While thinner bezels and foldable screens have been the focus of many users, a niche group of consumers demands more than just a pretty device. The Fossibot F101P, a rugged smartphone, not only boasts brawn but also brains. Engineered to withstand the harshest conditions, from extreme temperatures to dust-filled landscapes, this smartphone catches your eye with its robust exterior, but it’s the surprises within that truly captivate. From an impressive design to a unique secondary display nestled within the rear camera bump.
In this in-depth review, we take a journey to explore the F101P, delving into its design, performance, camera capabilities, and much more. By the time we conclude, you’ll have an in-depth understanding of whether this rugged contender truly shines in its segment, offering a blend of rugged resilience and modern smartphone features. So, join us as we unbox, examine its robust construction, put its display and camera to the test, assess its performance under demanding conditions, investigate its battery life that defies expectations, and ultimately weigh its price against the value it offers.
Unboxing and First Impressions:
Before we dive into the intricacies of the F101P, let’s begin with the unboxing experience. The unboxing ritual is often a moment of anticipation and excitement, and the F101P delivers on this front. Within the vivid orange box, you’ll discover an array of essential components that set the stage for the F101P experience:
Upon opening the box, we greet the star of the show: the FossiBot F101P itself. The device is thoughtfully placed on top, showcasing its robust build and design. Underneath the smartphone, we find a collection of essential accessories, including a user manual providing essential guidance and warranty information, also including a SIM ejector tool. To keep you powered up, you’ll discover an 18W Type-C charger and a high-quality USB-C charging cable. With the unboxing ceremony complete, our attention turns to the star of the show: the FossiBot F101P.
Design and Build Quality:
The Fossibot F101P stands out in the market of rugged smartphones. It’s not just about being tough; it’s also about making a statement with its design and build quality. At first glance, the F101P may surprise you. Unlike many rugged phones that often prioritize function over form, this Fossibot offering strikes a harmonious balance between ruggedness and elegance. In front of the device is a full screen of 5.45 inches, with very prominent bezels around the screen.
Back Side:
What’s noteworthy is the strategic use of materials. This rugged phone is generally encased in heavy-duty rubber or plastic. The design is peppered with details that catch the eye. Bold lines and accents run across the device, accentuating its appeal. The FossiBot F101P is available in three versions: black and red with a regular back surface, and black with an imitation leather finish. The choice of design provides users with options to suit their personal preferences.
One standout design feature is the rear display panel—a concept previously seen in the Cubot KingKong Star. Nestled within the camera bump, this 1.32-inch customizable IPS LCD screen adds an element of versatility to the phone’s design. Users can access notifications, control music playback, and even check the battery status without unlocking the phone. It’s a feature that not only adds utility but also uniqueness to the phone’s design. The camera block on the rear of the device is divided into two halves, housing three camera modules and an LED flash. Notably, the camera bump is designed to be relatively flush with the back of the phone, preventing it from protruding excessively. This design choice not only contributes to the phone’s sleek appearance but also minimizes the risk of damage to the camera lenses.
Comforts:
The first line of defense in the Fossibot F101P’s rugged design is its metal frame. Unlike the conventional plastic frames seen in most smartphones, Fossibot opted for a metal frame that not only adds to the device’s durability but also enhances its aesthetics. Complementing this frame are reinforced corners that act as shock absorbers. This design choice helps protect the device from accidental drops and impacts, making it a reliable companion in the toughest of situations. While ruggedness is a fundamental aspect of the F101P design, it doesn’t compromise on user comfort and convenience. At 338 grams, it’s not lightweight, but the design ensures that the weight is evenly distributed, making it comfortable to hold and use even for extended periods.
Buttons Placement and Ergonomics:
The button placement and overall ergonomics have been carefully considered to ensure a seamless user experience. On the right side, you’ll find the power button doubling as a fingerprint sensor for secure and quick unlocking, and volume rockers. The left side of the device houses the hybrid tray which can accommodate either two SIM cards or a single SIM card and a memory card. All buttons are made of durable materials, giving them more solidity. In terms of ports, it’s equipped with a USB Type-C port and has dust plugs for its ports, showcasing its dustproof capability.
Durability:
When rugged smartphones come to mind, durability is one of the first things that comes to mind. These robust devices are built to withstand the harshest conditions and unexpected mishaps. The Fossibot F101P is not just tough on the outside but also fortified against the elements. With an IP68 and IP69K rating, it offers an impressive level of water and dust resistance. This means the device can survive submersion in water up to a certain depth without any adverse effects. It can operate seamlessly in temperatures ranging from -35°C to 75°C. Such resilience makes it an ideal companion for adventurers and professionals.
