My testing of the Oukitel WP61 Plus revealed that while its not a daily driver, this rugged walkie-talkie phone could be perfect for operating off-grid

Date:
Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:05:54 +0000

Description:
The Oukitel WP61 Plus is a rugged, heavyweight design ideal for those operating in harsh, remote environments.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Oukitel WP61 Plus: 30-second review Unveiled at IFA 2025 in Berlin, the Oukitel WP61 Plus is the brand's flagship all-in-one rugged smartphone, featuring a 20,000 mAh battery, an integrated 2W DMR walkie-talkie, and a high-powered camping flashlight. But what is likely to confuse people is that the WP60 and WP62 have been available for some time, but Oukitel held the WP61 Plus back. Built for outdoor professionals, search-and-rescue workers, or those who routinely find themselves in the great outdoors, the WP61 Plus is entering a highly competitive market.

There are four versions of the WP61 that all share the same SoC, memory, and storage model but differ in the special features included. There is a base model, the Plus model reviewed here, that has a 2W DMR walkie-talkie, the
WP61 Ultra with thermal imaging, and the WP61 Ti with NTN Skylo Satellite communications.

All of them use the Dimensity 7025 processor, have 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and the same 108MP primary camera.

The large 6.8-inch FHD+ display runs at 120Hz, which is a welcome touch for a rugged device, and Android 16 puts it on the cutting edge for that platform

Where the WP61 Plus truly distinguishes itself, however, is in its extended utility features. The built-in DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) walkie-talkie operates at 2W and is designed to maintain group communications in areas
where cellular coverage fails. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
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Oukitel quotes a range of 5.5km (3.4 miles) for DMR communications, but this will work without any cell service.

Combined with the camping light and the ability to act as a power bank for smaller devices, this phone is positioned less as a smartphone and more as a portable field communications and survival tool.

The only significant downside of this design is its physical scale; at over 650g, this isnt a small or lightweight design, and with the walkie-talkie antenna attached, it becomes even more unwieldy.

The WP61 Plus might not break into our best rugged smartphone selection, but if you are looking for a general-purpose rugged phone for an adventure trek, then it could be an option. (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) Oukitel WP61
Plus: price and availability How much does it cost? $370/280/323 When is it out? Available soon Where can you get it? You can get it directly from
Oukitel or via online retailers such as Amazon. Direct from Oukitel , the asking price for the WP61 Plus is $369.99/279.99/322.68, which is a good deal if you accept the view that this is a discount from $499.99/378.37/436.06, a price at which this product has never been sold.

You read that correctly. At the time of writing, while Oukitel are promoting this product, it remains out of stock. Also, its not available via online retailers, but thats probably right around the corner.

The Plus model is $50 more than the base model, but $60 less than the Ultra option. There is no price yet for the Satellite model.

There are lots of phones that use the same or similar SoCs, like the
Blackview Oscal Tank 1, RugOne Xever 7 Pro, Doogee S200 and Oukitel WP300.
All these are cheaper, but lack the DMR walkie-talkie technology.

Blackview has the Xplore 1 Walkie Talkie that sells for 383.95 direct from
the makers, a good amount more than the WP61 Plus.

The Unihertz Atom XL is a much smaller phone with the same DMR technology, priced at $289.99 at the official Unihertz outlet. However, Id avoid this phone because there are no US or Global models.

A better choice is the Armour 26 Ultra Walkie-Talkie, but its base price is $649.99, making it substantially more expensive.

For a DMR-capable phone, the WP61 Plus is reasonably priced, though it might seem a little expensive for the platform specification. (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) Value score: 4/5 Oukitel WP61 Plus: Specs Swipe to scroll horizontally

Item



Spec



CPU:

MediaTek Dimensity 7025 (6nm)



GPU:



IMG BXM-8-256



NPU:



MediaTek's APU 780



RAM:



12GB



Storage:



512GB



Screen:



6.8-inch FHD+ LCD



Resolution:



1080 x 2460 pixels 650nits



SIM:



2x Nano SIM + TF (one shared position)



Weight:



651.6 grams



Dimensions:



179.5 x 85 x 27.5 mm



Rugged Spec:



IP68 IP69K dust/water resistant (up to 2m for 30 minutes), MIL-STD-810H Certification



Rear cameras:



108MP Camera + 8MP Night vision +2MP macro



Front camera:



32MP Sony IMX616



Networking:



5G bands, WiFi 5, Bluetooth 5.2



Audio:



130 dB 5W speaker



OS:



Android 16



Battery:



20000 mAh (45W wired, 5W reverse charge)



Colours:



Black

Oukitel WP61 Plus: design Built for the field, not the pocket DMR Antenna Standard layout The WP61 Plus makes no apologies for its bulk. At 179.5 x 85
x 27.5 mm, it is a substantial device, and one that is clearly engineered to accommodate its enormous 20,000mAh battery alongside the walkie-talkie
antenna hardware and camping light module. The extra 27.5 mm of depth alone sets it apart as a very different prospect from a standard smartphone, and
not one you can easily fit in a pocket.

