the smartphone gets without the fan. I hate mobile games, be it on Android or iOS, so I used Stadia and the game that I played is Immortals Fenix Rising. I played for an hour and, as you can see, the phone got close to 100F in the middle when watching from the front and 101.6F on its rear side – the thermal photos were captures using an AGM Glory Pro.

After letting it cool down, I redid the same test but with the fan running this time. The first thing that I noticed, besides the RGB, was that the fan did have a constant rpm and that it does make some noise. It’s not an overly loud fan, but it’s very similar to what you hear when the fans in your laptop start ramping up when you decide to play a game.

Twenty minutes in, I already felt a difference since the phone was cold and I am already deep into summer, so it was nice for my fingers. But I still waited for an hour to pass and the results speak for themselves. From the front, the temperature of the phone is definitely lower, while you can still see the heat of my hands on the sides of the GameSir X3 controller.

On the rear side, things are far more interesting because the controller has definitely kept its temperature and even reached a new high. But that’s only the fan because the phone is cold. That was the point of the fan, to cool down the smartphone in order to maintain a longer battery life. And it definitely works.

The Gaming Experience with the GameSir X3

The USB-C port and the way the GameSir X3 is designed limits the type of devices that can be used down to Android smartphones only. And the manufacturer says that it needs to use Android 9 and beyond. So, I took the good ol’ Pixel 2 XL out of the box again and checked how easy it is to game by relying on the controller.

I already mentioned that I dislike mobile games with a passion, especially the so called free ones which reduce the experience to grind or pay to progress, so I fired up the Stadia platform again and played some games to see if the controller offers a smooth experience. Since the connection is made via USB-C, you’re not going to see any lag or latency from the controller side, but yes, there is no Bluetooth option either. I don’t think BLE would have made much sense, but the use of two USB-C ports isn’t that ideal either.

I did make a fairly boring video of me playing Immortals Fenix Rising which was just the other game available besides Assassin’s Creed Unity (I didn’t want to renew the Pro subscription). As you can see, the controls work fine, the game responds very well to the input and playing for a couple of hours didn’t bring any fatigue to my hands. The shoulder buttons felt a bit weird, like the buttons on the mouse (which was an intended effect), but I got used to them quickly.

One complaint which does reflect on the design of the Nintendo Switch as well is that the buttons are a bit too spread out and I do prefer the Steam Deck’s layout a bit more. Then again, it’s a subjective matter, so it’s down to preference. What about power consumption? It’s actually not as high as you would expect. My small multimeter showed an average consumption of 0.14W at 4.86V and an amperage of 0.29A. So, it’s pretty much up to the battery in your phone and how well the software and hardware are optimized. The Pixel 2 XL that I brought to life temporarily lost about 10 percent every hour.

The TapTap app

GameSir seems to be also partnering with TapTap to give the users an app alongside the controller where you can get everything gaming related, including game recommendations, forums and general talks. It’s, of course, about games built for Android, so, if you’re into this type of gaming, then I suppose you can give the TapTap app a try.

But, if the developers want to grow a database and even convince users that don’t like Android games at all (like myself), then they need to bring exclusive content. Like either create exclusive games or offer a few for free (like Epic Games is currently doing).

The Conclusion

I admit I am a bit on the fence with the fan implementation since it doesn’t seem like a properly included part of the controller and more of an afterthought. But I can’t deny its actual usefulness since the tests showed a decrease in the smartphone temperature. I just wish they would use a single USB-C connector for both the controller and the fan. I did like they added the customizable keycaps and the controller felt more accommodating for my hands, which meant longer gaming sessions. So, overall, I do think that the GameSir X3 is a good successor to the X2 and a cool way to play games on your phone, but there is some room for improvement.

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

And AGM did not hold back at all, them made the AGM Glory Pro an absolute unit, encasing a huge 6200mAh battery and a large speaker on the rear side. Of course this is not enough to justify the price tag, so the second addition is the thermal camera. I have seen something similar on the CAT S62 Pro and it was a very welcomed addition for construction workers. Furthermore, the smartphone does have a top-facing powerful lantern and a couple of infrared LEDs to help deliver a good night vision. And they’ve proven to be surprisingly effective, more so than some dedicated night vision cameras that I tested over the years.

