Unihertz Tank: A tough phone with features like a night vision camera and a week-long battery life
Unihertz Tank sports a 6.81-inch screen. Picture: Noel Campion.
There’s no such thing as the perfect phone since an individual's vision of the ideal will depend on their specific requirements. Some want a phone with the best cameras while others just want great battery life. I’ve been testing the Unihertz Tank, which is an apt description of a tank-like phone that offers class-leading battery life with a military-grade build quality.
I’ve put the Tank in the hands of many and initially, there’s a giggle but everyone was impressed by its features. Yes, it is a massive phone that weighs an incredible 560g — mostly thanks to the 22,000mAh battery. Yes, you read that correctly, the Tank has a twenty-two thousand mAh battery. For context, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which weighs 240g has a 4,323mAh battery and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra weighs 234g and has a 5,000mAh battery.
There’s no question the Tank isn’t for everyone and it doesn’t look great in a trousers pocket, but for those who don’t like the fear of running out of battery, it’s hard to look past the Tank.
The Tank is a massive phone measuring 75.6 × 85.30 × 23.9 mm and is constructed from a combination of tough plastics and metal that combine to create an industrial design that has been tested to withstand drops, heat, sand, water or pretty much any other hardship you want to put it through. While the Tank isn’t ideal for those who scroll through their social feeds all day — due to its weight — it comes into its own for those who like the great outdoors. Thanks to its tank-like construction, the Tank is IP68 dust and waterproof as well as military standard 810H drop resistant.
On the top edge is the dual SIM tray that doesn’t require any tools to remove. Here you’ll also find an IR blaster that can be used as a universal remote via an app.
On the right edge are the volume up and down buttons along with the power button that doubles as the fingerprint reader. I found the latter wasn’t 100% reliable, but you also get face unlock, which is fast but not as secure.
On the bottom edge is a large rubber flap that protects the USB-C port and 3.5mm headphone jack. With a headphone attached, this can be used as an aerial for the built-in FM radio — handy if you’re out of signal coverage.
On the left edge are two shortcut buttons used to launch the flash and a massive camping light that is found on the back. The camping light is blindingly bright at 1200 lumen and is useful in an emergency or just to light up the night. It has five modes for you to choose from including SOS, explosion flash and three brightness levels (full bright, half bright and slightly bright). You can also set a duration timer for 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes.
The 6.81-inch LCD IPS panel has a full-HD resolution (2340 × 1080 pixels) with Panda Glass MN228 protection. While it’s not an AMOLED display, it’s perfect for everyday use with decent brightness and clarity. Viewing angles are good and the colours are vibrant.
The screen has a 60Hz refresh rate, but this isn’t a deal-breaker when you take into account the price and other features.
The rear mono speaker is fine but doesn’t get very loud — stereo would have been nice but at least you get a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Tank uses a MediaTek MT6789 chipset that provides a good user experience with the stock Android 12 OS onboard. It’s more than capable thanks to the 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage — there’s no microSD card support. While it doesn’t benchmark like a flagship or even a mid-range handset, its performance was never a stumbling block to the overall user experience.
The Tank doesn’t come with 5G support but does have NFC for contactless payments and the latest Bluetooth 5.3.
A big misconception about lithium batteries is that the bigger it is the more power and time you need to charge it. In theory, a battery with the same charger, chemistry and voltage should take the same amount of time to charge regardless of capacity. So, the massive 22,000mAh battery in the Tank is no exception and I was able to charge it from 31% to 97% in one hour. Unihertz says it takes 1.8 hours to charge it up to 90% using the included 66W charger that comes in the box. The Tank is the first phone I’ve tested that’s good enough to last up to a week on a full charge. Unfortunately, there’s no wireless charging option.
You can also use the Tank as a battery bank to charge other devices. This is a handy feature but is only good for charging small devices like earbuds and not phones — I measured a peak charging rate of 2.6W while trying to charge a phone.
In the top corner of the display is a 32MP selfie camera while around the rear you’ll find a 108MP main camera along with a 20MP infrared night vision camera that has two infrared lights beside it for taking photos in complete darkness. There’s also a 2MP macro camera that has dedicated macro stills and video modes. The 108MP camera is capable of taking good photos in good light but lacks advanced post-processing found on the likes of Apple, Samsung or Google. Although it defaults to 12MP, you can use the Pro mode to capture 108MP RAW (DNG) files that have an average of 26MB.
The night vision camera is pretty cool and I can see how some might find it useful in the great outdoors but it is limited to black and white.
You can capture video at up to 2K with electronic, not optical image stabilisation.
The selfie camera is fine in good light but lacks post-processing in lower light to reduce noise.
The Unihertz Tank is a unique phone that offers class-leading battery life, fast charging right out of the box and a plethora of features for the outdoor adventurer. It’s literally built like a tank and ready for the harshest of users and environments.
Unihertz Tank - Unihertz
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
