Loudest Smartphone Ever (and It’s Rugged)

Rugged phones don’t get much tougher than the AGM H5 Pro. But, aside from being just another durable phone, the AGM H5 Pro boasts an incredibly loud 3.5W speaker that can reach 109dB, 8GB of RAM, an infrared night vision camera, and plenty more attractive features.

Key Features

• MIL-STD-810H certified
• Customizable side key
• Fingerprint sensor
• 3.5W speakers
• Waterproof

Specifications

• Brand: AGM
• SoC: MediaTek Helio G85, 2.0GHz
• Display: 6.52-inch HD+
• RAM: 8GB
• Storage: 128GB
• Battery: 7000mAh
• Ports: USB-C, 3.5mm
• Operating System: Android 12
• Camera (Rear, Front): 48MP (Main), 20MP (Front), 2MP (Macro), 20MP (Infrared)
• Weight: 360g (12.7oz)
• Charging: USB-C, Wireless
• IP Rating: IP68
• Micro SD card support: Yes

Pros

• Extremely durable
• Loud sound
• Long-lasting battery
• Nice RGB ring on the back

Cons

• No wireless charging
• Picture quality isn’t the best

Buy This Product

If you’re in the market for a rugged phone, they don’t get much more rugged than the AGM H5 Pro. Built to survive no matter what you throw at it, the AGM H5 Pro is so rugged that even Chuck Norris couldn’t break it. Oh, and it’s loud. Like really, really loud.

Designed to Be Tough

With an outer shell that is made from robust rubber, and four elevated lips to stop the screen from scratching, the AGM H5 Pro can withstand drops from 1.5 meters. In addition, it is also waterproof up to 1.5 meters and is 99% dustproof, making it one of the most durable smartphones on the market today. While it is common to find rugged phones with an IP68 rating these days, the AGM H5 Pro dons an impressive range of protective certifications, including, IP68, IP69K and MIL-STD-810H, essentially meaning the only way you’re going to break this bad boy is if you are really trying to.

As you would expect from a rugged phone, it doesn’t feel cheap at all. The USB-C charging port and 3.5mm jack are both covered by a waterproof port protector, keeping them safe from water and dust. And, the volume rocker and power buttons are made of durable metal, making them feel as solid as they actually are.

Not only does the AGM H5 Pro come with spare covers for the USB-C and 3.5mm jack, it also includes a fancy charging dock. This means you don’t need to worry about removing the cover to charge the device, making the built-in case last much longer and improving the device’s overall durability.

While the AGM H5 Pro is one of the most indestructible rugged phones I have ever laid my hands on, I did accidentally manage to find one weak point on the device; the speaker. As someone with ADHD who is prone to running around and doing things much faster than I should, I tend to drop things a lot. In most cases the AGM H5 Pro could handle this, but that wasn’t the case when the phone landed on the speaker. Due to the size and shape of the speaker, after taking a fall onto concrete, the speaker grill suffered a large dent.

Thankfully the dent hasn’t affected the sound quality or the intensely loud overall volume of the speaker at all, but it does look much less esthetically pleasing.

Almost as Loud as an Aircraft

Have you ever found yourself missing calls while at work or when you’re out and about? Perhaps you work in a loud, busy environment and can’t hear your phone? That’s not going to happen with the AGM H5 Pro. With a massive speaker capable of reaching up to 109dB, it’s almost comparable to a jet engine and matches up to the sound of a fire alarm going off. In fact, enduring sound over 80dB for a prolonged period of time is actually enough to damage your hearing, so there’s certainly no chance of missing calls with the AGM H5 Pro in your pocket.

The 3.5W speaker might be loud, but of course AGM know that quality is just as important as volume. With a speaker that’s placed on the back of the phone, rather than on the frame, there’s a chance that the speaker’s sound could get muffled if you place it face down. Similarly, if you place it facing upwards, the sound will bounce off the nearest wall and lose clarity. That’s why AGM’s SmartPA enhances the sound quality, ensuring that you get crystal clear sound no matter what kind of music or videos you enjoy. It’s definitely not the richest sound quality a cellphone has produced, but it’s not bad at all considering the volume it can reach.

By design, rugged phones can often look somewhat unexciting. However, the AGM H5 Pro’s speaker comes with an RGB ring light around it that reacts to music and sound. It’s a small addition, but it works well and, for me, it allows the phone to fall into the category of one of the most stylish rugged phones around today.

The RGB light features six different lighting modes that can quickly be changed to give the phone a new look in seconds. All of these are music reactive too, making it a great feature for parties and gatherings, which is exactly the sort of setting you’d be using a rugged phone in. These consist of:

• Breath
• Cycle
• Spectrum
• Dance
• Warp
• None

Of course, if you forgo the music reacitivity, this will increase the life of the already impressive battery. This is perfect if you need to go a long time before charging, but frankly won’t look as awesome.

While the RGB circle doesn’t do much to make the device stand out during the day, at night it undoubtedly looks incredible.

Pain-Free Photography

Another area of the AGM H5 Pro which surprised me is the camera. Not only was it a little better quality considering the price of this device than I had expected, but it also comes with some cool features. For example, night vision mode, which takes nighttime photography to the next level, letting you capture impressive pictures even in extremely low light.