Another major selling point is the support for 5G and this is perhaps the first rugged smartphone to support wireless charging. But is it enough to persuade people from getting a flagship device with a case? CAT has managed to do it over the years, so it’s very much possible, but you do need to have good customer support and to keep the devices updated, something that is not always the case with a lot of rugged smartphones. I am curious to see if AGM is also an exception (along with other major brands) and if the Glory Pro is able to deliver a good smartphone experience, while also ensuring that the device won’t easily get damaged.

The Design and Build Quality

I think that most ‘regular’ smartphones are no longer as fragile as they once were and some relevant steps have been taken so the glass doesn’t shatter as easily as before. I actually dropped an iPhone 12 on the concrete and a slim rubber case ensured that it escaped unscathed. The thing is that most people don’t need an especially tough smartphone, but professionals have very different needs. The construction workers and people that work in other types of harsh environments do require a devices that can handle multiple tumbles to the floor, lots of dust, corrosive substances and even submersion in water. And I noticed that some manufacturers went out of their way to get their rugged smartphones closer to the regular handsets, such as CAT and Kyocera, but AGM couldn’t care less, so the Glory Pro ended up with a unique design.

Let’s leave the strange circular speaker alone for a minute and just marvel at just how big this smartphone is. Don’t get me wrong, the bezels aren’t that much larger than on a device such as the Samsung XCover 5, but, at its 6.8 x 3.3 x 0.8 inches (17.4 x 8.4 x 2.0 cm), the AGM Glory Pro is a very thick device. That’s not all, because along with the 13 ounces weight (370g) and the hard plastic case, this phone can be a veritable self-defense weapon.
AGM relies on a combination between hard rubber and polycarbonate for the rear side of the device and the frame of the AGM Glory Pro has 10% weaved-in fiberglass, which should make it tougher and, potentially better absorb shocks than metal.

The frame does go a little bit outwards around the display and then it raises by 0.012 inches to provide some protection for the screen. I understand that AGM wanted to keep the front designed as close as possible to the non-rugged smartphones, but I wouldn’t have complained if the lip was a bit higher. It should still work as intended and I also noticed that there is an already applied screen protector for scratches. On the left side of the smartphone, there’s the volume rocker and the Power/Screen Wake button, while on the other side, AGM has added a red button that can be programmed. By default, it will open the camera, but it can also be used for other functions, such as the LED torch or the Push-to-Talk option, the latter being incredibly useful for simulation walkie-talking communication. I think that an SOS function should also be added with future software updates since people that perform more intense outdoor activities (rock climbing and even trekking) and may get lost would certainly make use of such option.

At the bottom of the smartphone, there is a plastic cover that hides a 3.5mm headphone jack (which starts to be a rarity) and the USB-C charging port that is compatible with the cable provided in the package (no surprise there), but may not allow thicker connectors to go through. Since Apple, Samsung and other smartphones manufacturer have decided omitting the charger in the box will help save the environment (it won’t), AGM has added a QC3.0 charger in the package. The rear side of the AGM Glory Pro will definitely turn some heads and that’s because of the oddly shaped camera assembly and the speaker that sits in the middle. If you are familiar with the Leica phone, the AGM Glory Pro does have a similar look, although far less refined.

Indeed, AGM wanted to use a single 3.5W loud speaker which can reach up to 110dB and it’s positioned on the rear side which I think is not the best place for it. A front-facing stereo system would have worked much better because the moment you put the smartphone on the desk with the screen up, the speaker gets severely muffled. And it also prevents any attempts at keeping the rugged smartphone at least a little bit flush on the desk. In any case, pointed upwards, the speaker indeed gets loud, very loud and in terms of sound quality, it’s a bit average.
Surrounding the speaker, there are four cameras and they’re all actually useful, which is again, a rarity in the smartphone market (we’ll speak more about them in the following sections).

From the speaker, there’s a plastic piece which protrudes upwards reaching the top of the AGM Glory Pro and here’s where you can see the dual torch module which can reach up to 120 lumens, so it’s quite bright and useful. I know that some early variants had an IR range finder, but it seems that AGM decided to replace it with a secondary LED (which is a bit of a shame). Underneath the camera system, there is a fingerprint sensor and four desktop dock connection spots. The fingerprint sensor is not that great since it works only half the time and sometimes even less. I assume that industrial workers will not use this system at all and face detection works far better, especially since even a bit of dust on your finger will render the sensor completely useless.

