Ulefone’s RugOne made headlines last week at the Mobile World Congress for its rugged design and removable action camera. It is not alone in wanting a smartphone to double as an action cam. The FOSSiBOT F116 Pro 5G Rugged Phone is another. However, unlike the RugOne Xsnap 7 Pro, it is not a concept. That’s not to mention that it takes a different approach: the entire phone is the action camera.
Now, using a smartphone as an action cam is not the newest idea. Some accessories will let you do that, but it would be rather clunky, and that’s not to mention the questionable survival rate of your phone in severe conditions. FOSSiBOT’s solution is a smaller smartphone design built for adventure, be it the ski slopes or the mountain bike trails. It is essentially a hybrid device, though it does have to make a couple of compromises to allow it to do both effectively.
The F116 Pro 5G is a 4.0-inch mini rugged phone that runs on Android 16 and packs a 120 Hz 4.0-inch in-cell display with a 32 MP hole-punch front camera. Around the back, it is set up with two cameras: a 50 MP main camera and a 48 MP action camera. The latter touts an expansive 152.6° field of view and optical image stabilization.
Under the hood, it benefits from the MediaTek Dimensity 7300, up to 36 GB RAM (12 GB + 24 GB expansion), and 256 GB onboard storage. Because of the compact size, it has a very modest 3,700 mAh battery, which is good for up to 330 minutes of video recording, according to FOSSiBOT. The action camera supports 4K recording.
The hardware also features a dedicated camera button that lets you launch the camera instantly to do what an action camera is designed to do. Meanwhile, image stabilization, which you can choose to turn off, ensures you capture action shots that will not induce vomiting.
The boon of having an action camera and smartphone rolled into one is obvious: instant sharing via 5G. It even has a built-in 1/4-inch screw mount at the bottom, allowing it to work with a wide range of mounting accessories. So yes, much like a dedicated action camera, it works with suction mounts, handheld grips, chest straps, neck mounts, and more.
In the rugged department, it is IP68 and IP69K rated, plus it has been drop-tested to the MIL-STD-810H standard (1.5 meter drop test). It is also designed to function in extreme temperatures ranging from -20°C to 70°C.
It may be a rugged phone, but it is also pretty fancy thanks to the user-changeable rear ambient light that syncs with music. The light can also serve to notify you of incoming calls and other notifications.
Other spec-sheet details include global 5G connectivity, NFC, Face Unlock support, a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, 33 W fast charging, 10 W reverse charging, dual nano-SIM support, a TF card slot, Bluetooth 5.4, positioning systems, Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), and a built-in FM radio.
A note about the dual SIM configuration: it supports either two nano-SIM cards or one nano-SIM plus one memory card.
The FOSSiBOT F116 Pro 5G Rugged Phone will be crowdfunded on Kickstarter starting March 17, 2026. The reward structure has yet to be announced. In the meantime, you can sign up to be informed when the campaign launches. Or, if you are confident about FOSSiBOT, you can reserve the device with a US$1 deposit to lock in the best Kickstarter price and receive a gift.
Images: FOSSiBOT.