UleFone is better known for its ruggedized designs, such as the Armor 26 Ultra, but it also makes more stay-at-home models, like the new Note 18 Ultra. This device is a careful balancing act between giving customers what they truly want and making it at a price they are willing to pay. Therefore, the cost of the parts indirectly drives the specification, with Ulefone aiming to shift enough of these to make the exercise worthwhile.

It’s like an elaborate piece of street magic, where Ulefone tries to convince the customer that they’ve not compromised the feature set while doing that to reduce costs. If the balance is right, you buy the phone. If it isn’t, you look for something with better features. The Ulefone Note 18 Ultra promises an all-singing and dancing solution that’s remarkably cheap yet has a middle-order spec. Or is that all just smoke and mirrors?

Price, availability, and specifications

One of the cheapest 5G phones around

The official pricing on the Ulefone website suggests a price point of around $220, but on Amazon, the price is currently $30 less. Coming under $200 makes for a much more compelling argument, considering that the Note 18 Ultra is 5G and has some useful accessories. Plus, it's cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G, one of the best budget Android phones available, but with less memory and storage.

The MediaTek Dimensity 720 chip used here was designed for a global market, specifically North America, Asia, and European service providers using sub-6GHz 5G networks. While the phone is too new to be certified yet, technically, it should work with 5G support with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Most MVNOs using those carriers' networks should also deliver 5G, but some smaller providers, including Boost, may be limited to 4G connections. The only catch with 5G on this chip and phone is that it doesn’t support mmWave connections, which offer the highest speeds.

What's good about the Ulefone Note 18 Ultra?

A budget phone with middle-order features

Esthetics is a decidedly subjective subject, but there isn't much about the Note 18 Ultra's look that offends this reviewer. The styling is a not-so-subtle homage to the iPhone, with the metal banding around the edge creating a distinctive contrast between the black inkiness of the screen and the decorative glass back. The box includes a TPU clear bumper, which, along with an extensive product sticker, obscures the subtle patterning on the back. Not sure how nice this might look if it takes a few hits, so using the provided bumper is probably advisable.

What's fascinating about the Note 18 Ultra is that it exemplifies a problem phone makers have where the lower-order devices are squeezing the middle-order out of existence with each new release. For example, the Dimensity 720 5G SoC would have been a middle-order processor only a couple of years ago, as would having 6G of RAM and 256GB, 50MP camera sensors, dual SIMs, and a metal chassis. The Ulefone Note 18 Ultra has all these things and plenty of other desirable features.

One left-field feature we've not seen for some time is the inclusion of an IR blaster, enabling the phone to emulate infrared remote controls for typical household appliances. For those with a favorite pair of passive headphones, it also has a 3.5mm audio jack. It's easy to dismiss those as 'retro' features, but those are the things many people still use old phones for.

However, rather than picking out a single headline feature of this design, the overall impression is that the Note 18 Ultra is a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. Almost everything it does is fine, if hardly spectacular.

Finally, Ulefone installed an almost untouched version of Android 13 with all the standard Google software, resisting the temptation to vandalize it with bloatware apps. There are a few branded tools, including one for the IR Blaster, Child mode, Easy launcher, Game mode, and links to support information. But out of the box, only 14GB of the 256GB was already used. The version of Android 13 built for the Note 18 Ultra is dated May 24, 2024, and uses a security patch from April 2024, making it remarkably current.

What's bad about the UleFone Note 18 Ultra?

Handling this device is a pleasant experience since the sides are curved and provide more grip than the front or back. However, the button layout isn't what most customers expect, and it will take some adaptation. While the power button that doubles as a fingerprint sensor is on the right, the volume rockers are on the left alongside a user-definable button. Left-handed users will like this placement, but right-handed users will have a more accessible unlock using the thumb.

Being a little different is fine, but this design annoys when the makers undermine their own device to avoid treading on the toes of other, more expensive products. A classic example is that the dual rear cameras use the excellent Samsung s5kgn1 and s5kgm2 sensors. Both are 50MP, yet the best video capture resolution is only 1080p.

That limitation is a software-made choice because either of these sensors can easily deliver 4K, and the s5kgn1 supports up to 400fps at 1080p for amazing slow motion, just not on this phone. Perhaps a third-party camera application can unlock the Note 18 Ultra's potential, but it's another example of over-specification followed by expectation management.

With such respectable sensors, the quality of the camera's captures is more than acceptable for most users, even if the second sensor doubles as both an ultra-wide and macro lens, which isn't ideal. My only other complaint is that the back of this phone is remarkably flat except for the camera cluster, but the battery doesn't support wireless charging. Again, it would cost pennies to add this, but it appears that it was omitted for strategic reasons.

Should you buy it?

Plenty of bang-for-buck

Budget phones were once unimpressive devices with rubbish cameras, limited features, borderline specifications for running Android, and the life expectancy of a mayfly. The Ulefone Note 18 is not one of those phones, or even close. For less than $200, it is a generally good daily driver with a decent processor, large screen, 5G communications, plenty of RAM and storage, and an almost pristine flavor of Android 13.

Its IR blaster technology is a great feature if you misplace a remote, and the headphone jack avoids Bluetooth pairing and the power demands of USB. A branded alternative, like the Samsung Galaxy A15, has less RAM, half as much storage, lower quality camera sensors, and less battery capacity but a slightly better processor. For gamers, the Galaxy A15 might edge it, but for everything else, the Note 18 Ultra has the high ground.

If you can cope with the slightly quirky button arrangement and don't need 4K resolution video capture, then there isn't much wrong with it. While Ulefone isn't a widely known brand in the USA, it has a global track record of delivering reliable hardware at affordable prices, and the Note 18 Ultra is another winner from this stable.