A smartphone camera you can literally detach and wear around your neck. That’s the pitch, and honestly, it got me.
RugOne, a sub-brand of rugged phone maker Ulefone, has announced the Xsnap 7 Pro at IFA 2026 in Berlin. The headline feature is a magnetic camera module that pops off the back of the phone and works as a standalone action cam. At 39 grams, it’s about the weight of a large egg. It records up to 2.7K at 30fps, runs for 40 minutes on a full charge, and has 64GB of built-in storage. It’s not threatening GoPro just yet, but that’s not really the point.
The module is waterproof to five meters without any extra case, which is genuinely impressive for something this small. It streams a live preview to RugOne’s companion app from up to 50 meters away, so you can check your framing remotely. Software features include distortion correction, horizon lock, and a Freeframe mode that captures the full sensor area and lets you crop to vertical or horizontal in post. RugOne also includes a magnetic pendant so you can wear the camera on your body, and it works with third-party universal mount accessories too.
The action cam gimmick would fall flat if the rest of the phone was a mess. But the Xsnap 7 Pro actually looks solid. The main shooter is a 50-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, and there’s a 64MP infrared night-vision camera with IR LEDs for low-light shooting. RugOne specifically pitches that last one for nighttime wildlife photography, which is a very specific use case, but sure, why not.
As a phone, it holds its own too. You get a 6.67-inch display with 1,700-nit peak brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate. The chipset is a MediaTek Dimensity 8400, which is a solid mid-to-upper-range processor. And because this is a rugged phone, the durability specs are front and center: IP68 and IP69K ratings, water submersion up to two meters for 30 minutes, and it can survive a 1.5-meter drop onto concrete.
So why does this matter? Because the modular phone concept has had a rough decade. Google’s Project Ara died. Moto Mods got discontinued. Every attempt to make smartphone hardware more flexible has eventually hit a wall of complexity and consumer indifference. But RugOne is doing something smarter here by limiting the modularity to just the camera. One magnetic module, one specific job. That’s a much tighter, more believable execution than trying to swap out processors or speakers.
The rugged phone market is also bigger than most people realize. Outdoor workers, hikers, cyclists, and anyone who genuinely puts their phone through punishment have always needed something better than a case slapped on a glass slab. RugOne is betting that those same people also want adventure camera functionality, and combining both into one device at a semi-reasonable price could actually work.
The Xsnap 7 Pro was teased as a prototype at MWC 2026 earlier this year, but this is its official debut. Early-bird preorders open on Kickstarter on September 7 at 799 euros, which is roughly $930. After that, it goes on sale globally through Amazon and RugOne’s own store at $999. It comes in Sand Dune and Classic Black. The Kickstarter discount is modest, but $999 for a rugged phone with a detachable action cam is not an outrageous ask if the execution holds up. I’ll believe it fully once I see the device in person later this week.