FOSSiBOT F116 Pro: 4.0" Mini Rugged Phone with Action Camera

Status: Tracked, Not Yet Scored

As of July 27, 2026, BackerGuardian has not assigned a trust score to the FOSSiBOT F116 Pro — this is an unscored tracking record. What we can verify: the Kickstarter campaign ran March 17 to April 16, 2026, and closed successfully at HK$713,106 (roughly US$91,000) from 319 backers against a HK$50,000 goal, per Kicktraq. No score appears on this page because our scoring machinery has not processed this record, and we do not publish numbers we cannot back with a checked evidence ledger.

What the Campaign Was

The F116 Pro is a 4.05-inch rugged Android phone pitched as a phone/action-cam hybrid: 120Hz display, MediaTek Dimensity 7300, 12GB/256GB, a 48MP ultra-wide "action camera" with a 152.6-degree field of view alongside a 50MP main camera, 3,700mAh battery with 33W charging, IP68/IP69K and MIL-STD-810H ratings, Android 16, at 210g (New Atlas, March 19, 2026).

Campaign pricing, per pre-launch press: $279 super early bird limited to the first 1,000 units, $339 Kickstarter standard, against a creator-claimed $499 planned retail price (Notebookcheck, March 16, 2026). New Atlas quoted the same $279 floor as "a saving of 44% on the expected retail price." That $499 retail figure is the creator's own anchor, not an observed street price — treat the discount claim accordingly.

Funding Record

Context for the headline multiple: the goal was set low (HK$50,000 is under US$7,000), so "1,426% funded" describes a modest campaign that cleared a token bar, not a mass-market hit. At 319 backers this was a small campaign in absolute terms. Source note: the Kickstarter page blocks our automated fetch, so final figures rest on Kicktraq plus the platform page's search-indexed summary — both agree.

Creator Track Record

FOSSiBOT is a Chinese rugged-device and portable-power brand operating since 2022, with retail distribution predating its crowdfunding use. This was not its first Kickstarter: the FOSSiBOT F107 Pro campaign ran in 2025 ($399 pledges against a claimed $799 retail, shipping estimated from July 2025), which New Atlas identified at the time as the company's first Kickstarter. The same claimed-retail-anchor pricing pattern appears in both campaigns.

This is the established-brand-as-launch-channel playbook: an existing manufacturer using Kickstarter as a discounted preorder window for a product already headed to retail, rather than seeking funding to make the product exist. That shape typically lowers existence risk — but it is a pattern observation, not a score. We have not audited FOSSiBOT's F107 Pro fulfillment record.

Evidence Timeline

• 2026-03-16 — Pre-launch coverage publishes pricing and delivery plan: $279/$339 tiers, deliveries stated to commence from April 25, 2026 (Notebookcheck).
• 2026-03-17 — Campaign launches on Kickstarter (Kicktraq).
• 2026-03-19 — New Atlas covers the live campaign: pledges from $279, free worldwide shipping "estimated to start from May."
• 2026-04-08 — FOSSiBOT's own campaign post states shipping "is scheduled to launch in May 2026" with 2-4 week delivery after dispatch, a 2-year warranty for backers (vs 1-year retail), and color selection via post-campaign survey.
• 2026-04-16 — Campaign closes: HK$713,106, 319 backers, "Funding Successful" (Kicktraq).
• 2026-05-29 — AG4Tech publishes a hands-on review of a physical unit, calling it "a highly distinctive rugged smartphone that succeeds by doing something different" — evidence that production hardware existed and was circulating by late May.
• 2026-07-27 — Record re-verified for this revision; no trust score yet computed.

Delivery Status

Campaign ended: yes, April 16, 2026. Shipped: probably, but unconfirmed at the backer level.

• Stated plan: deliveries from April 25, 2026 per pre-launch press, and "shipping is scheduled to launch in May 2026" per FOSSiBOT's own April 8 post — a window that has now passed by roughly two months.
• Independent hands-on reviews of production units were published by late May 2026 (AG4Tech, above), which is consistent with hardware shipping on schedule.
• We found no public non-delivery or late-delivery complaints while researching this record in July 2026.
• Honest limit: Kickstarter's updates and comments feeds are not accessible to our tooling for this campaign, and we have not verified any individual backer receipt. A July 2026 price-tracker listing (Kimovil's index title advertises the phone "from $431.44") suggests post-campaign retail availability, but that page could not be retrieved for verification.

Classification for the delivery ledger: fulfillment window elapsed; no public distress signals; direct backer-delivery confirmation unavailable (as of 2026-07-27).

Who This Is For

The campaign is closed, so this reads as guidance for anyone now considering the phone at retail.

Reasonable fit:

• Outdoor users who want a genuinely pocketable rugged phone — the 4.05-inch, 210g form factor is the rarest thing about it.
• Buyers who want an action-cam-style ultra-wide (152.6-degree, 48MP) without carrying a second device.
• Anyone prioritizing IP68/IP69K/MIL-STD-810H durability over battery size.

Consider passing:

• You need battery endurance — 3,700mAh is small for a rugged phone; the category norm is several times that.
• You want a large display; 4.05 inches is a deliberate constraint, and AG4Tech's review flags exactly this trade-off.
• You expect the claimed $499 retail anchor to reflect street pricing — verify the live price before treating any discount as real.

What We Have Not Verified

No trust score exists for this record: creator fulfillment history, funding-pattern checks, and communication-quality review have not been run through our scoring machinery. We have not verified backer deliveries, refund handling, the F107 Pro campaign's fulfillment outcome, current street pricing, or the durability certifications beyond the creator's claims as reported by press. When this record is scored, every dimension will be computed from a sourced evidence ledger, and this page will be updated to match it.