How rugged is it?

I have already talked about the rugged exterior, the protective lip around the display and the scratch-proof screen protection, but the AGM Glory Pro offers much more than that. The device is IP68 and IP69K-rated and this means that the smartphone is fully protected against dust ingress and it’s also pretty much waterproof, allowing the submersion under water down to 5 feet for 30 minutes. Additionally, there is also protection against high temperature spray downs which is useful in an industrial environment. The AGM Glory Pro seems to also have passed the MIL-STD-810H, having survived continuous drops from up to 6.5 feet on concrete and it was also designed to remain operational when the temperature ranges between -4F to 60F (-20C to 140C) which is an impressive feat.

I wasn’t able top find the exact tests that the device survived to pass the MIL-STD-810H certification, except for the drop and temperature tests. But it does seem that the AGM Glory Pro makes use of an interesting technology called Arctic Battery to ensure that the phone doesn’t shut down in freezing cold. And that’s down to -40F, where the battery will last only up to 1 hour. They were able to achieve it by apparently preventing the heat dissipation in cold environments and, instead, the heat would be delivered towards the internal components to keep them operational.

I don’t have the means to simulate -40 degrees F, but my freezer does go down to -10 F (-23 C) and, after leaving the smartphone in the freezer over the night (about 10 hours), it didn’t really have any impact on the battery. The moment I put the smartphone in the freezer, it had 94% battery and, when I removed it, it only dropped to 90%, so the AGM Glory Pro aced this test without problems.

I have noticed that over the years, the manufacturers moved away from smaller screens on rugged devices and are now matching the regular smartphone’s sizes. And, while that’s nice for media consumption, it also means that it’s far easier to break the screen if it hits a sharp angle. AGM has not mentioned that they used Gorilla Glass, so I assume they didn’t, which validates a lot more the pre-applied scratch-resistant cover.

The Display

The AGM Glory Pro has a 6.53-inch LTPS TFT display and yes, it’s not an OLED, but it still looks nice, with the colors slightly with a cooler tone (while an iPhone 12 has them warmer). At the top of the display, there is a waterdrop type of notch (or teardrop) for the front-facing camera and I know that some people are annoyed by it, others don’t even notice it after a while and to be honest, it’s subtle enough for me. I also know that an important factor for a rugged smartphone is the peak brightness of the display and after checking it out for a bit, the AGM Glory Pro definitely has a brighter display than an iPhone or a Pixel smartphone. After checking it with a dedicated tool, I saw that it went up to 860 nits, which is very much acceptable. The resolution of the display is 2340 x 1080 pixels, so it’s not really 1440p, but it’s perfectly fine for a 6+inch display, regardless of what other manufacturer may want you to think.

And it’s easier on the battery life. I could see no pixel with my naked eye and the videos and movies looked alright. There is a good amount of detail, the colors are accurate (the tone is cooler as I mentioned previously) and the images are a bit saturated as it usually happens with some Samsung smartphones. It also lacks that greenish tint that I usually see with iPhones to give some videos a more cinematic feel.
I noticed that the software does have multiple modes for the colors, from which the Boosted does add more contrast, but then again, nowadays almost all displays look good regardless of the price tag. But, I don’t deny that I would have liked to see the refresh rate of the screen to go above 60Hz, especially due to the price tag, but I don’t think it’s really a mandatory feature, especially on a rugged device. Also, I saw that there is no Always On Display mode available which is a shame. There is some semblance of AoD that can be enabled only when the smartphone is charging.

The Internal Hardware

The AGM Glory Pro uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G / 8nm octa-core CPU which can go up to 2.0GHz. There’s also an Adreno 619 GPU, 256GB UF2.2 storage and 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM. If 256GB is not enough, then you can use the microSD card slot to add up to 512GB more. I admit that I was surprised to see a Snapdragon 480 instead of something more suitable for a flagship smartphone, but I suppose it was to be expected considering that the CAT S62 Pro uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660. So, the manufacturers of higher end rugged smartphones put a lot of money in the build quality, while keeping the SoC midrange. Even so, how powerful is the Snapdragon 480? To find out, I ran a few benchmarks.

