Doogee S200 Assessment

Doogee S200 Assessment: Design

“Is {that a} case?”
“Why’s it so heavy?”
“You would use this factor as a weapon!”
These are the widespread responses I received from everybody I confirmed the Doogee S200. And whereas putting the smartphone in a sturdy sock and utilizing it as a makeshift blackjack is an intriguing thought, 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. Meaning the telephone is waterproof and dustproof. It’s additionally drop-proof and may stand up to falls from 5.9 toes (1.8 meters). It even has covers over the USB-C port to stop water or mud from getting in. The show is made from Corning Gorilla Glass to stop scratches.

Admittedly, that added safety does add fairly a little bit of bulk. The 7.1 x 3.23 x 0.63-inch system 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 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 to be featherweight compared.

Chonkiness however, the Doogee has mech-based design that’s certain to attraction 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 mild slopes. The centerpiece of the design is what Doogee calls a sub-screen. It’s just like the Dynamic Island discovered on fashionable 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 operating down the perimeters. The amount and fingerprint reader/energy buttons sit on the correct, 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 largely 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 might have gotten my palms on both the green-and-yellow variations, as I really like a pop of shade.

Doogee S200X Assessment: Show

It’s not OLED and even AMOLED, however I’ll nonetheless take the S200X’s 6.7-inch IPS LCD display screen. 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 pink supplied a lurid distinction in opposition to 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 value, I’m not going to pooh-pooh what the S200 has to supply.

The display screen isn’t as vibrant because the Pixel 9, however I had no drawback studying articles in direct daylight. Video games like Lifeless Cells and Zenless Zone Zero ran easily with the auto-refresh price that robotically 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 in regards to the sub-screen. It’s a very helpful option to work together with sure apps and telephone features with out partaking with the primary show. Along with the clock, you may learn notifications, management your designated music app, verify battery life, snap a photograph, reply calls, and some different useful options.

Doogee S200 Assessment: 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 enjoying 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 pondering it has extra capability to put in purposes.

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, comparable to extra customization on the lock and residential screens. You additionally get higher safety and knowledge safety, comparable to utilizing biometric authentication as a substitute of passwords for extra apps. Talking of apps, there’s Toolbag, which is a set of apps that harkens to the telephone’s building device potential. There’s a Protractor, Plumb Bob, and Degree. Doogee additionally threw the Pedometer, NFC Card Emulator, and Mirror in there, which is a bit complicated.

After I ran Geekbench 6, the S200 returned a single-core rating of 990 and a multi-core rating of two,471. This can be a strong 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 Assessment: Digicam

Doogee outfitted the S200 with a formidable gathering of cameras and options. The primary shooter is 100MP with a 20MP evening imaginative and prescient digicam and a 2MP macro sensor. The images I captured had good shade, 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 despite the fact that one was in movement as she was licking her sister.

However my favourite photographs by far are the evening imaginative and prescient photographs. That’s proper, evening imaginative and prescient. Though it made me appear to be one thing out of a horror movie, the mode was nice for capturing my canines’ shenanigans in near-pitch black darkness. There’s additionally an underwater mode, however for the reason that 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 gives. Apart from 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 vast or ultrawide photographs. The telephone additionally lacks optical stabilization, solely providing digital,l which is a part of why a few of your pictures’ particulars aren’t as sharp as they need to be. The Evening Imaginative and prescient and Macro cameras do exactly 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 Assessment: Battery

The S200 has loads of good options, however one of the best by far needs to be the battery life. Its 10,100mAH battery lasts nearly 24 hours, at 23:12, when enjoying a 24-hour YouTube video at 50% brightness. The telephone has Fast Cost 3.0, which suggests the S200 can obtain a 50% cost in solely half-hour. And in the event you’re in a pinch, you should use the S200 as a charging brick with its reverse cost function.

However Doogee, I’ve a bone to choose with you. Why, oh why, do you’ve got an enormous ole’ plate on the again of the telephone with what seems to be to be lightning bolts? I believed 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 completely different wi-fi chargers and received bupkis. Then I believed it was NFC, however that’s not it.

Doogee S200 Assessment: Verdict

Must you purchase the Doogee S200? It relies upon. The S200 has lots 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 might be higher, and I’m undecided that Android 15 will ever come to the S200. However for folks on the lookout for a tough, powerful, semi-premium flagship telephone for underneath $500, the Doogee S200’s opponents are few and much between.