Outdoor mobile phones are characterized by extremely robust housings, defy water and sometimes offer exotic functions such as altimeters, night vision and thermal imaging cameras as well as powerful batteries and precise GPS. When it comes to the rest of the equipment, buyers are often at a disadvantage. Usually only mediocre and often outdated chipsets are used. Storage, network connectivity or display resolution are also often poor.
However, this is not the case with the AGM G2 Guardian. The successor to the AGM G1S Glory (test report) offers surprisingly good technology such as a fast processor, 5G, Wifi 6 or a display with 120 Hertz – packed in an almost indestructible housing. There is also a telephoto thermal imaging and night vision camera and a main lens with 108 megapixels. A large and loud speaker is also available.
So much robust technology comes at a price. The AGM G2 Guardian moves in spheres where you would otherwise only find flagship smartphones from Samsung, Honor & Co. Our test reveals whether the luxurious survival cell phone is still worth it.
Design
Not surprisingly, the AGM G2 Guardian has a bulky case. Unlike the Ulefone Power Armor 19T (test report), for example, the back and the frame are slightly more rounded, which gives the thick smartphone an organic character. It dispenses with the octagonal look popular with outdoor smartphones and is rectangular in design with rounded and padded corners. It feels so snug in your hand, but it takes real paws to hold the device. The AGM G2 Guardian is more than twice as thick and significantly longer than ordinary smartphones (dimensions: 177.5 × 85.3 × 25.3 mm). With a proud weight of 405 g, it weighs twice as much as a large smartphone and even more than a small 8-inch tablet.
The case is rubberized all around and well protected against impacts in the event of a fall. With IP69K, it has the highest certification for protection against water and dust and also comes with the mandatory MIL-STD-810H certificate. Manufacturers rarely state which of the US standard tests they performed, so it’s also a form of marketing. But our experience shows that the test devices with MIL-STD-810H can withstand a lot. The G2 survives a 1.5 meter drop onto hard surface and can withstand a depth of 1.5 meters in water for up to 30 minutes. It stops dust or sand from penetrating up to 99 percent.
The large speaker on the back is very dominant. This is located in the middle of the upper area. A ring encircles the speaker, with carbon-look elements radiating out from it in the shape of a cross. In the respective corners of the cross are three of the camera lenses and the LED flash. The thermal imaging camera is housed in a larger round element below the speaker. An LED flashlight is located at the top, the connectors at the bottom are protected from dust or water by a rubber cover.
On the right is the power button with a fingerprint reader, which is surrounded by an orange ring. Next to it is the volume rocker. On the opposite side there is a striking orange button, each programmable with a function or app. The edge around the display is relatively thick, which provides additional stability for the screen. The front camera is in a conspicuous waterdrop notch.
Display
Many outdoor devices often only offer a low HD resolution and 60 Hertz. The AGM G2 Guardian, on the other hand, has a resolution of Full HD+ (2340 × 1080 pixels) and even flickers at 120 Hertz, which has a positive effect on how the image is perceived when scrolling or in graphic animations.
The LCD uses an IPS panel and measures 6.58 inches diagonally – a popular format for devices in this class. The display is always sharp at around 400 pixels per inch (ppi) and offers strong colors and well-balanced contrasts. However, the display cannot keep up with the rich black levels of an OLED display. However, the viewing angle stability is as usual high for an IPS panel.
However, we were disappointed with the screen brightness, which is perhaps the biggest weakness of the AGM G2. With a measured 460 cd/m², the display is far too dark to be read effectively in the sun. That’s not enough for a device in this price range, even many other and especially cheaper outdoor cell phones (best list) usually do better here.
Camera
The AGM G2 Guardian uses a main lens with a 108-megapixel sensor, flanked by a 20-megapixel infrared camera for night vision and a rather useless 2-megapixel macro lens. In addition, there is the thermal imaging camera mentioned at the beginning. A lens with a proud 32 megapixels is used for selfies.
During the day, the main camera takes decent photos with pronounced image details and natural color reproduction. However, the dynamic range could be better. Thus, recordings in strong sunlight reveal a stronger gray haze. The digital zoom is good to use up to a double magnification, beyond that less. When it gets dark, the results are still acceptable, but nothing more. This is where the night vision camera usually comes in. But you should keep your hand very steady, because most of the time you only get very blurry pictures – that’s disappointing.
