- Analysis by KJ David
One of NUU Mobile's first attempts at a rugged smartphone and also one of its earliest 2019 releases, the NUU Mobile R1 is a gritty budget-class Android in terms of technical pros and cons. Among its weakest points are its ancient-sounding (as of this Phonerated review) 2-megapixel-only front-facing camera 
and run-of-the-mill 8-megapixel primary rear-facing cam .
The above-mentioned cons seem to be necessary trade-offs to keep the R1's price point within entry-level territory, though, since NUU houses its specs inside a toughened shell that passes both IP68 
and MIL-STD-810G rugged certifications. The former makes its 0.51-inch-thick physique impervious to water and dust, while the latter rigs it with native resistance to accidental impacts as well as to temperature extremes.
This low-budget prepaid contender (Check out some of its prepaid competitors here) also lists a sizable 4000mAh battery among its pros, giving it a huge advantage versus a lot of other entry-level smartphones, most of which stick to roughly 2500mAh power caps only.
Related: The Best big battery phones 2026 (and 2025)
Its processing components include a measly MediaTek MT6739 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz and an equally-basic 2GB RAM. When it comes to storage, while its 16GB native memory is respectable, coming from a budget-class rugged Android, its support for no more than 32GB of external memory sounds a tad problematic, considering that many of its rivals in this category support 64GB and even 128GB external memory cards.
Joining the aforementioned pros and cons are a standard 4G LTE network adapter, two micro SIM card slots, and a passable (for a phone within its price group) 5-inch 1280 x 720 HD display hardened by a damage-resistant Gorilla Glass finish . Mimicking several other rugged models, it rocks a plain Black exterior, with the Android 8.1 Oreo operating system tying everything together.
All said, NUU's R1 is, overall, an entry-level smartphone, but its rugged housing and robust battery pack certainly makes it more ready for the outdoors than most other models in its category.
On-paper Review rating: 
By today's standards, we demand more than just 2-megapixel of selfie cam resolution.
- Recommended alternative: The best selfie smartphones
It's frustrating that we could not find its weight information.
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It is billed as more resistant to water, dust and shocks.
- More on this: Photo gallery of the latest rugged phones
Not only does it have a 1.3GHz processor clock speed, but it also has 4 cores.
- See also: List of the fastest Android smartphones
We are talking about an above-average screen, making it a phablet: 5 inches and a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels means about 10.68 square inches and an image sharpness of at least 293.58 dots per inch (DPI)!
It includes a high-megapixel camera (8-megapixel)
** This phone is also known as: NUU R1
*** These cons and pros are computer-generated based on our proprietary algorithm and the specs we found for this phone. Should you spot an error, please let us know.
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