Few corporations are pushing again in opposition to the black, rectangular smartphone design hegemony in 2026, however RugOne is certainly one of them. It is a part of Ulefon, which has been pumping out ruggedized telephones for a number of years, and its latest cellphone, the Xsnap 7 Professional, may be very rugged however has a magnetic detachable digicam unit that may work like an motion cam.
Yeah, it made me go “ooh” after I heard about it. (Sadly, my pattern landed whereas we report on IFA 2026 right here in Berlin. I am going to replace this story after I get to see the gadget in individual later this week. The nearly cube-shaped digicam weighs 39 grams and may file video as much as 2.7K decision at 30fps — it isn’t coming for the most recent GoPro fairly but.
RugOne says the module can run for as much as 40 minutes on a full cost, with 64GB of built-in storage. It will broadcast a preview feed to RugOne’s companion app, as much as 50 meters away. It additionally features a handful of software program options, together with distortion correction, horizon lock and a Freeframe taking pictures mode that captures the complete sensor space, so you’ll be able to crop to vertical or horizontal footage as wanted.
The digicam is waterproof as much as 5 meters (with none further protecting circumstances), and the corporate may also embody a companion magnet pendant so you’ll be able to put on it in your physique for seize; it’ll additionally work with third-party equipment that help a common mount.
The Xsnap 7 Professional additionally has a 50-megapixel “AI most important digicam” with optical picture stabilization, plus a 64MP infrared night-vision digicam with IR LEDs for “crisp black-and-white element” throughout nighttime wildlife taking pictures — RugOne’s suggestion, not mine.
And let’s not overlook: nonetheless a cellphone. The Xsnap 7 Professional has a 6.67-inch show with 1,700-nit peak brightness and as much as 120Hz refresh charges. It packs a MediaTek Dimensity 8400 processor, and the gadget has sturdy sturdiness credentials. It is rated IP68 and IP69K and may deal with water submersion as much as two meters deep for half-hour in addition to 1.5-meter drops onto concrete.
Whereas a prototype was teased at MWC 2026 a number of months in the past, the Xsnap 7 Professional is formally debuting at IFA, with early-bird gross sales opening on Kickstarter on September 7 at a reduced preorder worth of 799 euros (roughly $930). The cellphone will then go on sale globally someday subsequent month on Amazon and RugOne’s on-line retailer, priced at $999, in Sand Dune and Basic Black.