What can make this design even more challenging to store is that in the box
is a 92mm antenna for the DMR walkie-talkie that screws into the top right of the phone. You can choose not to attach that, but I presume that will impact the ability to communicate using that functionality.

The Oukitel WP series devices have traditionally used a combination of reinforced polycarbonate and aluminium alloy framing, and the WP61 doesnt deviate from that, making it a device that can withstand heavy abuse.

The device supports a 'seat charger', a docking cradle that allows the phone to be mounted and charged in a fixed location, such as a vehicle dashboard or on a desk. This is a thoughtful addition for fleet operators or those who
need their device always charged and ready. The dock isnt included as standard, and its arrival date and price haven't been released yet. (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) In terms of the general aesthetics and layout, there isnt anything especially surprising about the WP61 Plus. The button arrangement is the one most rugged phones use, with the power (doubling as a fingerprint reader) and volume buttons on the right, the custom button on the left, where the SIM tray is also placed.

The buttons are all metal, and the sides of the chassis are all machined aluminium, making this phone feel both comfortable to hold and seemingly indestructible.

Both the top and bottom edges feature a waterproof plug: one for the antenna on the top and another covering the USB port on the bottom. Both of these are held in place with screws, suggesting they could be replaced when they wear out if Oukitel makes replacements available.

To avoid wearing out the USB-C cover, the dock has four metal contact points on its bottom face, allowing it to be charged without inserting a cable.

The rear has three noticeable features: a camping light, a 5W speaker, and
the camera cluster. The 1200-lumen camping light is obscured by a reference sticker that contains important information you dont want to misplace by peeling it off and throwing it away, annoyingly.

According to Oukitel, the speaker is rated at 130 dB, which would undoubtedly damage your hearing if you held it against your ear while it was making
noise. The top-centre placement of that speaker also pushes the three rear camera lenses to the phone's outer edge, which isnt ideal.

While Ive seen worse, the WP61 Plus seems to try to be many things at once
and has slightly compromised some of its features in the process. (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) Design score: 3.5/5 Oukitel WP61 Plus: hardware MediaTek Dimensity 7025 20000 mAh battery Walkie-talkie This is the third phone Ive covered that uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7025, and I havent changed my opinion of it.

Instead of this being a new and exciting SoC, its a renaming of the older Dimensity 930, a chip from May 2022. If you research this silicon, you will find that the Dimensity 7025 was launched in 2024, but the underlying chip is at least two years older.

That explains why all the 70XX SoCs are made using a 6nm process, whereas all the 73XX and 74XX chips use the new and superior 4nm process.

Ironically, thats not the biggest issue with this platform, since, as SoCs
go, the Dimensity 7025 is an effective power-efficient system that delivers a good user experience for the most part.

A bigger problem is that the CPU is coupled with the IMG BXM-8-256 GPU, one
of those PowerVR IMG designs that is poor by modern standards. It drives the Android 16 interface reasonably, but it's not a game-friendly GPU.
Critically, it lacks some of the OpenGL and Vulkan functionality that interactive graphics apps often use.

For the WP61 Plus's intended use cases, it is a sensible and efficient
choice, but more modern MediaTek designs, such as the Dimensity 7300 and
7400, offer far more potential.

In large, rugged phones, a 20000 mAh battery isnt exceptional, but this
device helps because it supports a 45W charger, which is included. That enables the phone to charge from zero to full capacity in about four hours, and get more than half of a charge in ninety minutes.

This is dramatically better than the WP60 offered with the same battery capacity, as that phone could only charge at 33W. Though, as I recall, the WP60 did reverse charge at 7W, where the WP61 Plus only puts out 5W. (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) You can get a similar platform and battery in a wide range of rugged phones, but the final feature Ill talk about here is
something that is in relatively few: a DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) walkie-talkie.

