Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
[ad_1]
Rugged phones get a bad rap. They are written as a novelty act, a bulky shot that should only see his face on a construction site or in a military capacity. But Doogee, a Chinese company, looks beyond a few niche cases to bring us the Doogee S200, a mid-level smartphone with some serious ruggedness, but enough features to brush the tip of the fingers with the flagship category.
Available for as low as $229 on AliExpress or $339 on Amazon , the S200 is pretty much a steal with its extreme durability, nearly all-day battery life, and features you’d expect on a quality smartphone premium. However, there are a few caveats. For example, since this phone is not marketed towards the US market, it will not work on some of the 5G networks on some of the larger carriers. And the performance, while good, doesn’t match other mid-range phones. But somehow, it manages to run some of the most taxing games surprisingly well.
However, the S200 is affordable for those looking for a tough smartphone with ridiculous durability and performance that will surprise them.
Doogee S200
The Doogee S200 brings rugged durability and excellent battery life to a strong gaming phone for under $500.
Pros
- Super robust design
- Excellent battery life
- Surprisingly strong gaming performance
- Interesting camera features
- Really affordable
cons
- Limited 5G networks in the US
- Performance isn’t as strong as the base model’s competitors
- Cameras are a mixed bag
- No Android 15
Doogee S200 Review: Design
“Is it a case?”
“Why is it so heavy?”
“You can use this thing as a weapon!”
Here are the common responses I got from everyone I showed the Doogee S200 to. And while putting the smartphone in a sturdy sock and using it as a makeshift blackjack is an intriguing idea, that’s not what the S200 is about. As a person who has destroyed a phone or two in their life, I am a fan of the phone mass. It is a sign of his innate toughness. The phone is IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD 810. This means that the phone is waterproof and dust resistant. It is also drop proof and can withstand drops from 5.9 feet (1.8 meters). It also has covers over the USB-C port to prevent water or dust from entering. The display is made of Corning Gorilla Glass to prevent scratches.
Admittedly, that added protection adds some bulk. The 7.1 x 3.23 x 0.63-inch device weighs in at a whopping 12.9 ounces. Make the Google Pixel 9 (7 ounces, 6 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches), Samsung Galaxy S24 SE (7.5 ounces, 6.4 x 3 x 0.31 inches), Nothing Phone (2a) Plus (6.7 ounces, 6.4 x 3 x 0.33 inches), and iPhone 16 (6 ounces, 5.8 x 2.8 x 0.31 inches) seem like a feather in comparison.
Despite the Chonkiness, the Doogee has a mech-based design that is sure to appeal to fans of Gundam, Transformers and Power Rangers, The black and pewter gray aerospace-grade alloy back panel is made up of a series of sharp corners which go away in gentle slopes. . The center of the design is what Doogee calls a sub-screen. It is like the Dynamic Island found in modern iPhones, only in a more convenient place (More on this later). The 1.3-inch circular AMOLED mini display is flanked on both sides by four cameras that house the camera sensors.
The phone continues the mecha-look with four prominent screws running down the sides. The volume and fingerprint reader/power buttons are on the right, along with the dual SIM card tray and a button that users can customize for three separate actions – one for single, double and triple presses. The USB-C charging port is located at the bottom of the phone, hidden under a rubber seal.
The front of the phone consists mostly of a display surrounded by rather large bezels, especially at the top and bottom. A teardrop camera still protrudes slightly at the top of the display.
Although the black and gray color is cool, I wish I could have gotten my hands on the green and yellow versions, as I like a pop of color.
Doogee S200X Review: Display
It’s not OLED or even AMOLED, but I’ll still take the S200X’s 6.7-inch IPS LCD screen. As I watched the second second of Squid Game, I saw every drop of blood splatter as it left the bodies of the unfortunate contestants. The deep red offered a lurid contrast against the cheerful rainbow-painted floors in the episode “Six Legs” on the 2400 x 1080 display. Of course, it’s not as vivid as the aforementioned screens, but for the price, I’m not going to pooh-pooh what the S200 has to offer.
The screen is not as bright as it should be Pixel 9but I had no problems reading articles in direct sunlight. Games like Dead Cells and Zenless Zone Zero fared well with the automatic refresh rate that automatically increases the rate from the standard 60Hz to 120Hz when playing or working on something particularly taxing. Doogee also includes a barebones Game Mode that aggregates all your games and turns off notifications.
