Rugged telephones get a foul rap. They get written off as some novelty act, a cumbersome behemoth that ought to solely present its face on a development website or in a navy capability. However Doogee, a Chinese language firm, sees past just a few area of interest circumstances to carry us the Doogee S200, a mid-tier smartphone with some severe ruggedness however sufficient options to brush fingertips with the flagship class.
Out there for as little as $229 in AliExpress or $339 on Amazon, the S200 is sort of a steal with its excessive sturdiness, close to all-day battery life, and options that you just’d count on on a premium-grade smartphone. Nonetheless, there are just a few caveats. For example, since this telephone isn’t marketed in the direction of the U.S. market, it received’t work on a number of the 5G networks on a number of the larger carriers. And the efficiency, whereas good, doesn’t match as much as different mid-tier telephones. However by some means, it manages to run a number of the most taxing video games surprisingly properly.
Nonetheless, the S200 is cheap for these in search of a troublesome smartphone with ridiculous endurance and efficiency that may shock them.
Doogee S200
The Doogee S200 brings rugged sturdiness and glorious battery life to a robust gaming telephone for underneath $500.
Professionals
- Tremendous rugged design
- Wonderful battery life
- Surprisingly sturdy gaming efficiency
- Fascinating digicam options
- Actually reasonably priced
Cons
- Restricted 5G networks within the U.S.
- Efficiency is not as sturdy as base mannequin opponents
- Cameras are a combined bag
- No Android 15
Doogee S200 Evaluate: Design
“Is {that a} case?”
“Why’s it so heavy?”
“You possibly can use this factor as a weapon!”
These are the frequent responses I bought from everybody I confirmed the Doogee S200. And whereas inserting the smartphone in a sturdy sock and utilizing it as a makeshift blackjack is an intriguing concept, it’s not what the S200 is for. As somebody who’s wrecked a telephone or two in her life, I’m a fan of the telephone’s bulk. It’s an indication of its innate toughness. The telephone has IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD 810 scores. Which means the telephone is waterproof and dustproof. It’s additionally drop-proof and may stand up to falls from 5.9 ft (1.8 meters). It even has covers over the USB-C port to forestall water or mud from getting in. The show is made from Corning Gorilla Glass to forestall scratches.
Admittedly, that added safety does add fairly a little bit of bulk. The 7.1 x 3.23 x 0.63-inch machine weighs in at a chunky 12.9 ounces. It makes 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 Telephone (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) look like featherweight as compared.
Chonkiness however, the Doogee has mech-based design that’s certain to enchantment to Gundam, Transformers, and Energy Rangers followers, The aerospace-grade alloy rear panel coloured black and pewter grey is made up of a sequence of sharp angles that recede into light slopes. The centerpiece of the design is what Doogee calls a sub-screen. It’s just like the Dynamic Island discovered on trendy iPhones, simply in a extra handy location (Extra on that later). The 1.3-inch round AMOLED mini show is flanked on each side by 4 chambers that home the digicam sensors.
The telephone continues the mecha-look with 4 distinguished screws working down the edges. The amount and fingerprint reader/energy buttons sit on the best, with the twin SIM card tray and a button that customers can customise for 3 separate actions – one for single, double, and triple presses. The USB-C charging port sits on the backside of the telephone, hidden beneath a rubber gasket.
The entrance of the telephone consists principally of a show surrounded by somewhat thick bezels, significantly on the highest and backside. A teardrop digicam protrudes ever so barely into the highest of the show.
Though the black-and-gray colorway is cool, I want I may have gotten my fingers on both the green-and-yellow variations, as I really like a pop of coloration.
Doogee S200X Evaluate: Show
It’s not OLED and even AMOLED, however I’ll nonetheless take the S200X’s 6.7-inch IPS LCD display. As I watched the second second of Squid Recreation, I noticed each drop of blood splatter because it left the our bodies of the unfortunate contestants. The deep purple supplied a lurid distinction towards the cheerful rainbow-painted flooring within the “Six Legs” episode on the 2400 x 1080 show. In fact, it’s not as vivid because the aforementioned screens, however for the worth, I’m not going to pooh-pooh what the S200 has to supply.
The display isn’t as vibrant because the Pixel 9, however I had no downside studying articles in direct daylight. Video games like Lifeless Cells and Zenless Zone Zero ran easily with the auto-refresh charge that mechanically ramps the speed from the usual 60Hz to 120Hz when gaming or engaged on one thing significantly taxing. Doogee additionally included a barebones Recreation Mode that aggregates all of your video games and disables notifications.
Let’s discuss concerning the sub-screen. It’s a very helpful approach to work together with sure apps and telephone capabilities with out partaking with the principle show. Along with the clock, you possibly can learn notifications, management your designated music app, test battery life, snap a photograph, reply calls, and some different useful options.