The big star is the thermal imaging camera with a resolution of 256 × 192 pixels. This comes with the AGM G2 Guardian with a special feature: it acts like a monocular as a telephoto lens, enlarged by a factor of 5.6 and is intended to detect heat signatures from mammals up to a distance of 500 meters. This makes this lens interesting for nature observers or hunters. In the “city jungle” of Munich, however, we could hardly use this bandwidth in a meaningful way.
This also has a small disadvantage: If you want to use the thermal camera in the interior to record heat leaks or the like, you are usually much too close to the camera image. Unfortunately, an adjustment is not possible here. A separate app is used for the thermal imaging camera – but this no longer closes automatically after you have opened it. It’s a bit annoying, but not really bad.
AGM could have done without the macro lens, because the images are moderately sharp and lack detail. We really liked the selfie camera, here you can see the high resolution of the lens. The results look good and are sufficiently sharp. Video recordings with the main lens are okay and appear reasonably stable and sharp even without an optical image stabilizer.
AGM G2 Guardian – Originalaufnahmen
AGM G2 Guardian – Originalaufnahmen
Hardware
The drive of the AGM G2 Guardian is unusual. The Qualcomm chip QCM6490 is used – so no “usual” Snapdragon. This basically combines a Kryo 670 CPU with an Adreno 643 GPU. The chip cannot keep up with a flagship device, but it makes the Guardian G2 the fastest outdoor smartphone that we have ever tested.
PCmark’s Work 3.0 scores an impressive 15,000 points – which is reflected in the always stable and smooth system in everyday use. The chipset does not need to hide from the Snapdragon 888 in this discipline. The graphics performance is not bad either – and comparable to a Snapdragon 782G. In the 3Dmark Wild Life benchmark, we achieved a respectable 3000 points. This means that the device is not automatically overwhelmed even when playing games with complex graphics.
Depending on the version, the equipment is good with 8 GB or 12 GB RAM and 256 GB internal memory, but with UFS 2.2 the fastest standard is not used. In terms of network connectivity, however, everything is up to date with 5G and Wifi 6E. It is possible to use a dual SIM. The positioning with two-frequency positioning via GPS, Beidou and Glonass is sufficiently accurate at around 3 meters, which is on the level of a top smartphone. The Ulefone Power Armor 19T (test report) is even more precise in this discipline. The G2 also supports NFC and Bluetooth 5.2.
The speaker on the back is really loud. It doesn’t even sound as bad as we initially feared. However, the highs sound a bit shrill, but they are still okay for listening to music. There is also an additional and powerful flashlight on board with around 100 lumens. The fingerprint sensor works quickly and reliably. There is a slot for a 3.5 mm jack. Unfortunately, there is no barometer.
AGM G2 Guardian – photo gallery
AGM G2 Guardian – photo gallery
Software & Updates
The operating system runs Android 12, which the manufacturer touches relatively little. Apart from an app for the compass, the thermal imaging camera and a sound recorder, AGM spares users bloatware. The software is not quite up to date, so the security patch is from January 2023. It is difficult to say whether and how often updates will come to the device. We are rather pessimistic that upgrades and patches will be delivered regularly.
battery pack
The 7000 mAh battery is almost “small” for an outdoor smartphone. This still leads to an impressive runtime of around 14 hours according to the PCmark battery test. However, devices like the Blackview BV7100 (test report) last twice as long. In everyday use, however, the smartphone should be able to last up to 1.5 days without any problems. However, it is advisable to take a power bank (guide) with you for hiking if you want to use the device for navigating. The power supply delivers 18 watts, so charging takes around 2 hours. Wireless charging is possible up to 10 watts.
Preis
AGM offers the G2 Guardian in this country via Amazon. The variant with 8/256 GB costs 1100 Eurowith 12/256 GB are 1200 Euro due.
Conclusion
The AGM G2 Guardian offers features that are not a matter of course in outdoor smartphones: For example, a fast chipset, massive memory, a display with 120 Hertz as well as 5G and Wifi 6E. But it also costs as much as a high-end smartphone from Samsung or Honor. It is anything but perfect, but it is currently the most powerful mobile device in a robust guise. That makes it the new number one in our top 10: The best outdoor cell phones – robust, waterproof, night vision, radio & Co.
The thermal imaging camera as a telephoto lens is a really exciting feature that we have not seen before. The equipment for night owls is rounded off by a night vision camera, which is somewhat lacking in sharpness. The main camera is decent but not outstanding. The speaker sounds surprisingly good. We are very disappointed with the mediocre brightness of the LCD. Without a doubt, the G2 Guardian is one of the best equipped outdoor smartphones overall, but the price is really very high.