8849 Tank 3 Pro review: this rugged phone with a list of unusual features is quite extraordinary

Rugged phones occupy an interesting corner of the smartphone market. Too often, they ask you to choose between durability and performance: they'll survive a drop from a two-storey building, but might run about as fast as a phone from three generations ago. With the Tank 3 Pro, though, Unihertz sub-brand 8849 is trying something bolder. You're not just getting ruggedness, but impressive specs and a range of clever features to boot.

Sounds like the best of both worlds, right? Well, in many ways it is, but here's the rub: it's heavy. Very heavy.

To put this in perspective, most modern smartphones fall within the range of 170g (6oz) to 220g (7.7oz), depending on the size of the screen. A larger-than-average model such as the iPhone 16 Pro Max, with its 6.9-inch display, weighs 227g (8oz). Even the current entrants on our list of best rugged phones aren't that much more: the heaviest, the Doogee S200, only reaches 396g (14oz).

Compare that with the staggering 696g (1.5lb) weight of the Tank 3 Pro, and you'll realize this is not a device you can slip into your pocket. Try carrying around a bag of sugar for a while, and you'll get the idea. So I'll be clear: this isn't a phone for everyone. In fact, its appeal may be niche in the extreme.

That said, if you're looking for a device that can handle rough treatment, last for days without charging, has a decent camera including night vision capabilities, offers a powerful 1,200-lumen camping light, and can project presentations or movies onto a wall, the Tank 3 Pro may well be worth considering.

Tank 3 Pro Ultra: Specifications

Tank 3 Pro Ultra: Price and Availability

At $599 / £470, the Tank 3 Pro is one of the most expensive rugged smartphones on the market, though that needs to be seen in context of what you're getting. If you consider the cost of buying a smartphone, portable projector, high-capacity power bank and camping light separately, then this price seems more reasonable. It's available now through Amazon and selected retailers.

Tank 3 Pro Ultra: Build and design

There's simply no way around it: the Tank 3 Pro is enormous. At nearly 180mm tall, 30mm thick (over an inch), and weighing almost 700g (1.5lb), it's more like carrying a small brick than a smartphone. I tried slipping it into my jacket pocket once and quickly realized that wasn't going to work out for either of us. It really needs to be in a bag, in a pouch, or in your hand—and even then, the weight starts to feel like an anchor pretty quickly.

But of course, none of this is by accident. This is a rugged phone by design, and boy, does it deliver: the build quality is genuinely impressive. With IP68 certification and military-grade durability testing, this phone can handle submersion in water, exposure to dust, and drops that would shatter less robust devices. As part of my testing, I dropped it onto the pavement face-up with no consequences—well, no consequences for the phone, anyway. I was a bit worried about the pavement.

That brings me, however, to a point of concern. I wasn't so confident about dropping the phone face down, because there's no Gorilla Glass protection. I asked 8849 about this, and their spokesperson told me: "Although our phone screens do not use Gorilla Glass, we have specially reinforced the screen protection during the design process. The raised frame structure around the body can form a buffer space when the phone is flat or falls, significantly reducing the risk of the screen coming into direct contact with the ground.

"Of course, considering the diversity of user scenarios, we suggest pairing it with a screen protector and a shockproof phone case for more comprehensive protection, which can also further enhance your sense of security when using it. A screen protector is included in the box.”

Ruggness aside, this is a well designed device, that packs a lot of functionality in without fuss. The top of the phone houses the projector lens and cooling vents, while the bottom features both a 3.5mm headphone jack (hooray!) and a USB-C port protected by durable flaps.

The buttons on the side seem purpose-built for outdoor use. On the right-hand side, there's a single On button, while on the left there's a volume rocker at the top and two programmable buttons at the bottom. These can be customized to launch specific applications or features. The most useful ones for me were the torch and the camera, and in both cases this saved a lot of faffing about when I was tired and my patience was low.

One quite unique design element is the crown-like focusing knob on the side, which you use to manually adjust the built-in projector's focus. It's a clever mechanical solution that offers precise control without having to navigate through software menus.

As I keep stressing, though, this isn't a phone you can carry discreetly. Out in the wilds, I found myself keeping it in a backpack rather than attempting to squeeze it into pockets, which wasn't ideal. Eventually, though, I realised that carrying it in a small 'man bag' was a better option; this allowed me relatively easy access without pulling down on my trousers or jacket unnecessarily.

Tank 3 Pro Ultra: Performance

So how did it actually perform? Here's where the Tank 3 Pro really surprised me. Almost everything I did on this phone was fast and smooth, thanks to the MediaTek Dimensity 8200 chipset and 16GB RAM. You can even create additional virtual RAM of up to 16GB by occupying storage space, and given that the 512GB of storage is more than enough for my needs, I was happy to keep that in reserve. But ultimately, I didn't really need to.

In my testing, day-to-day tasks ran without a hitch, apps launch quickly, switching between applications feels fluid, and even more demanding productivity tools like Google Docs and Sheets perform admirably.

