AGM Glory rugged smartphone: extra large screen and super loud speaker

I have been impressed with relative newcomer AGM mobile’s range of phones over the last year.

Both the AGM M7 and H3 rugged phones I reviewed were excellent and the latest offering, the AGM Glory rugged smartphone, looks to be very impressive indeed.

I noticed two things as soon as I got the phone out of the box. It has an extra-large screen and is very top-heavy due to a really large speaker on the back of the device.

This means that the phone does not lay flat on the desk but tilts towards you slightly, making reading the screen really easy.

The Glory is rated at IP68/IP69K which means that it is waterproof, dustproof, and hermetically sealed. It is also drop tested to a height of 1.5m conforming to MIL-STD-810H.

The rubber bumper around the screen is slightly raised to minimise impact damage to the screen. The corners of the phone are raised curved rubber which is easy to hold in the hand.

Inside the Glory, there is a 2021-released 8 core Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor chip with 2 Kryo 460 Gold cores running at up to 2.0GHz and 6 Kryo 460 Silver cores running at up to 1.8 GHz. This chip will support 5G if you are in a 5G area. The graphics GPU is a nicely performing Qualcomm Adreno 619.

The Glory range comes with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and either 128 or 256GB storage depending on the option you choose.

The camera is large at 174.8 x 84.2 x 17.5mm, but it does not feel uncomfortable in my medium-sized hands. The phone feels heavy and solid at 360g in weight – probably due to its impressive 6200mAh battery which will give you up to two days of use.

The Glory range supports wireless charging, or you can plug the phone into the wall using the supplied USB type A or USB type-C cable. You can also purchase an optional desk charger for the phone from AGM and place the phone’s four pogo pins onto the charger.

The battery is larger than the Oukitel WP8 Pro’s 5000mAh battery, but it has some way to go before it matches the 8000mAh battery of the Oukitel WP10 or the Doogee S86’s whopping 8500mAh battery.

However, this device beats all of its competition in its ability to continue operating in low temperatures down to –27 degrees C (-16.6 degrees F).

AGM says that the phone will continue to operate in these temperatures for up to 24 hours before shutting down. I did not test this as my freezer only goes down to –19 degrees C.

The Glory has a large 6.53-inch waterdrop incell screen. The waterdrop is a bulge in the screen bezel at the top of the screen for the camera. Its resolution is 2340 x 1080px.

Usefully you can navigate the phone with wet fingers and operate it in extreme conditions such as cold, snow, and rain.

The AGM Glory has an impressive four-lens camera with a 48MP autofocus Sony IMX582 lens, a 20MP Sony IMX350 infrared night lens, an F2.4 macro lens, and a thermal imaging camera. There are infrared LEDs and an LED flash that can see objects up to 20 metres away.

There is a 16MP front-facing camera that takes really good images. AGM also offers other add-on features such as a thermal imaging camera, a really useful torch at the top of the device, and a laser rangefinder up to 40m.

If you buy the Glory SE base model, the night vision camera is replaced with a flashlight. If you buy the Glory mid-range model, the thermal imaging camera is replaced by a flashlight

The AGM Glory phone runs Android 11 and has few extra OEM bloatware apps to slow the phone down. Only the IR camera app and the Zello app are added to the usual Android 11 build.

The 3.5W speaker on the back of the phone is really impressive. You will certainly never miss a phone call when the media volume is turned up to maximum.

Music is loud with little distortion and the bass is really good for a mobile device.

The speaker has a good range of sounds across all ranges. You won’t need to lug a portable Bluetooth speaker around with you when you travel – this phone will give you enough volume (up to 110dB according to AGM) to keep you going.

I love the thermal imaging camera. It will image items up to 5 metres away. There are two modes: human and industrial mode. These are a few quick snaps taken after dark when I was drinking a cup of coffee.

The human mode recognises temperatures from 30 to 45 degrees C, and the industrial mode recognises temperatures ranging from -15 to 550 degrees C. The resolution is good and clear, and there are a plethora of settings to tweak to get the perfect shot.

Usefully the phone supports Wi-Fi calling. Wi-Fi calling can be a boon when you are in a poor cell phone reception area. In the US AGM supports the carrier T-mobile, in the UK all carriers are supported.

There are three products in the Glory range, with different price points and features. Make sure you know which option you want and which model you are buying. The AGM website is not clear on which model has which features. 

The AGM Glory SE is $399, the Glory is $519.99, and the top of the range Glory Pro comes in at $819.99. These are not cheap phones – but the quality of the hardware certainty makes this phone a very good purchase indeed.

If you need laser range finding, infrared, or thermal imaging, this phone is certainly worth a look.