If the RugOne brand doesn’t ring any bells for you, we won’t blame you. It’s a brand-new “exploration brand” by the rugged phone veteran Ulefone that they debuted at last year’s IFA 2025 with their first device, the Xever 7. Today, six months later, we get their second device – the RugOne Xever 8, which we have for hands-on today. We also have a short video about the Xever 8 on TikTok too.
Ulefone sees a space in the smartphone market where young people are looking for a rugged smartphone (hence the name RugOne) with an appealing yet eco-friendly design. Surely, the phone is also equipped with a ton of useful features that come in handy to outdoorsy users and/or people working in construction or doing any type of fieldwork.
RugOne Xever 8 still comes with a familiar aesthetic; however, the company offers a slightly different spin on the rugged smartphone category. The Xever 8 feels more premium than your average rugged handset.
RugOne Xever 8 specs at a glance:
Body: 168.0×80.0x14.0mm, 320g; Gorilla Glass 3 front panel, metal, rubber and plastic body; IP68/IP69K dust tight and water resistant (high pressure water jets; immersible up to 2m for 30 min), Drop resistant up to 2m, MIL-STD-810H compliant, Dedicated flashlight (230 lumens).
Display: 6.50″ IPS LCD, 120Hz, 680 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 405ppi.
Chipset: MediaTek Helio G200.
Memory: 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.2; microSDXC (dedicated slot).
OS/Software: Android 16, up to 3 major Android upgrades.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 64 MP, f/1.9, 1/1.7″, 0.8µm, PDAF; Night vision: 20 MP, f/1.8, 2 infrared lights.
Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.5, (wide), 0.7µm.
Video capture: Rear camera: 1440p@30fps, 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
Battery: 4800mAh removable battery; 18W wired, 10W reverse wired.
Connectivity: LTE; eSIM; Wi-Fi 5; BT 5.2; NFC; Wireless FM radio; Infrared port; 3.5mm jack.
Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); stereo speakers (117 dB).
RugOne Xever 8
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When it comes to the “boring” side of specs, the Xever 8 features a 6.5-inch LCD with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Helio G200 chipset from MediaTek, 128GB of internal, expandable storage and 8GB of RAM, so it’s more or less a lower-midrange spec device. The choice of chipset also means it’s a 4G-only device.
The cameras are three in total – 64MP main unit on the back flanked by a 20MP “Night Vision” camera and a 32MP selfie shooter on the front. IR sensors aid the night vision camera. That Night Vision camera is also one of the Xever 8’s unique features – we’ll show you a few camera samples further down.
A 4,800 mAh battery supplies everything with power, and it’s swappable – something we haven’t seen in a while. The Xever 8 takes things a notch further with the battery being hot-swappable, as you can change the battery with a fresh one while the phone is running.
Unboxing the RugOne Xever 8
The Xever 8 retail package is a generous one. In addition to a compatible 18W charger and USB-C to USB-C cable, RugOne has also included an additional swappable battery in its own protective case, two back covers, and a pry tool that makes the battery change a tad easier.
RugOne Xever 8 unboxing
But that’s not all, the box also contains a tempered glass screen protector, a lanyard and a 4-in-1 charger that connects to the phone via pins and can charge the spare battery and the handset simultaneously.
Design and handling
Right off the bat, you can feel that the RugOne Xever 8 isn’t like most rugged phones. This one feels not just sturdy in the hand, but also somewhat nice to hold, too, with a more rounded shape than usual.
The iPhone-esque camera island is wrapped in metal with chrome-like accents while the rubber and plastic used for the rest of the body feel soft, smooth and pleasant to the touch.
Speaking of touch, RugOne paid special attention to the buttons as well. All the keys around the frame have some metal accent and feature different tactile feedback, so when you get used to them, you know which button you are pressing without looking.
RugOne Xever 8
RugOne Xever 8
You have a total of four on the right side – two for volume control, one power button and one additional shortcut key to which you can assign different apps or features.
The left houses only one button, which by default launches the flashlight, but you can assign different functions. It’s joined by a SIM card and a microSD card slot. The phone supports eSIM as well.
RugOne Xever 8
As we already mentioned, part of the back panel is detachable
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