These $300 rugged Android phones have no business being this good for the money

5 hours ago 7

ZDNET's key takeaways

The Oukitel WP58 Pro is available on the official site for just $289
This phone is rugged and performs more like a midrange phone than a low-end device
Like most Oukitel phones, the WP58 Pro is heavy.

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I've been reviewing Oukitel phones for quite some time, and I'm rarely disappointed. Sure, they're as heavy as bricks and don't perform as well as a flagship device such as my Pixel 9 Pro;, but these phones are a viable option… especially if you work in rough environments or tend to prefer the great outdoors, where rivers run, rocks fall, and darkness prevails.

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When Oukitel manages to merge a phone that's tough as nails with better-than-expected performance, that device might be considered a winner.

Did the WP58 Pro's performance impress me enough to reach that rare category where ruggedness meets performance? Read on.

My experience

As with every Oukitel phone I've reviewed, I know what to expect as soon as the lid is lifted from the box. The phone will be heavy. Now, the WP58 Pro is not nearly as heavy as other Oukitel phones, but it's certainly heavier than whatever you currently carry around.

I powered the device on, walked through the onboarding process, and then set about using the phone.

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The first thing that struck me was the smoothness of the animations. I'm used to budget phones having considerable lag on animations and app opening, but the WP58 Pro did not suffer under the weight of low system resources. The phone runs Android 15, which helps with the zippiness (the performance improvement from Android 14 to 15 was marked).

I was surprised to find that the phone I was given only had 8GB of RAM. The last phone I used with 8GB of RAM performed exactly as expected… slow. Somehow, Oukitel has managed to eke out a bit more speed from midrange specs.

Of course, there's always the built-in RAM Expansion, which uses storage space as extra RAM. With this feature, you can double the amount of effective RAM on the system. Is it worth losing 8 GB of storage space? I enabled the RAM Expansion feature to see if I noticed a difference. My immediate impression was that it actually seemed to slow the phone down a bit. All of a sudden, animations lagged a bit. However, the RAM Expansion did help when I had several apps open.

I then disabled the RAM Expansion to see if I was imagining the slowdown. To my surprise, the WP58 Pro seemed to perform slightly better with the expansion on (especially with several apps open).

To really test the device, I installed Diablo Immortal. The game has to download a sizable file, which took far longer than it should. That could be attributed to Blizzard's server, my ISP, or even the phone itself.

While downloading the necessary file, the game played various cut scenes that were (for the most part) smooth. What really impressed me was the sound. The WP58 Pro is loud. I had to turn it down to quarter volume because it became uncomfortable.

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Playing Diablo Immortal on the WP58 Pro wasn't bad at all. I did experience some lag, but it wasn't so bad that the game wasn't playable. Again, this phone wasn't designed with gaming in mind (at least not on the level expected for such games).

Crazy bright light

Another thing I've become accustomed to with Oukitel phones is the gimmicks they often include, such as removable smart watches, remotes, small secondary screens, and camping lights.

If you have never experienced the Oukitel camping light, I'm warning you now: Do not turn it on with the light facing you because it is crazy bright. The ambient light produces 900 lumens, while the white light produces 1,000 lumens. To use the light, you have to open the Camping Light app and select the type of light you want to use. You can select from SOS, Super, Full, Half, Quarter, as well as from three different colors (white, together, warm).

The weight and the battery

The WP58 Pro is not nearly as chunky as some of the other phones Oukitel has produced, but it's certainly heavier than whatever you currently carry around. The WP58 Pro weighs 370 grams, versus 199 grams for the Pixel 9 Pro.

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The reason for that weight is the protective case and the massive battery. The WP58 Pro has a 10,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging and 10W reverse charging. For reference, my Pixel 9 Pro has a 5,060mAh battery, which I can make last for a day and a half (if I'm careful).

The WP58 Pro battery barely budged from its 79% charge when it arrived. After 24 hours of testing, the phone's battery level dropped to only 65%. That's impressive and something my Pixel 9 Pro could only dream of pulling off.

ZDNET's buying advice

It's nice to see an Oukitel Phone that takes performance as seriously as it does ruggedness. Although the WP58 Pro isn't the most powerful phone on the market, if you need something that can withstand the elements and perform better than a Pentium 75 running Windows Vista, this might be the one you want.

The WP58 makes no bones about being heavy, but when you can get midrange performance at a low-end price of $290 (and you need something far tougher than a Pixel Fold), this is a great option.