The radio in the WP61 Plus transmits at 2W, which is a meaningful output for direct device-to-device communication. DMR is a professional-grade digital radio standard, typically used in construction, security, and emergency services, making this a genuine productivity tool rather than a novelty. And, the hardware here can also work with Analogue technologies, alongside DMR-capable handsets.

As I only have one WP61 Plus, I wasnt able to test the assertion that communication of over 5.5km was possible, but the technology is capable of that, so I dont doubt it could work at that range in theory. The beauty of this technology is that it doesn't rely on any other infrastructure to operate, though the practical range may be limited by terrain.

For those working together off the grid or at a building site, the range
seems enough to be practical, even if it wont work if you travel beyond the potential range, or put a mountain between those talking.

The custom button opens the DMR app to initiate a call, and you can select a channel to communicate over. While you can add custom channels, the app includes the standard DMR-approved channels for a range of countries, including Europe, the USA, Australia, and Taiwan. Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Japan and China.

As a matter of interest, I researched the DMR frequencies for various countries, and discovered that for some, like India, for higher power transmitters like this one, using 5W and with better range, a WPC license is required. So if you are not in any of the countries I previously listed, it might be worth researching which DMR channels you can use and any other clearances required before purchasing.

Even with those potential caveats, the DMR part of this device is undoubtedly the best aspect, should you have more than one of these or other DMR handsets to hand. Hardware score: 4/5 Oukitel WP61 Plus: cameras 108MP, 8MP night vision and 2MP Macro on the rear 32MP on the front Four cameras in total (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) The Oukitel WP61 Plus has four cameras:

Rear camera: 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM6 (S5KHM6), 8MP SK Hynix Hi-846 night vision IR sensor, 2MP BYD BF2257CS Macro Front camera: 32MP Sony IMX616
Sensor Oddly, this camera arrangement is remarkably similar to a range of phones Ive recently reviewed, except that many of them use a GalaxyCore
sensor for the 2MP macro function, whereas the WP61 Plus uses the BYD
BF2257CS for the same job.

The combination of the 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM6 (S5KHM6) and the 8MP SK
Hynix Hi-846 night-vision IR sensor was seen on the Oukitel WP60 Pro. But
that phone didnt use the Sony IMX616 front-facing sensor, and it used a GalaxyCore GC02M1 for the Macro.

The Sony IMX616 is better than the 32MP GalaxyCore GC32E1, but the 2MP Macro sensors dont make a huge difference to the close-up shooting you can do.

The weakness of this layout is that the 108MP Samsung ISOCELL HM6 (S5KHM6) is used to avoid the need for zoom optics by providing a high-resolution sensor that can be cropped or pixel-binned. It offers a range of zoom settings from 1.0x to 4.0x. But its still not as good as having actual zoom optics, as the zoom jumps between settings, and the results for some digital zoom factors
are better than for others.

The SK Hynix Hi-846 night vision sensor delivers impressive results in complete darkness, although it captures only in monochrome. And the Macro sensor is exceptionally grainy and requires excessive amounts of light to produce passable results.

Probably the biggest disappointment of this camera is that the primary
Samsung ISOCELL has a resolution of 108MP, and you can shoot at that full resolution, but incredibly, the best video resolution available is only
1440p. That this phone, with a 108MP sensor, cant offer 4K video is embarrassing.

The hardware is rated for 8K at 24 frames per second (fps) and 4K at 120fps, so the video resolution is down to the choices Oukitel made about the SoC and the Android camera application.

This camera can take some excellent still images, but if I were to drag a phone this big and heavy about the wilderness, I would at least expect it to shoot 4K video. (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) Oukitel WP61 Plus Camera samples Image 1 of 12 (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image
credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) Camera score: 3/5 Oukitel WP61 Plus: performance Older 6nm SoC GPU issues with OpenGL 3.1 and Vulkan 1.3 Great battery life Swipe to scroll horizontally

Phone







Oukitel WP61 Plus



Blackview Oscal Tank 1



SoC







MediaTek Dimensity 7025



MediaTek Dimensity 7050



GPU







IMG BXM-8-256



MaliG68 MC4



NPU







MediaTek's APU 780



MediaTek NPU 550



Memory







12GB/512GB



12GB/256GB



Weight







656g



640g



Battery







20000



20000



Geekbench



Single



959



920







Multi



2362



2466







OpenCL



failed



2471







Vulkan



failed



3036



PCMark



3.0 Score



13080



11684







Battery



40h 9m Est.



