Oukitel, which has been on the market for over 15 years, has a specialised range of rugged mobile phones in addition to traditional phones, including today’s WP22 model. The WP lineup is not only characterised by its rugged body but also by its high capacity batteries, by the way, the WP22 model offers 10,000 mAh. But for the WP22, another big advantage is the large speaker on the back, which has a maximum volume of 125dB and a peak power of 4W. So, which is more important?
Be that as it may, if you are looking for a rugged smartphone that can handle extreme conditions and has impressive specs, the Oukitel WP22 could be the perfect device for you.
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Technical specifications
- Display: 6.58-inch FHD+, IPS, 1080×2408, 480 nits brightness
- Processor: MediaTek Helio P90 (2×ARM Cortex-A75 at 2.2GHz and 6×ARM Cortex-A55 at 2.0GHz)
- Graphics: IMG PowerVR GM 9446
- RAM: 8GB LPDDR4
- Storage: 256GB, microSD card support up to 1TB
- Cameras: triple camera, 48MP (main) PDAF, 20MP (night vision camera), 2MP (macro lens). Front camera 16 MP
- Battery: Li-Ion 10000mAh, 18W wired charging speed, supports reverse charging
- Operating system: Android 13
- Communication standards: 2G, 3G, 4G
- Wireless networks: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo
- SIM card slot: dual (2 Nano-SIM)
- Degree of protection: IP68, IP69K, as well as according to the military standard MIL-STD-810H
- Resistance: to dust, water, shock
- Dimensions: 83.5×174.0×19.0 mm
- Weight: 399g
- Extras: 125dB 4W multimedia speaker with 36mm driver, USB Type-C 2.0, side-mounted fingerprint sensor.
That is, at around $250, you get an IP68/IP69K certified phone running on a MediaTek Helio P90 chip, with 8GB of RAM and a 6.58-inch Full HD+ display. The camera also lives up to its niche, with a triple-lens setup with a 48-megapixel primary sensor paired with an interesting 20-megapixel night vision sensor and a 2-megapixel macro camera.
Complete set
In the box with the phone you will find an 18-watt charger, cable and documentation. The box is quality, white in colour, will look good if you are planning this gadget for a gift.
The factory protective film glued on the screen can also be considered an element of the set. However, it is not of the best quality and collects dust and fingerprints, so it is better to remove it.
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Дизайн
Just by looking at the Oukitel WP22, you realise – this phone is built like a tank. Not only that, it’s as heavy as a tank, thanks to its powerful battery, rugged body and large speaker on the back. All these elements come together in a phone that is resistant to water, sand, dust, steam, steam, drops, vibration and even heat.
The Oukitel WP22 has the octagonal design traditionally used in the company’s rugged phones, with rubberised corners on the sides and back. The metal strips on the left and right with exposed screws look solid, just right for the MIL-STD-810H standard. The overall dimensions were obviously dictated by the display and battery specifications, however, making the phone big and heavy – as much as 399 g. Trust me, you’ll feel it in your hand right away, and it’ll take a few more days to get used to it.
Despite this, holding the phone is comfortable, at least for my average-sized hand. The contours of the back panel fit the hand well and all buttons are placed within reach, including the programmable orange key on the left side, which can be customised for quick access to a number of functions (torch, screenshot, SOS, etc.) or to open applications.
The large 6.58-inch IPS display has a resolution of 2408×1080, which provides good pixel density. Brightness levels are good enough for outdoor use, but don’t expect features like a high refresh rate or the extremely vibrant colours found in more expensive phones with AMOLED panels. Viewing photos and videos on this device is quite enjoyable, but keep in mind that all photos will look a bit brighter than on a PC.
Performance
Built on the MediaTek P90 processor, the Oukitel WP22 performs at the level of entry-level phones but is capable of handling most tasks and even some light gaming. The phone comes bundled with the latest version of Android 13 with an updated security patch. From the pros, I can highlight the Android version and the lack of unnecessary programmes. From the minuses – perhaps an outdated processor, but is the processor the main advantage of this smartphone?
The device I had on review came with the April 2023 update, which is better than most phones in this price range. Oukitel also uses a custom interface, with a bronze coloured theme. The custom OS comes with a pretty complete matching icon pack, but once you start installing third-party apps, the harmony disappears.
As far as I’m concerned, one of the WP22’s notable advantages in its price range is its surprising lack of unnecessary software: no third-party apps from Meta, Microsoft, streaming services or free games.