The first one is the GeekBench 5 and the Single-Core Score was 508, while the Multi-Core Score was 1687. What does that mean? Well, it means that in terms of single-core performance, it’s only a bit below the Poco X3 which had a score of 556 and it uses the Snapdragon 732G. The multi-core result sits again, very close to the Snapdragon 732G (Xiaomi’s Poco X3) which makes the Snapdragon 480 a veritable mid-ranger SoC. It’s a bit funny that Qualcomm calls the 480 the first 5G low-end SoC, so I guess the standards have seriously been raised over the last couple of years. At the same time, I did check the Compute score and, at 1106, it sits next to the 730G, so there’s definitely some entry-level pedigree here.

The next benchmark is GFXBench and it mainly checks the graphical performance of the smartphone. The 1080p Aztec Ruins OpenGL (Normal Tier) puts the AGM Glory Pro below the Samsung galaxy S8, but above the Google Pixel XL. The 1080p car Chase Offscreen test puts is below the LG G5 and the 1080p Manhattan Offscreen test puts it next to the Samsung Galaxy S7 Active. There are of course a lot of other tests that were ran under this benchmark and I have added a few of the results that I got.

The 3DMark benchmark was a bit harsh on the AGM Glory Pro with the Wild Life suite of tests, but the Sling Shot seemed to show a more favorable set of results. Leaving the benchmarks behind, I decided to play a few games and see for myself how well the rugged smartphone fares in this regard. Asphalt 8 ran fine, with one dropped frame here and there, but overall, it was a smooth experience. Call of Duty mobile also ran without any problems, no stuttering and everything loaded fast. Lastly, I checked ARK Survival Evolved which is one of the more graphical intensive mobile games and again, it runs smoothly, with very little dropped frames and pretty much no stuttering.

The Software and Support

The rugged smartphone uses Android 11 and it’s pretty much the stock version. The only additional apps were the IRCamera which allows access the thermal camera and the Zello app which is a reliable Push-to-Talk Walkie Talkie app. There is no bloatware, no ads, just the apps that Google forcibly installs into all the Android OS versions. I have seen that some people complained that you can’t block phone numbers (there is no blocklist) and I am not sure if there was an update in the meantime, but, after checking the Calls section, I could add any number to the blocklist. I did experience an interesting behavior: the AGM Glory Pro would randomly reboot about once a day.

I immediately assumed that there may be an app that was causing it (since I moved some apps via the Cloud), so I simply reset the phone, deleting everything. The behavior continued, so I decided to start the smartphone in Safe Mode and interestingly enough, the reboots stopped. I uninstalled DDG and Compass, and after waiting for another couple of days, it seems that the smartphone does not restart randomly anymore (I will update the article if it happens again). Is there a chance that the AGM Glory Pro will receive any software updates or if it will be upgraded to Android 12? AGM did not say if it will upgrade its Glory series to the next Android version, but it’s not too difficult to predict if they will from past behavior.

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Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

And it’s true that the rise of social media popularity has brought more attention towards both the video and audio equipment, so the competition has gotten a bit more fierce especially in the entry-level space. Sure enough, brands such as Rode have been dominating the market for a while, but the Pixel microphones do have their appeal due to the (usually) good build quality, the decent performance and the fair price. The Pixel Finch model that I got is only compatible with iPhones and some older iPad models due to the permanently attached Lightning cable, so it’s not that great in terms of compatibility, entirely because of Apple’s closed ecosystem.

But, there are two other versions available, one with a USB-C port and the other with a 3.5mm connector. That being said, if you intend to create videos indoors, an overhead microphone is usually a better idea for a balanced sound, but outdoors and in a noisy environment, a lavalier mike is a wiser choice. That’s because it’s closer to your mouth, so the sound should be better, it also should be able to better cancel ambient sound and, ideally, it shouldn’t be affected by wind. Let’s see if the Pixel Finch is able to accomplish all this or if it’s better to look for other potentially better options.

Design and Build Quality

As I said in the intro, Pixel did make some good decisions when it comes to the design. And, after opening the box, I saw that there was a small pouch with the Pixel logo on it, which is a nice way to carry the microphone around when you’re not using it. After taking the mike out of the pouch, I noticed that it’s made of metal, including the lavalier clip and we’re dealing with a braided cable. So yes, nothing feels cheap and you do immediately get the feeling that you are holding a good quality device.