33h 57m Est.



Charge 30



%



28



13



Passmark



Score



6620



6861







CPU



5284



5285



3DMark



Slingshot OGL



3741



5293







Slingshot Ex. OGL



3738



4150







Slingshot Ex. Vulkan



2614



3940







Wildlife



Failed



2232

Row 19 - Cell 0

Nomad Lite



Failed



266

Rather than putting the WP61 Plus against another phone with the same SoC, I thought it might be appropriate to compare it with a marginally better chip, so I chose the Blackview Oscal Tank 1. It uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7050, slightly better than the 7025.

Both of these phones have the same battery capacity and RAM, which makes them closer to each other than many other rugged phones. size

What these results show is that the Dimensity 7025 is modestly slower than
the 7050 used in the Tank 1, until you test it with a graphics benchmark. The IMG BXM-8-256 GPU cant run the OpenGL and Vulkan APIs used by GeekBench and
is required for 3DMark Wildlife and Nomad Lite.

But the upside of poor GPU performance is that the battery lasts much longer, with the WP61 Plus running for more than 40 hours. However, that result is a predicted endpoint because, like the Oscal Tank 1, the WP61 Plus crashed PCMark before exhausting the battery. Not sure if this is an issue with the benchmark or how both these phone makers are managing their batteries.

The overall performance of the WP61 Plus is fine for most uses, but it's not
a phone that gamers or anyone who uses VR will embrace. However, with curation, the battery could easily last six days or more, which could be useful off-grid. Performance score: 4/5 (Image credit: Mark Pickavance) Oukitel WP61 Plus: Final verdict The Oukitel WP61 Plus is a device that sets out to do something genuinely different in a crowded market. Rather than competing solely on processing power or camera resolution, it bundles a professional-grade walkie-talkie, an enormous battery, and a camping light into a package that could plausibly replace multiple pieces of equipment for an outdoor professional or expedition team.

The Dimensity 7025 is not the most exciting chipset, and the physical dimensions mean this is not a device you will comfortably carry in a trouser pocket. But if your priorities are extended endurance, off-grid communications, and resilience in harsh environments, the WP61 Plus presents
a compelling case at the asking price.

How useful DMR technology is to you will depend on whether you already use it or intend to buy multiple phones for walkie-talkie use. If its not something you'll use immediately, you could save yourself $50 by buying the base model, since it has everything else Ive mentioned here. Should I buy a Oukitel WP61 Plus? Swipe to scroll horizontally Oukitel WP61 Plus Score Card

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Value

Reasonable cost for a well-made device

4/5

Design

Substantial but purpose-built for outdoor use

3.5/5

Hardware

Unique walkie-talkie, 20,000mAh battery and mid-range SoC

4/5

Camera

Good for still images, but the lack of 4K video is poor

3/5

Performance

Great battery life, but sub-par GPU performance

4/5

Overall

Good price, excellent battery life and DMR

4/5 Buy it if... You need off-grid communications The built-in DMR walkie-talkie provides professional-grade radio communications without requiring a separate device, making it ideal for outdoor teams, construction sites, and expeditions. You need extended battery life Few smartphones can match a 20,000mAh battery for sheer staying power. If you're spending days or weeks away from mains power, the WP61 Plus could be your best option. Don't buy it if... You need a daily driver The large frame is not practical for everyday pocket carry. If you need a rugged phone for general daily use
rather than field deployment, a more compact option would serve better. You need a top-tier SoC The Dimensity 7025 is a mid-range chip. Competitors such as the Blackview Xplore 2 Satellite offer the more powerful Dimensity 8300 if raw performance is a priority. Also Consider Ulefone Armour Mini 20 Pro A practical, 5G rugged design with an inbuilt camping light, night vision camera, but with less battery than the Oukitel WP61 Plus. This makes the
phone easily pocketable and usable like a normal phone.

Read our full Ulefone Armor Mini 20 Pro review Blackview Xplore 2 Satellite Offers satellite communications via Skylo, the more powerful Dimensity 8300 SoC, and a 20,000mAh battery with 120W fast charging. Lacks the DMR walkie-talkie but adds genuine satellite connectivity.

Read our full Blackview Xplore 2 Satellite review View Deal For more ruggedized devices, we've reviewed the best rugged tablets , the best rugged laptops , and the best rugged hard drives Oukitel WP61 Plus: Price Comparison 279.54 View No price information Check Amazon We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices powered by



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