To protect against accidental drops and impacts, the F101P is equipped with reinforced corners that absorb shocks and provide additional protection to the device. This engineering design ensures that the smartphone can withstand accidental falls and rough handling. It also boasts MIL-STD-810G certification, a military-grade standard that assesses the device’s ability to withstand various environmental stressors, including vibrations, shocks, humidity, and high altitude. This certification guarantees that the smartphone can endure the rigors of daily life.
Display Experience:
The F101P features a compact 5.45-inch display, making it an excellent choice for users who prefer smaller and more pocket-friendly devices. Despite its size, it boasts an HD Plus resolution of 1440×720 pixels and a pixel density of 320 ppi, delivering clear and crisp visuals. While it doesn’t offer an increased screen refresh rate beyond the standard 60Hz, the display performs its job admirably. The side frames on the device are impressive, a common feature in armored phones. However, the top and bottom bezels remain relatively prominent, which is in line with the device’s class, and do not offer any significant size reduction.
The display is multi-touch capable, supporting up to five simultaneous touches, which should suffice for most users. In terms of brightness, it offers 84 cd/m2, which, while not the brightest, performs unexpectedly well in outdoor settings, even under direct sunlight. The display utilizes an IPS matrix and includes a glove mode, making it suitable for various usage scenarios. The screen is protected by robust DragonTrail glass, ensuring it remains shielded from damage and scratches.
This type of screen is the best you can get on a budget phone and provides good color reproduction with no picture distortion. It is perfectly adequate for web browsing and content consumption, offering the best value for what you pay—a large and high-quality screen suitable for media consumption, whether you are watching video, playing games, or browsing social media.
Secondary Rear Display:
However, the real surprise awaits on the phone’s back, where you’ll find an intriguing secondary display. This touch-sensitive display boasts a round design with a diameter of 1.32 inches and offers a resolution of 360×360 pixels. The F101P ships with an impressive selection of 60 watch designs for this rear display, allowing you to change the style of your phone’s back at your convenience. You can activate this feature with a simple double-tap, or you can sync it with the main screen.
The secondary display’s versatility knows no bounds. It offers a clock, time, date function, music controls, notifications, quick photography options, battery level, calls accept/cancel, pedometer, timer, recorder, and even a compass. This innovative feature not only adds a layer of personalization to your device but also enhances its functionality.
Playing Content:
Playing content on YouTube was very smooth. You can play videos at a maximum of 720p at 30 FPS without any problems or lag, and this is the highest quality you can get. My major issue, however, is the lack of Widevine L1 certification which restricts the video resolution on most streaming services to a mere 480p. While this does not become an immediate deal-breaker, if you like watching your content on your smartphone, this might be an issue. This level may be difficult to find in many Chinese smartphones without exaggeration.
Camera:
The FossiBot F101P is equipped with a versatile rear camera setup, including a 24MP primary camera from Samsung, a 5MP macro sensor, and a 0.3MP depth sensor for stunning bokeh effects. This diverse array of lenses allows for a wide range of photographic possibilities, from crisp close-ups to stunning landscapes. On the front, an 8MP selfie camera ensures that your self-portraits radiate with clarity and detail.
The rear camera is put through its paces, capturing both photos and videos, even in challenging windy conditions. The results are impressive, showcasing the camera’s ability to deliver high-quality images and videos. The front camera, dedicated to selfies and video calls, is also put to the test, consistently producing remarkable results.
The user-friendly interface of the F101P, coupled with a variety of camera modes, including bokeh, HDR, night mode, pro mode, macro, fullscreen, and beauty mode, makes this smartphone a versatile tool for photography and videography enthusiasts. The reviewer demonstrates the ease with which these modes can be accessed and utilized, ensuring that the device caters to a broad spectrum of creative needs.
Performance and Gaming:
At the heart of the FossiBot F101P lies a MediaTek Helio P60 processor (also known as MediaTek MT8788), built on a 12-nanometer process. This octa-core CPU incorporates four energy-efficient cores and four high-performance cores, creating a balanced blend of power and efficiency. For graphics processing, the device relies on a Mali-G72 GPU, a respectable mid-range unit.
F101P has 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM, which ensures smooth multitasking and fast app switching. It also offers an interesting feature known as “Virtual RAM Expansion.” This feature allows the smartphone to allocate a portion of its storage space up to 15GB to act as additional virtual RAM, essentially increasing the available RAM for running apps and processes. This can lead to improved multitasking and smoother performance, especially when dealing with resource-intensive applications.
When it comes to storage, this phone offers flexibility to suit your needs with 128GB. This ample internal storage capacity allows you to store a vast amount of apps, photos, videos, documents, and more without worrying about running out of space. Moreover, if you find yourself needing even more storage, with its microSD card support, you can expand the storage by up to 1 TB.