The 48MP main camera, using a Samsung S5KGM2SP sensor and f/1.79 aperture, delivers mid-range picture quality, which for a device of this cost is an unexpected bonus. Of course, as with all Android phones, the AGM H5 Pro has some great filters to give your pictures that little something extra. If you were banking on this phone’s imaging system being comparable to the Samsung Galaxy S22 or Google Pixel 6 Pro, you may feel disappointed. However, if you take it for what it is, it feels a little more impressive.

The AGM H5 Pro also features an incredible water capture mode, designed for use when submerged up to 1.5 meters. It can also be used in salt water, as long as the device is cleaned with fresh water after use. But the lack of image stabilization can at times make it tricky to get a good picture, especially when being used underwater.

There are four cameras in total on the AGM H5 Pro:

• 48MP Main
• 2MP Macro
• 20MP Night vision
• 20MP Front

With 1080p video recording at 30FPS, the AGM H5 Pro’s video recording capabilities are around what you would expect from a device at this price. Again, it’s not going to “wow” you, but it’s a tough-as-nails smartphone that allows you to take decent images and videos.

Although the main camera doesn’t have that wow factor you’d get from say a Samsung Galaxy S22 or Google Pixel 6 Pro, one area that has really impressed me is the night vision mode. To test the night vision mode, I took the AGM H5 Pro down to an unlit area to take some snaps in the dark.

When taking photos in the dark, more than around five meters away, the quality does drop. Although you can make out what the photo is, you’re not going to get the finer details you’d get when closer up. For this reason, if you want to take close-up shots, you’re better doing this with the H5 Pro closer to the object, rather than zooming in.

Low Resolution, Big Screen

Resolution is one of the biggest let-downs of the AGM H5 Pro. While the device has a large 6.5-inch screen, it only displays at 720 x 1600 (“HD+”) which falls short of the industry standard of mainstream phones. However, this seems to be the case with rugged phones, with the Ulefone Power Armor 14 offering the same screen size and resolution. On the other hand, there are rugged smartphones hitting the market that are pushing the boundaries a little more, like the Doogee S98 which dons a 6.3-inch screen and 1080 x 2340 display.

But, most people who are looking to purchase the H5 Pro are focusing on the device’s ability to take a beating, not the screen resolution, and boy can this device take a beating. Even the large screen seems safe from drops and bumps.

Another display feature that the AGM H5 Pro misses out on is the Always On Display (AOD). Most Android phones ship with this as standard, but the H5 Pro doesn’t. Perhaps the decision here was to make the most out of the phone’s battery life, which we’ll take a look at shortly.

Optimized Entry-Level Specs

AGM’s Glory Pro which was released in 2021 could quite easily be mistaken for the H5 Pro. They look almost identical, but there’s a clear difference in their specs which gives us an idea of why there’s a difference in price—the Glory Pro is $869 whereas the H5 Pro is $369.

The AGM H5 Pro ships with a MediaTek Helio G85 processor clocked at 2GHz. For comparison purposes, the Glory Pro boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 5G chipset, which is used by phones like the Moto G51 and OnePlus Nord N200. Essentially, the MediaTek chipset just isn’t as good, and puts the H5 Pro side by side with entry-level smartphones. However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel, and that’s with the ARM Mali-G52 GPU. Pair this with the lower screen resolution and 60Hz refresh rate, and you’ve got a rugged phone that’s surprisingly good for mobile gaming!

Running the AGM H5 Pro through the GeekBench 5 benchmark produced some interesting results. The single-core score came out as 342, which is somewhat behind the Glory G1 Pro with results around the low 500s. However, as mentioned earlier on, the scores for Ray Tracing (525) and HDR (666) which matter for gaming are pleasantly high.

Comparing the camera score (312) to the likes of the Google Pixel 6 Pro which scored 960 on my device, it’s clear to see where the H5 Pro falls down. It also lags behind in terms of face detection (379) vs the Pixel 6 Pro’s 1142, but there is an obvious price difference to take into consideration too.

On top of what’s seemingly turning out to be a decent mid-range rugged phone, the 8GB RAM makes it seamless to switch between multiple apps, and the upgradeable (via microSD) 128GB storage means you’ve enough space to store plenty of photos, videos, and music.

While the specs are a little hit-and-miss, what really makes this rugged phone stand out is its incredible battery life. Sporting a 7000mAh battery, the AGM H5 Pro will easily last you at least 2 days, if not more. This means you can go off on your adventures without having to worry about charging your phone up every day. And, when you make your purchase, you can choose whether you want to include a charging dock that allows you to charge it wirelessly.

A Rugged Yet Affordable Everyday Phone

The AGM H5 Pro is as tough as they come. During my tests I submerged the device in fresh water and then dropped it from around one meter. Guess what? The H5 Pro came out on top without a scratch, apart from that one weak spot, the speaker.

The screen comes with a screen protector already fitted, which is perfect for those like me, who are prone to dropping their devices, and also saves you from the usual bubbles and uneven fitting that you often get from trying to fit your own screen protector. As you can see from the image above, the screen protector has gathered a few scratches from drops and general wear and tear

With a lower resolution and mediocre camera, the AGM H5 Pro isn’t trying to be the best, most feature-rich handset out there. Instead, it manages to poise itself as one of the top contenders for the title of best rugged phone on the market today, with features perfect for the type of person that needs a rugged phone.

The H5 Pro’s loudspeaker ensures that you never miss calls, while the all-day battery makes sure you need to charge while out in the wilderness.