Unihertz Tank Tank 3S 5G 6.79" Black 512GB Review

The Unihertz Tank 3S is an $800 party trick that's bad at being a phone. Save your money and buy a real phone and a separate projector.

The Unihertz Tank 3S is a weird one. It's a rugged phone with a built-in projector, which sounds cool until you realize you're paying over $800 for a device that's bad at being a phone. The one thing you need to know is this: it's a niche gadget masquerading as a daily driver. Performance scores are decent on paper, but our database shows it's terrible at everything people actually buy phones for, like taking photos or having a good screen. It's the phone you buy for the gimmick, not for quality.

The performance percentile is surprisingly high at 85th, which means the octa-core processor and 16GB of RAM are doing some heavy lifting. But here's the surprise: that performance doesn't translate to a good experience. It's fast in benchmarks, but in real life, it's held back by a mediocre display, terrible cameras, and software that feels like an afterthought. You get power, but none of the polish.

Not worth it. At $822, you're paying a massive 'weird tax' for the projector. You can get a flagship-grade regular phone and a decent portable projector for the same money and have a better experience with both. This is a terrible value as a primary device.

If you want a rugged phone, look at the CAT S75 or even an older Samsung Galaxy XCover. They're better phones. If you just want a good phone, the Google Pixel 10 or OnePlus 15 will run circles around the Tank 3S for less money. The Motorola Moto G gives you 90% of the core functionality for a third of the price. The Tank 3S loses on every practical front.

Skip this if you want a good smartphone. Seriously. If you need a reliable daily driver with a great camera, good battery, and modern software, go get a Google Pixel or a Samsung Galaxy. This isn't it. The Tank 3S is only for the tiny group of people who absolutely need a projector in their pocket and don't care about anything else.

We can't recommend buying the Unihertz Tank 3S. It's a novelty act. The projector is a fun idea, but it's bolted onto a subpar phone with bad cameras, questionable software, and a price tag that's completely unjustified. Unless your specific, non-negotiable need is 'a projector that can also make phone calls,' you should look literally anywhere else. It's a solution in search of a problem.