Ulefone has already made a name for itself in the rugged smartphone business. Now, it’s got a sub-brand that’s focused on more niche innovations for people who want more differentiated devices – and its first flagship product is quite something.
Seems cool and all, but if it stops getting OS and security updates 2 years later, then I don’t really give a shit about the removable battery. My last 2 phones were replaced because the OS was SUPER old and no longer getting updates, and the batteries would still last long enough to get through the work day.
Really, the swappable battery is not the “headline” feature imo.
The smartphone will boot Android 15 and receive OS upgrades until Android 18.
https://www.gsmarena.com/rugone_xever_7_pro_specs_images-news-69354.php
That’s kinda my point. Android 18 is likely to come out in or around 2028. So you’ll get 4-ish years of updates. I know batteries got headlines a few years back, but the complete lack of software support is the real “planned obsolescence” pandemic.
Also, this is not an gripe specifically about this phone, but the phone markets in general. 4 versions of Android is on the high side for a lot of Android phones… I’ve seen several that only get 2 and its disgraceful.
It’s definitely an issue, but there is some push to address it:
- Fairphone promises 8 years
- Google/Samsung promises 7 years for flagship lines
- Huawei via Honor brand promises 6 years for flagship lines
Mid-tier lines usually get minus 1 or 2 years with the exception of Fairphone, but the recent price increase starts to skirt the line of a flagship.
At this price (Half the cost of most of the popular flagships) you could easily buy one in 3 years and not feel the sting. The cameras and durability are what stick out for me, but hot swapable battery is a huge bonus since I hate being tethered to a giant power brick to charge my S25 Ultra.
It’s not solely an affordability problem though. A big problem for me is being expected to toss out a piece of tech that still works perfectly fine because the manufacturer said so.
Also, who’s to say this thing even still exists in 3 years to just buy another one. Realistically, the hope is what? They just keep releasing a new version every year so you can always just buy the newest one? Sorry. I hate the mobile phone market so much. :( I should be able to get excited by a phone that looks like you could throw it down a mountain and then still use it without issue, but this industry has me so beat down I just can’t.
How bad is the battery life that you’d even need to hot swap the battery?!
I used to never charge my phone and only charge the batteries. Then just swap them out when they got low. 1 battery charging, 1 in pocket charged, 1 in use in phone. It was very convenient to never have to think about the battery life. Less useful now but I could see some people still wanting that flexibility.
5,550 mah is above average for a smartphone.
rechargeable batteries don’t last forever, but you can extend the lifespan of it when it starts to shit the bed, which in turn extends the life of the 2nd.
Thermal and nightvision cameras are kind of neat… I’d love to see some info about OS flexibility.
The smartphone will boot Android 15 and receive OS upgrades until Android 18.
https://www.gsmarena.com/rugone_xever_7_pro_specs_images-news-69354.php
Yeah and that was in the article as well, but by flexibility I meant non-android.
Like an unlocked bootloader? Fat chance.