The Lightning connector has a plastic housing and it’s covered by a glossy red finish. The manufacturer says that the Pixel Finch is MFi-certified and that’s a claim that’s fairly easy to check (although it can also be vague such as the case of the Quntis 30W charger), but, after checking the website, I quickly saw that the lavalier microphone was indeed Apple approved. So yes, the Pixel Finch will not harm your iPhone – as I said in the intro, the microphone is available with other connectors as well and I am looking forward to when Apple will finally decide to switch to USB-C as well (which is probably never).

Some additional things that I need to mention are the fact that the cable is long, 9.8-feet long actually, so you can leave the iPhone on the table and speak freely at a desk – also, you can leave the phone in your pocket or in your backpack when outdoors. Furthermore, the lavalier clip has proven to be sturdy and will not easily detach from your shirt. I also liked that Pixel has added a windscreen on the microphone which should, in the best case scenario, prevent that annoying wind noise when you’re recording a video outdoors.

It, unfortunately did not work that great with lots of wind and that’s because it’s a fairly inexpensive foam windscreen, but the good news is that you can replace the existing wind muff with something better (if you wish to go the truly professional route).
Note: The entire device weighs only 0.32 ounces.

Installation and Functionality

This is a plug-and-play device, so the installation process requires that you simply insert the Lightning connector into your iPhone or iPad (which supports this standard). Just make sure that the microphone icon shows up and you should be good to go – afterwards, go ahead and attach the lavalier mike to your clothes. There is no proprietary app required, the iPhone will simply use it as microphone, but, it will also think that it’s a pair of headphones, so you won’t hear any sound output from your phone while it’s connected.

Testing the Pixel Finch

Since most of you will simply want to upgrade the sound quality of their videos or recordings captured by using just an iPhone, I will make a comparison between the Pixel Finch lavalier microphone and the built-in mike inside an iPhone 12 (which is surprisingly good by itself). I recorded myself for several dozen of minutes (with Voice Memos) while I was indoors and no significant ambient noise was present. The iPhone 12 does a good job at differentiating my voice from some mild external sounds (cars passing near my house and the sound of an air purifier fan).

iPhone 12 – Integrated Microphone:

Pixel Finch Microphone (Unedited):

It’s fairly loud, concise and it will do well with the home-made type of videos. I also need to mention that the room is prone to echoes and it completely lacks any acoustic treatment, which is obvious from the recordings. Moving to the Pixel Finch, I noticed that the volume was a bit lower and after importing it in After Effects, it seems that it peaks at about -12dB (while the integrated iPhone microphone would reach up to -6dB). It was incredibly easy to boost the sound up a bit, so be aware that, depending on the app that you’re using, the sound may require a little bit of adjusting.

And that’s normal with vloggers and other media content creators, but may slightly inconvenience people that take live interviews – don’t get me wrong it’s still fairly loud by default, but it can be better.
The sound quality is fair considering that the focus is on the voice and less on anything else that happens in the background. So, the whole bass / mids / treble analysis doesn’t really apply here (in my opinion), but the clarity is going to be an important factor, because distortions can be a real problem with microphones.

The wind is also the number one enemy when you’re recording something outdoors, so we’ll check that as well. In terms of clarity, the Pixel Finch does a good job, especially considering the price tag. It doesn’t really have that fullness of some far more expensive overhead microphones, but if it keeps the price tag below $50, the Pixel Finch sound really good, in my opinion, better than the default mike used by the iPhone 12. Even though I mentioned it sound similarly in the recording, after listening to more audio, it’s clear that the lavalier microphone is superior due to it being less echo-y and thanks to the warmer tone that it helps produce (not really a fan of the sharper sound of the iPhone 12).

Perhaps I should mention some technical specs, such as the frequency range that goes from 50Hz to 20KHz, the 2200 Ohm rated impedance or that the device uses an electret condenser microphone. As I said before, wind can be tricky outdoors, so, since I live very close to the sea, I decided to check its performance while walking on the shore. And yes, there was plenty of wind.
The provided windscreen clearly struggled and my voice was muffled and less clear when the wind was more intense. So it’s not that great when it’s windy outside, but there is a solution. Since we’re dealing with an omni-directional microphone, it needs a really good windscreen, so just replace the default one with a fur windshield (deadcat) or just a slightly better open cell foam, if the budget is really tight.