Performance Benchmarks:
To thoroughly assess the F101P’s processing capabilities, we’ve turned to several renowned benchmarking tools, including AnTuTu Benchmark, Geekbench, and 3DMark. In AnTuTu Benchmark, the F101P manages to secure a score slightly above 240,000, which aligns with its positioning in the low category. It showcases its ability to handle everyday tasks and even some more demanding applications with ease.
Geekbench paints a similar picture, with the device delivering solid multi-core and single-core scores, reflecting its competence in multitasking and handling everyday usage scenarios. When it comes to 3DMark, this benchmark assesses the device’s graphics performance. The F101P doesn’t disappoint, demonstrating its capability to handle graphical workloads efficiently, which translates to decent multimedia and gaming experiences.
Gaming Performance:
While the F101P may not belong to the category of specialized gaming smartphones, it undoubtedly has its merits when it comes to gaming. Our gaming tests delve into its gaming performance, assessing frame rates, graphics quality, and overall gameplay experiences.
Tanks: Even with graphics settings set to the low end of the spectrum, Tanks provide a smooth gaming experience on the F101P, delivering a consistent 60 FPS. There’s no trace of lags or stuttering, thanks to the device’s dependable Mali-G72 GPU. This showcases the smartphone’s reliability for casual gaming sessions.
PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds): The F101P offers minimal or low graphics settings for PUBG gameplay. While it maintains a stable 30 FPS, users may notice occasional frame drops during intense in-game battles. Nonetheless, it’s possible to enjoy PUBG on this device, though the experience may not be as seamless as one would hope.
Genshin Impact: Genshin Impact, a graphics-intensive game, pushes the F101P to its limits. Even with graphics settings minimized, the device struggles to provide a consistent gaming experience, with frame rates fluctuating between 12 to 15 FPS. This means that while Genshin Impact is technically playable, users may encounter occasional lags and delays, making it a less suitable choice for demanding gaming sessions.
Thermal Management:
Throughout our extensive gaming tests, we diligently monitored the device’s temperature. Impressively, the F101P maintained a temperature of just 41°C even after a grueling 20-minute gaming session. This temperature control not only prevents overheating but also ensures that performance remains stable, even under heavy loads.
Software and User Interface Experience
The Fossibot F101P delivers a refreshingly straightforward, clean, and bloatware-free software experience. Stock Android 13 powers this rugged smartphone, providing a significant advantage in a market where many rugged devices feature heavily customized Android skins. Experience a breath of fresh air with the absence of bloatware or unnecessary pre-installed applications. Customize your device according to your preferences without being bombarded with unused apps. The F101P’s user interface stands out for its responsiveness, ensuring smooth task handling and swift app launches. Android 13 brings performance optimizations and privacy features, ensuring efficient device operation while keeping your data secure.
Equipped with 11 different digital tools, this device proves useful both outdoors and indoors. The built-in flashlight enhances outdoor activities in the dark, and tools like the Hanging Painting tool assist with home improvement projects. Personalize the device’s color scheme, theme, language, and themed app icons. Additionally, it provides enhanced privacy and control over notification permissions and other settings.
In the Fossibot F101P smartphone’s software, a unique feature is the presence of settings for the back screen’s screen faces. The secondary screen, located on the rear side, offers various options for screen faces. Users can access and customize these settings to choose their preferred design or information to be displayed, including different watch faces with distinct styles.
Battery Life & Usage
Undoubtedly, the most astonishing aspect of the Fossibot F101P is its battery capacity – a staggering 10,600mAh. This device doesn’t just offer a battery; it delivers an extraordinary battery life, achieving up to 3 days under moderate usage and lasting throughout the day with heavy usage. When it’s time to recharge, the F101P doesn’t keep you waiting. With an 18W charger, it replenishes its massive battery in approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes, ensuring minimal downtime.
Connectivity
Connectivity is a key consideration for the Fossibot F101P, especially being a rugged smartphone. It provides the convenience of using dual SIM cards from different carriers simultaneously and covers an extensive range of 4G global LTE bands. Broad network support enables you to stay connected to high-speed data networks and make HD-quality voice calls globally. Additionally, it supports satellite systems such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and Beidou, along with various WLAN protocols, including 802.11 a/ac/b/g/n 2.5 & 5GHz Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth 5.0, and NFC, making it compatible with services like Google Pay.
Verdict
In conclusion, the FossiBot F101P stands out in the market, offering unique and innovative features at an affordable price point. The compact design, dual displays, rugged build, powerful performance, and long-lasting battery make it an excellent all-around choice. While it may not compete with flagship devices in performance or camera capabilities, it presents a compelling package, especially considering its affordable price point.
The Fossibot F101P, a rugged smartphone promising affordability without compromising performance, is priced at $139.99.
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