Rugged phones get a bad rap. They were written off as exotic acts. It's a giant beast that should only show its face on construction sites or military capabilities. But Doogee, a Chinese company, See more than just a few specific cases to bring the Doogee S200, a mid-range smartphone that is highly durable but has enough features to be at your fingertips in the flagship category.
Available for just $229 on AliExpress or $339 on Amazon, the S200 is nearly a steal thanks to its extreme durability. Battery life lasts almost all day and features you'd expect from a premium smartphone. However, there are some caveats. For example, because the phone isn't marketed for the US market, Therefore, it does not work with some 5G networks on some major service providers. And the performance is even good. But it doesn't match other mid-range phones. But it somehow manages to handle some of the most taxing games surprisingly well.
However, the S200 is affordable for those looking for a solid smartphone with ridiculous durability and performance that will surprise them.
Doogee S200
The Doogee S200 brings rugged durability and great battery life to a solid gaming phone for under $500.
strength
- Extremely durable design
- Excellent battery life
- Surprisingly strong gaming performance
- Interesting camera features
- The price is really inexpensive.
weakness
- Limited 5G networks in the United States
- Performance isn't as strong as basic competitors
- The camera is a mixed bag.
- No Android 15
Doogee S200 review: Design
“Is that so?”
“Why is it so heavy?”
“You can use this as a weapon!”
This is the general response I get from everyone I show the Doogee S200 to, and while it's cool to put the smartphone in a sturdy sock and use it as a makeshift blackjack, it's an interesting idea. But that's not what the S200 is for. As someone who has broken a phone or two in her life, I'm a big fan of big phones. It is a sign of its innate strength. The phone has IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD 810 ratings. That means the phone is waterproof and dustproof. It's also drop-proof and can withstand drops from a height of 5.9 feet (1.8 meters). There's a cover over the USB-C port to prevent water or dust from getting in. The display is made of Corning Gorilla Glass to protect it from scratches.
Admittedly, the additional protection adds a little to the bulk. The 7.1 x 3.23 x 0.63-inch device weighs 12.9 ounces. It makes Google Pixel 9 (7 ounces 6 x 2.8 x 0.3 inches) Samsung Galaxy S24SE (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) Looks like featherweight in comparison.
However, the Doogee has a mechanical design that is sure to appeal to fans of Gundam, Transformers, and Power Rangers. The black and pewter gray aerospace-grade alloy back panel consists of a set of sharp corners that recede into a ramp. At the heart of the design is what Doogee calls a sub-screen. It's like the Dynamic Island found on modern iPhones, in a more convenient location. (More on that later.) The small, circular 1.3-inch AMOLED display is flanked on both sides by four cutouts containing camera sensors.
The phone maintains a mechanical look with four prominent screws arranged on the side. The volume rocker and fingerprint/power reader are on the right side. It has dual SIM card trays and user-customizable buttons for three separate actions – one for single, double and triple presses. The USB-C charging port is on the bottom of the phone, hidden beneath. rubber gasket
The front of the phone mostly consists of the display surrounded by a relatively thick bezel. Especially at the top and bottom. The waterdrop-shaped camera protrudes slightly all the way to the top of the display.
Black and gray look cool, though. But I wish I could own the green and yellow versions. Because I like bright colors
Doogee S200X review: Display
It's not OLED or even AMOLED, but I'll stick with the S200X's 6.7-inch IPS LCD screen. As I watched the second second of Squid Game, I saw every drop of blood splashing off the unfortunate contestant's body. The deep red contrasts startlingly with the cheerful rainbow background in the “six-legged” episode on the 2400 x 1080 display. It's certainly not as bright as the screen above. But for this price I won't complain about what the S200 offers.
The screen is not as bright. Pixel 9But I had no problem reading articles in direct sunlight. Games like Dead Cells and Zenless Zone Zero ran smoothly, with an auto-refresh rate that automatically boosts the rate from the standard 60Hz to 120Hz when gaming or performing particularly demanding tasks. Doogee also has a barebones game mode that collects all your games and turns off notifications.
