A rugged smartphone may just be your dad’s favourite method of communication, but after you get a look at Oukitel’s new WP63 phone, which was just announced at MWC, it may become yours. The WP63 includes all the usual rugged smartphone tropes — a bulky upper body, gargantuan battery, and dodgy screen specs. But the bit that might interest newbies to the field is the built-in electric igniter that literally starts fires on the go.
Anyone got a light?
Mileage may vary, obviously. Smokers and campers (smoking campers are going to love this) will likely find the most uses that necessitate such a function. Arsonists, too, we guess. Even if you aren’t one of those, the Oukitel WP63 may just pack enough of a kick to make you stick around. Probably not, but maybe.
We promised you dodgy screen specs, so here they are. The WP63 gets by with a 6.7in display that caps out at 720p, though with 120Hz support. It’s also massive, measuring 27mm thick. That’s down to the massive 20,000mAh battery that’s more than happy to share some of that juice with your other devices.
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It’ll do so by using the built-in USB-C cable. It won’t do it for free, though. Seeing as the WP63 only supports 18W wired charging, it’ll take a fair amount of foresight to ensure it’s up for travel. We imagine that using the built-in loudspeaker will only drain the battery even faster. Still, it’s not something you see every day.
That’s doubly true in the case of the igniter, which sits safely behind a trap door at the phone’s top. Eject it, and you’ll see a red element, like your old car’s lighter. Activating it requires the use of an app, so there shouldn’t be any little mishaps from the inside of a pocket. Oukitel hasn’t revealed much else about the WP63, other than the price, which it reckons will hover around $500 (∼R8,200). Heck, it may even see a South African release one day.