Doogee S200 Evaluate: UI and Efficiency
In contrast to different Android telephones, Doogee runs inventory Android—Android 14. The two.2-GHz octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor, 12GB RAM, and 256GB of onboard storage are fairly spry, permitting for zippy navigation between apps and residential screens. I solely noticed a slight trace of slowdown after I began taking part in Zenless Zone Zero, and that’s after I launched 50 Google Chrome pages, a number of G-Suite apps, BlueSky, and Threads.
It ought to be famous that the smartphone is listed with 32GB of RAM. That’s as a result of Doogee has mapped a number of the 256GB to the RAM to idiot the system into considering it has extra capability to put in functions.
Regardless that the S200 hasn’t made the leap to Android 15 (and I’m undecided that it ever will), you continue to get a number of options from the earlier OS, corresponding to extra customization on the lock and residential screens. You additionally get higher safety and knowledge safety, corresponding to utilizing biometric authentication as an alternative of passwords for extra apps. Talking of apps, there’s Toolbag, which is a set of apps that harkens to the telephone’s development device potential. There’s a Protractor, Plumb Bob, and Stage. Doogee additionally threw the Pedometer, NFC Card Emulator, and Mirror in there, which is a bit complicated.
Once I ran Geekbench 6, the S200 returned a single-core rating of 990 and a multi-core rating of two,471. It is a stable rating, but it surely doesn’t match the Nothing Telephone (2a) (1,198/2,824), the Pixel 9 (1,699/4,241), or the iPhone 16 ( 3,412 and eight,416).
Doogee S200 Evaluate: Digital camera
Doogee outfitted the S200 with a formidable gathering of cameras and options. The principle shooter is 100MP with a 20MP evening imaginative and prescient digicam and a 2MP macro sensor. The photographs I captured had good coloration, however the particulars can generally be fuzzy. The layers of wasp nest l took on a cloudy day aren’t as sharp as I anticipated. The identical goes for a bouquet of glitter-dipped roses. Nonetheless, I used to be impressed with how properly the telephone captured my canine’s fur although one was in movement as she was licking her sister.
However my favourite pictures by far are the evening imaginative and prescient pictures. That’s proper, evening imaginative and prescient. Though it made me seem like one thing out of a horror movie, the mode was nice for capturing my canine’ shenanigans in near-pitch black darkness. There’s additionally an underwater mode, however because the telephone isn’t designed for scuba diving or deep immersion, I’m undecided what you’ll {photograph}. The 20MP selfie cam was a bit too good, capturing various of my grey hairs and colourful locs.
I actually like what number of digicam modes the S200 provides. Other than Evening Imaginative and prescient, there’s Magnificence, 100MP, Tremendous Evening, GIF, and Mono, to call just a few. However I used to be lacking the choice to hit extensive or ultrawide pictures. The telephone additionally lacks optical stabilization, solely providing digital,l which is a part of why a few of your photographs’ particulars aren’t as sharp as they need to be. The Evening Imaginative and prescient and Macro cameras just do that, leaving that poor 100MP sensor to do all of the heavy lifting. And perhaps I shouldn’t be complaining when the telephone is so undeniably low cost, but when different equally priced telephones can do it, I can’t assist however discover.
Doogee S200 Evaluate: Battery
The S200 has loads of good options, however the most effective by far needs to be the battery life. Its 10,100mAH battery lasts virtually 24 hours, at 23:12, when taking part in a 24-hour YouTube video at 50% brightness. The telephone has Fast Cost 3.0, which implies the S200 can obtain a 50% cost in solely half-hour. And if you happen to’re in a pinch, you should utilize the S200 as a charging brick with its reverse cost characteristic.
However Doogee, I’ve a bone to choose with you. Why, oh why, do you may have a giant ole’ plate on the again of the telephone with what seems to be lightning bolts? I assumed it meant that the S200 has wi-fi charging capabilities. However think about my shock after I positioned the telephone on not one, however two totally different wi-fi chargers and bought bupkis. Then I assumed it was NFC, however that’s not it.
Doogee S200 Evaluate: Verdict
Do you have to purchase the Doogee S200? It relies upon. The S200 has loads going for itself. It’s tremendous rugged and sturdy, has nice efficiency, and even higher battery life. The rear sub-screen provides some handy performance, and man, that Evening Imaginative and prescient is simply cool. And you actually can’t beat that value. However I’m undecided how many individuals would willingly accept 4G in a 5G period. Plus, the cameras with all its options may very well be higher, and I’m undecided that Android 15 will ever come to the S200. However for individuals in search of a tough, powerful, semi-premium flagship telephone for underneath $500, the Doogee S200’s opponents are few and much between.