Let’s talk about the sub-screen. It’s a really useful way to interact with certain apps and functions of the phone without engaging with the main display. In addition to the clock, you can read notifications, control your designated music app, check battery life, take a photo, answer calls and a few other useful functions.
Doogee S200 Review: UI and Performance
Unlike other Android phones, Doogee runs Android-Android 14. The MediaTek Dimensity 7050 octa-core 2.2-GHz processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of onboard storage are quite spry, allowing zippy navigation between applications and home screens. I only saw a slight slowdown when I started playing Zenless Zone Zero, and that’s after launching 50 pages of Google Chrome, multiple G-Suite apps, BlueSky, and Threads.
It should be noted that the smartphone is listed with 32GB of RAM. That’s because Doogee has mapped some of the 256GB to RAM to trick the system into thinking it has more capacity to install applications.
Even if the S200 hasn’t made the jump to Android 15 (and I’m not sure it ever will), you still get a bunch of features from the previous OS, like more customization on the lock and home screens . You also get better security and data protection, like using biometric authentication instead of passwords for more apps. Speaking of applications, there is Toolbag, which is a collection of applications that address the potential of the phone’s construction tool. There is a Protractor, Plumb Bob, and Level. Doogee also launched the pedometer, NFC card emulator and mirror, which is a bit confusing.
When I ran Geekbench 6, the S200 returned a single-core score of 990 and a multi-core score of 2,471. That’s a solid score, but it doesn’t match the Nothing Phone (2a) (1,198/2,824), the Pixel 9 (1,699/4,241), or the iPhone 16 (3,412 and 8,416).
Doogee S200 Review: Camera
Doogee has equipped the S200 with an impressive collection of cameras and functions. The main shooter is 100MP with a 20MP night vision camera and a 2MP macro sensor. The images I captured had good color, but details can sometimes be fuzzy. The layers of the wasp nest that I took on a cloudy day are not as strong as I expected. The same goes for a bouquet of glitter-dipped roses. Still, I was impressed by how well the phone captured my dog’s skin even though one was in motion while licking his sister.
But my favorite shots by far are the night vision shots. That’s right, night vision. Although it made me look like something out of a horror movie, the mode was great for capturing the antics of my dogs in pitch black darkness. There is also an underwater mode, but since the phone is not designed for scuba diving or deep diving, I am not sure what you are photographing. The 20MP selfie cam was a bit too good, capturing more than a few of my gray hairs and colorful spots.
I really like how many camera modes the S200 offers. Apart from Night Vision, there are Beauty, 100MP, Super Night, GIF and Mono, to name a few. But I missed the option to hit wide or ultrawide shots. The phone also lacks optical stabilization, it only offers digital, which is part of why some of the details of your images are not as sharp as they should be. The Night Vision and Macro Cameras do just that, leaving that poor 100MP sensor to do all the heavy lifting. And maybe I shouldn’t complain when the phone is so undeniably cheap, but if other similarly priced phones can do it, I can’t help but notice.
Doogee S200 Review: Battery
The S200 has a lot of good features, but the best by far has to be the battery life. Its 10,100mAH battery lasts almost 24 hours, at 23:12, when playing a 24-hour YouTube video at 50% brightness. The phone has Quick Charge 3.0, which means the S200 can get a 50% charge in just 30 minutes. And if you’re in a pinch, you can use the S200 as a charging brick with its reverse charging function.
But Doogee, I have a bone to pick with you. Why, oh why, do you have a big ole’ plate on the back of the phone with what looks like lightning bolts? I thought that meant the S200 has wireless charging capabilities. But imagine my surprise when I put the phone on not one, but two different wireless chargers and I got bupkis. So I thought it was NFC, but it’s not that.
Doogee S200 Review: Verdict
Should you buy the Doogee S200? It depends. The S200 has a lot going for it. It’s super sturdy and durable, has great performance, and even better battery life. The rear sub-screen adds a convenient feature, and man, that Night Vision is just cool. And you really can’t beat this price. But I’m not sure how many people would volunteer for 4G in a 5G era. In addition, the cameras with all their features could be better, and I am not sure that Android 15 will ever come to the S200. But for people looking for a rugged, semi-premium flagship phone for under $500, the Doogee S200’s competitors are few and far between.
[ad_2]
Source link