In terms of performance, the Oukitel WP22 can’t hide the age of its MediaTek Helio P90 processor, which was released 4.5 years ago and is built on 12nm process technology. Don’t expect it to outperform modern phones, but it can still compete with rugged phones in its price range such as the Motorola Defy or Samsung Galaxy XCover 5.
In day-to-day use, the phone performs admirably if you adjust your expectations accordingly. Interface navigation, web browsing and media consumption were fine, and multitasking was provided by 8GB of RAM.
Speaker
Moving on to the main thing? One of the most noticeable pluses of the Oukitel WP22 is undoubtedly its loud speaker on the back. Everyone who saw the phone immediately said that it was over-sized, but in the end they were surprised not only by its volume, but also by the fact that the sound remains quite clear throughout the entire range of sound. Here, by the way, I poured water on it – it “bubbled” a little and played further as it should.
The WP22’s volume is hard to test indoors, at a certain stage you already start to worry about the health of your ears, but outdoors you can confidently use this phone as an impromptu music listening solution, for example, going on a picnic with friends, you can definitely compete with most compact Bluetooth speakers. Plus, the large speaker, when properly set up, can ensure you never miss an alert or be late for work again.
Also, the cable-less FM radio and lack of headphone jack should be mentioned separately here, let’s put them as a plus and respectively a minus in this section. So, Oukitel WP22 offers an FM radio app that does not require any cable. The reception in Lviv was great and the settings can be easily controlled even on the lock screen.
Camera
The triple camera module on the Oukitel WP22 has an unusual configuration: a 48-megapixel main camera is combined with a small 2-megapixel macro sensor, as well as an intriguing 20-megapixel night vision camera.
Before we talk about the quality of the photos, it’s important to remind you that the weight of the phone makes taking photos a little more arduous than usual. One-handed photography isn’t as easy if you care about accurate composition, quick shots also suffer a bit as you have to pause and hold the WP22 steady to get usable results.
A tripod always comes in handy, and forget about using selfie sticks when travelling, I haven’t tested the WP22 with any, but I can imagine how difficult it would be to hold it steady while taking pictures. A tripod thread would be a welcome addition for future versions, I’m writing this in case Oukitel engineers are reading this review.
The results from the main camera were actually better on the PC than the daylight preview on the screen, with only slightly muted colours in the resulting files. Handheld shots are fine for sharing on social media or messaging apps, but not for large prints.
On the other hand, night photos taken by the main camera were consistently weak, lacking detail and overly bright spots from any light sources, so I didn’t add them to the review. For wildlife explorers, the black-and-white 20-megapixel night-vision camera will be a useful feature – although you might not want to use it for family photos in a dark restaurant.
The 2MP macro camera works as well as you’d expect from its resolution, selfies in daylight came out beautifully, as they do for this level of phone, without over-processing skin tones. If you like digital make-up, you’ll also find a regular beauty mode in the camera settings. I asked my husband to take selfies, even a man who doesn’t respect selfies at all – said the quality was pretty good. After that, I think you can not go back to the camera, it’s better to listen to music.
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Battery
After the speaker, the 10,000mAh battery capacity is the second highlight in the Oukitel WP22’s specs. It doesn’t just give the phone multi-day battery life (incidentally, the manufacturer has promised 1,250 hours of standby time and 75 hours of phone calls), but can also work as a power bank for friends and family in emergencies.
The modest performance level of the Helio P90 chip certainly contributes to the long battery life, but the pure brute force solution used by Oukitel easily ensured that the WP22 took the top spot in PC Mark’s battery life test with 23 hours and 51 minutes. That’s a far cry from double that of today’s 5,000mAh phones, but it’s still impressive.
As I said, all this capacity can be used to charge other phones and accessories, as the Oukitel WP22 provides charge in a similar way to a power bank – with a standard cable connected to another device. As for charging, the Oukitel WP22 comes with an 18W power adapter that can fully charge the phone in 3 hours. I had a full charge of the phone for 4 days of use.
I will also note that the Oukitel WP22 supports NFC and is compatible with Google Pay for contactless payments, where without them in today’s world?
Conclusions
A niche device like the Oukitel WP22 is very hard to rate. You can’t expect flagship-level performance from any phone priced under $300, let alone one with a big battery or loud speaker. The brand probably had to make a tough decision when it came to choosing components to pack special features into a phone to achieve this price point.
So, if you’re looking for a fast smartphone to replace your everyday device, it’s not easy to justify opting for the Oukitel WP22. But if absolute battery life overshadows high performance, and more importantly, having a large, comfortable speaker is important, then the WP22 is probably a match made in heaven for you.