The only noticeable slowdowns occurred occasionally in the camera app when switching between its numerous modes and settings; but nothing more significant than what I've experienced on other modern smartphones. Obviously, when working online, things can be slowed down by issues with network connectivity, but the Tank 3 Pro scores there too, with its support for 5G providing much faster data speeds than my normal, 4G-enabled phone.

The 6.79-inch LCD display is very nice indeed. This is clearly a screen built for outdoor use, and while it lacks the deep blacks and contrast of an OLED screen, it delivers seriously vibrant colors and proved highly readable during my outdoor testing, even in bright sunlight. It also provides a 120Hz refresh rate that makes everything buttery-smooth for gaming and video playback.

Another win for the Tank 3 Pro is the battery life, which is truly exceptional. That's not surprising considering it has an enormous 23,800 mAh battery on board (over five times larger than the iPhone 16 Pro Max's 4,685 mAh battery), which gave me five and a half days of fairly heavy use in my testing. According to 8849, this battery can keep the phone on standby for a staggering 1,800 hours (that's over three months), power a call lasting almost five days, or provide two days of continuous video playback. I haven't had the time to test these claims specifically, but given my experience of the phone I can well believe them.

What I can say is that even by stretching the Tank 3 Pro to the limit (running several movies on the projector, and running GPS navigation for hours at a time), I couldn't deplete the battery in less than three days.

As you'd imagine, charging this phone takes longer than a normal device: it look me 93.5 minutes to reach 90% from empty with the included 120W charger. But considering the enormous capacity, that's impressive in itself. Not to mention that the Tank 3 Pro doubles as a power bank, allowing you to juice up your other devices when you're on the go, using just a USB-C to USB-C cable.

The camping light on the back is surprisingly powerful—bright enough to illuminate a tent or work area in complete darkness with its three brightness levels (low, bright, and super bright). At 1,200 lumens, it's certainly above and beyond anything I've seen on a smartphone before, and will save me having to bring an extra torch on future camping trips.

The included toolbox app adds further utility with features like a compass, level and other specialized tools. Some might find the emergency light modes a bit excessive (I'm not convinced many people need police-style flashing red and blue lights on their phone), but the camping light proved genuinely useful during my evening outings.

The DLP projector deserves special mention. It transforms any flat surface into a display, making it surprisingly useful for impromptu presentations or outdoor entertainment. While limited to 854 × 480 resolution and 100 lumens of brightness, it creates a remarkably usable image in moderately lit environments.

When it got properly dark, I successfully projected content up to about 80 inches diagonal at a distance of about two meters with excellent clarity. Ideally, you need a dedicated projector screen to get the best out of it, but even on my uneven living room wall, with all of its bumpiness and clutter, I had a great experience watching content. The manual focus wheel takes some adjustment at first, but I found the auto-keystone correction works effectively to create a properly shaped image, even when the phone isn't perfectly aligned with the projection surface.

No, it's not as good as the best projectors, and if that's the main thing you're looking for, you're better off buying a bespoke device that doesn't demand either blackout blinds or the sun going down for an optimal experience. At the same time, it could be a genuinely useful tool for educators, outdoor presenters, or even for impromptu movie nights while camping. On that last note, though, you'd have to be really careful if kids (or indeed drunken adults) are around, because the laser beams it emits can damage the eyes if stared at directly.

The audio quality, unfortunately, doesn't quite match up to the projector's visual capabilities. The speakers are loud—impressively so for outdoor use—but lack refinement. At maximum volume, which you'll likely need when using the projector in anything but a silent environment, there's noticeable distortion, particularly in the upper frequencies. Bass response is predictably limited given the device's focus on durability rather than acoustic engineering.

In short, for casual movie watching around a campfire, it's serviceable, but for the best experience, you'll want to use the headphone jack or Bluetooth to connect some external speakers. Call quality fares better, though, with the earpiece delivering clear audio and the microphone array doing a good job of capturing voice while suppressing moderate background noise—a useful feature for those working in noisy environments.

The speaker is also water-resistant in keeping with the phone's IP68 rating, which means it continues to function even after being submerged, though with somewhat muffled sound until fully dried.

Tank 3 Pro Ultra: Cameras

The Tank 3 Pro's camera system is impressively comprehensive for a rugged device. The main 200MP sensor, a Samsung S5KHP, features an f/1.65 lens and 1/1.4" optical format, which automatically pixel-bins down to 12.5MP images for everyday shooting. Supporting this is a capable 50MP ultra-wide with autofocus, an 8MP telephoto offering 3x optical zoom, and most interestingly, a dedicated 64MP night vision camera with infrared illumination.