The Conclusion

The Pixel Finch is a really well designed lavalier microphone (way above what’s expected from its price tag) and it does perform fine in most conditions, especially indoors or where there isn’t a lot of wind. A better windscreen should help alleviate this problem, so if you’re in the market for a sturdy microphone that will complement your videos taken with an iPhone, it’s difficult to find a better option right now.

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com

The good news is that this gave the third-party manufacturers, such as Quntis, the opportunity to create fairly inexpensive devices which should, supposedly, work just as good as the original hardware. It’s important to carefully select the proper charger because you can damage your Apple products and to put your mind at ease, Quntis says that their Lightning cable is MFi Certified. There is no serial number on the cable itself to confirm it, but checking the MFi licensed accessories website, it has revealed that Quntis is there with a power and sync cable (the model name was LPWQU002-001).

The 30W charger is not on that list, so only the cable seems to be certified. In any case, there is support for PD 3.0 (power delivery), so you can recharge a smartphone in far less time than you would when using the original 5W or 18W charger. I would have also liked to see support for the GaN technology since it has gained so much traction the last few years due to the efficient power delivery and support for higher wattage, but, for now the 30W charger remains a more inexpensive option and should still recharge an iPhone quickly. After taking it from the package, I noticed that the power brick looks fairly generic, being made of plastic and covered by a white finish (a combo between glossy and matte).

The charger measures 2.2 x 1.6 x 1.0 inches (5.7 x 4.0 x 2.5cm), so it’s fairly compact and you can easily slip it into a pocket. And yes, the Lightning cable is detachable with a Velcro strap to keep it together, so it’s fairly travel friendly. The cable is 6.6 feet long and it is Lightning to USB-C – you can connect it to the only USB-C port available on the charger and I do like that you are not really stuck in the Apple’s ecosystem, so it’s easy to use other USB-C cables as well. I do look forward to the day when Apple is going to ditch the Lightning standard and embrace the USB-C standard, but I think they’ll sooner move to wireless-only charging before making such a ‘radical’ change.

One minor minus would be that the cable is not braided which would have made it far more stylish, but it seems that Quntis really embraced the generic style where the functionality trumps over the design. And as long as it works, I have no complaints. I have tested a few other chargers over the years and most had some form of protection against over-current, over-voltage and so on, but I did not find any mention that Quntis has added anything of the sorts on its 30W PD charger. All I could see is that the charger uses UL94-V0 fire retardant polycarbonate for its build. The advertised power delivery output is 15V-2A / 20V-1.5A / 3.3V~16V-2A, but I do need to test this claim.

Since I didn’t get a charger in the package of my iPhone 12 (apparently to help with the environment – sure, Apple, sure), I had to rely on an original Apple charger from my MacBook Pro and the original cable that came with the phone. This way, I first checked how the original charger behaved with a 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2017 and then with an iPhone 12. A small multimeter revealed that the original charger + USB-C cable will go up to 20.3V while charging the MacBook Pro and the power output was stable at about 28.4W (I also saw 14.5 Ohm).

The amperage fluctuated a bit going between 1.4 up to 1.6A. I then switched the power brick to the Quntis, but kept the original Apple cable and the power output stabilized at 20.17V. The wattage varied slightly between 23.4W and 24.4W, while the resistance moved between 16.6 to 17.3 Ohms. The amperage fluctuated between 1.16A to 1.18A, so it was a bit more stable than the original Apple charger.

Afterwards, I returned to the Apple charger and connected the original Lightning cable that I got in the box of the iPhone 12. This way, I saw that the power output remained stable at 8.93V and the wattage was also fairly solid at 12W, with little variations between 0.2 and 0.5W. The amperage fluctuated between 1.38 to 1.67A. Next, I connected the iPhone 12 to the Quntis charger and the provided cable – the power output moved between 9.15 to 9.16V and the wattage moved between 13.6 to 16.9W.

The amperage fluctuated between 1.38 to 1.86A. So, overall, the performance doesn’t differ that much between the Quntis 30W charger and the original Apple charger, which is excellent news. But, is it safe to use with Apple products? I would say that yes, the Quntis 30W charger can indeed be reliably used with Apple products without causing any damage to them.

Mark B

Mark is a graduate in Computer Science, having gathered valuable experience over the years working in IT as a programmer. Mark is also the main tech writer for MBReviews.com, covering not only his passion, the networking devices, but also other cool electronic gadgets that you may find useful for your every day life.

www.mbreviews.com