9 of my favorite Black Friday deals on rugged phones - these are the phones I recommend based on my rigorous shock, drop, and performance tests

Two Ulefone rugged phones on a green background next to a TechRadar badge reading 'Black Friday deals'

(Image credit: Ulefone // Future)

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With winter weather about to remind everyone that a phone that can handle an extreme environment could be a necessity, this might be the perfect time of year to purchase a rugged phone.

From the wide selection on offer, I’ve burrowed out nine phones that you can get for less than they typically sell in the Black Friday sales, to make your dollars go that bit further.

My top Black Friday rugged phone deals

The Doogee S200 Max stands out for its ultra-rugged build, making it ideal for outdoor work and adventure holidays. Its most impressive feature is the massive 22,000mAh battery, which ensures extended usage without frequent charging. The phone is unlocked and runs Android, offering flexibility and compatibility. It’s designed to withstand the worst environments, making it perfect for users who need durability and reliability in extreme conditions. A great phone, and now an equally impressive deal. Read the full review here.

I found the Ulefone Armor 30 Pro features an extremely rugged build, making it ideal for outdoor workers and adventure seekers. It features a powerful MediaTek Dimensity SoC, a generous 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage, ensuring strong performance. It also boasts a good camera selection and a massive battery that can last for days, making it reliable in remote or demanding environments. Overall, it’s a feature-packed, durable phone that excels in tough conditions and offers excellent hardware for its price range. Read a full review here.

The 8849 Tank 2 Pro is a standout rugged smartphone designed for extreme durability and adventure. My colleague Alastair rated this 4.5 stars in his review. Its most unique feature is a built-in 100-lumen DLP projector, perfect for presentations or entertainment on the go. The phone boasts a massive 23,800mAh battery for days of use, a 100MP main camera, a 64MP night vision camera, and dual emergency light panels. It’s IP68-rated for water and dust resistance, shockproof, and built to withstand extreme temperatures - making it ideal for demanding environments. 8849 has the Tank 3 and Tank 4 now, but Tank 2 is still a bit special.

The OUKITEL G3 stands out for its rugged durability, certified to IP68/IP69K and MIL-STD-810H standards, making it waterproof, dustproof, and shockproof. It features a reasonably large 6300mAh battery for extended use, OTG reverse charging, and a 6-inch HD+ Corning Gorilla Glass screen for durability and clarity. With 16GB RAM (expandable), up to 256GB storage, and Android 14, it offers smooth performance and ample space. The 13MP camera and dual SIM support add to its versatility and reliability for outdoor adventures and demanding environments. The G3 is cheap, but an extremely practical rugged phone.

A rugged smartphone designed for durability and reliability in tough environments, but this resilience normally doesn’t come at this price point. The phone is unlocked and compatible with T-Mobile, offering flexibility for users. The Fire 3 is smaller than most rugged phones, but it still packs a 8350mAh battery. However, its weaknesses are the 13MP main camera and only having 64GB of storage. The Doogee Fire 3 is perfect for those who need a tough, dependable device for demanding lifestyles, but only use a limited selection of apps.

This is a phone I own, and what makes it desirable is that it's small enough to pocket, but it includes a thermal camera. This makes it ideal for tracking down electronic hot spots or cooling blockages. But it would also be useful for anyone working with engines. The only real limitation of this design is that, due to its size, the battery is only 6200 mAh, but it will run for a reasonable amount of time with that because it uses an efficient SoC. The 50MP main camera is also more than adequate for most requirements. A great and easily pocketable device, the Ulefone Armor Mini 20T Pro is easily worth what retailers are asking for it. Read my review of this excellent phone here.

The Doogee Fire 6 stands out for its rugged retro design, making it highly durable and suitable for challenging environments. This robust build can withstand drops, shocks, and exposure to water and dust. Overall, this is solid hardware for the price, making it a practical choice for users who prioritise toughness, longevity and want a feature set with broad appeal. I gave this phone a hard time when it launched because it's only 4G, and it uses an older SoC. But given a significant price drop, it's a much more attractive proposition. Read my full review here.

This phone is designed for extreme durability, ideal for outdoor work and adventure holidays, and it’s also highly flexible thanks to the thermal camera. This modern Ulefone design sports 32GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and you can add another 2TB with a MicroSD card. The relatively high price of the phone is justified by a powerful Dimensity 7400 SoC, dual AMOLED displays, 21200mAh battery and powerful 1000 lumen light. It's the most expensive phone on this list, but that also makes the deal one of the biggest.

Save on rugged phones this Black Friday at Amazon

Black Friday rugged phone deals - buying advice

What rugged phone should I choose during Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

As I detailed at the start, these devices roughly fall into three price bands, so starting with your budget is the most obvious starting point.

From there, I’d decide what the most important feature of the phone is. Is it the camera, battery life, or are you looking for something special, like thermal imaging?

Also, if you want 5G, then not every phone offers this, and that assumes your provider has this technology where you live or work. Answering these questions will reduce the possible options significantly, and then you can reduce that to probably one device based on personal preferences.

What features should I check when selecting the right rugged phone deal?

For phones in particular, there is one issue that makes a phone deal either the perfect choice or a non-starter, and that’s if the phone works with your carrier. All the big providers have tools on their websites where you can check if a phone model works with them, so make sure to use that before investing.

If you're unsure or get conflicting information, check the maker's site as to what frequencies the phone supports.

Beyond that critical hurdle, the next thing to assess is whether this is a phone you can practically use. Some rugged phones are heavy and large, making them too large to fit in a jacket pocket, or even containing too much battery capacity to take on some airlines.

Not all rugged phones are massive and heavy, but check the size and weight, and the size of the battery, and make sure you are happy with those specifications.

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Mark is an expert on 3D printers, drones and phones. He also covers storage, including SSDs, NAS drives and portable hard drives. He started writing in 1986 and has contributed to MicroMart, PC Format, 3D World, among others.

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