Sounds great on paper, right? However, I have to say that in practice, the images I took weren't quite as impressive as I hoped. Then again, it kind of depends what sort of pictures you're going for. Let me explain…

The Tank 3 Pro's approach to image processing leans toward natural color reproduction rather than the vibrant, saturated look that many contemporary smartphones deliver. On the one hand, this naturalistic rendering results in images that appear more true-to-life and feel more like 'proper photography'. On the other hand, they can sometimes seem flat, and certainly lack the visual impact that you'd expect from the latest iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phones.

This is an interesting evolution from previous Tank models. While its predecessor the Tank 2 tended toward oversaturation, the Tank 3 Pro pulls back significantly from this, and this can result in images that seem slightly washed out in challenging lighting. So while the Tank 3 Pro's more subdued approach preserves more realistic sky tones and natural landscapes, it lacks the kind of vivid-color "Insta-ready" look that many people now consider the ideal.

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Beyond that, the 8MP telephoto camera provides 3x optical zoom, which I found performed adequately in good lighting conditions. Image quality at this range remains reasonably detailed, though was noticeably softer than the main camera. Push beyond the optical range into digital zoom territory, though, and quality degrades predictably. While serviceable for taking reference shots, this isn't a camera system that excels at distance photography.

The Tank 3 Pro's standard night mode leverages the main camera with computational photography techniques to brighten dark scenes. My results here were fine but unexceptional, with reasonable brightness but noticeable noise reduction that tended to smear fine details.

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All three main cameras support 4K video recording, with generally stable results when using the built-in electronic image stabilization. The quality of these videos broadly mirrors that of the still photography—functional but not exceptional, with similar color rendering tendencies. In my testing, the autofocus during video recording occasionally struggled in challenging conditions, suggesting optimization remains a work in progress.

The front-facing 50MP selfie camera, sporting an SK Hynix Hi-5022Q sensor, deserves special mention as well. While most rugged phones treat the selfie camera as an afterthought, 8849 has equipped the Tank 3 Pro with a surprisingly capable shooter. Selfies come out detailed with good skin tones in favorable lighting conditions. The high resolution allows for some cropping without significant quality loss, which is useful for group shots.

In low light, quality predictably drops, but remains usable—though the lack of a front-facing flash means you'll want to find some ambient lighting for evening selfies. For video calls, the camera performs admirably even in challenging lighting, making it suitable for field reports or remote consultations from work sites. Overall, while not revolutionary, the selfie camera is certainly above average for the rugged phone category.

Where the device truly stands apart, though, is its dedicated infrared night vision camera. This 64MP specialty shooter works in conjunction with four infrared lights to capture images in complete darkness.

Unlike conventional night modes that amplify available light, this system actively illuminates scenes with invisible infrared light, producing distinctive black-and-white images with surprising clarity.

For most of us, of course, this will simply be a novelty. But for professionals working in dark environments or outdoor enthusiasts, it could be reason enough to buy this phone. It genuinely gives you a superpower when in total darkness, allowing you to see and photograph things that would otherwise be invisible.

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As for the camera app interface, it's largely unchanged from previous models, and offers a relatively straightforward experience, with common shooting modes readily accessible.

However, operation wasn't always as fluid as I'd have liked; I experienced occasional lag when switching between modes or cameras, particularly when accessing specialized features such as Super Resolution (which allows you to shoot in the original resolution of the main sensor). This was unexpected, considering how smoothly the phone runs as a whole.

Tank 3 Pro Ultra: Connectivity

The Tank 3 Pro supports dual SIMs and offers 5G connectivity for fast data when you're away from Wi-Fi. While it only supports Wi-Fi 5 rather than the newer Wi-Fi 6 standard, I found connection speeds were more than adequate for all my needs. The inclusion of a microSD card slot allowing expansion up to 2TB is particularly welcome for a device that might be used extensively for photography and video in remote locations.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a 3.5mm headphone jack—an increasingly rare feature in modern smartphones that proved useful when I was outdoors and my wireless earbuds ran out of battery.

Tank 3 Pro Ultra: Verdict

The 8849 Tank 3 Pro is an strange phone to review, because there's literally nothing out there quite like it. This device isn't trying to compete with mainstream flagship phones, but instead sits in its very own niche, for people who have quite specific needs.

Is it for everyone? Absolutely not. Is it a good option for someone who only uses a phone in "civilian life": at home, at work, out socializing, wandering around the shops, etc? Almost certainly, no.

However, if you work in areas such as construction or other hazardous environments, enjoy camping or other outdoor activities, or just regularly find yourself far from power outlets, the Tank 3 Pro might well be the answer to your prayers. Personally, I can't wait to take it to this year's Glastonbury Festival for this very reason.

While the Tank 3 Pro is, I have to stress, very heavy, it does a lot of specific things pretty well, from projecting movies to infrared photography, as well as offering astonishing battery life and doubling as a power bank and 'proper' torch. If you expect to use most or all of these features, then its relatively expensive price starts to make a lot more sense.

And for me, specifically? The first time I picked up this brick of a phone, I kind of hated it. Now, after spending a few weeks with it, discovering its versatility and rarely needing the use of a power outlet, I've grown to love it.