Let's talk about sub-screens. It's a really useful way to interact with certain apps and phone functions without engaging the main display. Besides the clock You can also read notifications. Control specific music apps Check battery life, take photos, answer calls, and other useful features.
Doogee S200 review: UI and performance
Unlike other Android phones, Doogee runs stock Android — Android 14. Its MediaTek Dimensity 7050 octa-core 2.2-GHz processor, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of onboard storage are quite spry. Allows for fast navigation between apps and the home screen. I only saw a slight slowdown when I started playing Zenless Zone Zero, and that was after I launched 50 Google Chrome pages, several G-Suite apps, BlueSky, and Threads.
It should be noted that the smartphone has 32GB of RAM. That's because Doogee has mapped some of the 256GB space to RAM to trick the system into thinking it has more capacity to install applications.
While the S200 doesn't make the leap to Android 15 (and I'm not sure if it ever will), you still get many of the features from the previous operating system, like additional customizations to the lock screen and home screen. main You also get better security and data protection, such as using biometric authentication instead of passwords for more apps. Speaking of apps, there's Toolbag, which is a set of apps that take into account to the potential of the phone's construction tools. There's a protractor, plumb bob, and level. Doogee also throws in a Pedometer, NFC Card Emulator, and Mirror, which is a little confusing.
When I ran Geekbench 6, the S200 scored a single-core score of 990 and a multi-core score of 2,471. These are good scores, but they don't match the Nothing Phone (2a) (1,198/2,824), Pixel 9 (1,699/4,241). ) or iPhone 16 (3,412 and 8,416)
Doogee S200 review: Camera
Doogee has equipped the S200 with an impressive assemblage of cameras and features. The main camera is 100MP with a 20MP night vision camera and a 2MP macro sensor. The pictures I captured had good colours. But sometimes the details may not be clear. The layers of a wasp nest I photographed on an overcast day were not as sharp as I expected. Like a bouquet of glitter-dipped roses, however, I was impressed by how well the phone picked up my dog's fur. Even with the dog fur moving as she licked her sister.
But my favorite images are nighttime images, yes, night vision. Even though it makes me look like I'm straight out of a horror movie. But this mode is ideal for capturing photos of dogs playing in near-total darkness. There is also an underwater mode. But because the phone is not designed for scuba diving or deep water immersion. So I'm not sure what you'll be shooting. The 20MP selfie camera is pretty good too. It was able to capture some of my gray hair and colorful locations.
I like the S200's many camera modes: in addition to Night Vision, there's Beauty, 100MP, Super Night, GIF and Mono, among others, but I didn't have the option to take wide-angle or ultra-wide-angle photos. The phone also lacks optical image stabilization. There is only a digital system. This is partly why some of the details in your images aren't as sharp as they should be. The Night Vision and Macro cameras do just that, leaving the poor 100MP sensor to do all the heavy lifting. And maybe I shouldn't complain when the phone is so undeniably cheap. But what if a phone with a similar price could do it? I couldn't help but notice.
Doogee S200 review: Battery
The S200 has a lot of nice features. But the best thing is battery life. The 10,100mAH battery lasted almost 24 hours at 11:12 PM when playing a 24-hour YouTube video at 50% brightness. The phone has Quick Charge 3.0, which means the S200 can charge. 50% in just 30 minutes, and if you're having trouble, you can use the S200 as a charger with a reverse charging feature.
But Doogee, I have a bone to pick with you. Why, why do you have a big ole patch on the back of the phone with something that looks like a lightning bolt? I think that means the S200 has wireless charging capabilities. But imagine my surprise when I placed the phone on two different wireless chargers and not the phone on two chargers and got a bubblegum. And then I thought it was NFC, but that's not the case.
Doogee S200 Review: Verdict
Should you buy the Doogee S200? It depends. The S200 has many benefits on its own. It is extremely durable and durable. has excellent performance and longer battery life The rear sub-screen adds convenient functionality, and man, Night Vision is awesome. And you really can't beat that price. But I'm not sure how many people would be willing to accept 4G in the 5G era. Plus, a camera with all the features could be better. And I'm not sure if Android 15 will come to the S200 or not, but for those looking for a durable, semi-premium flagship phone under $500, the Doogee S200's competitors are few and far between.