Doogee S96 GT hands-on: A well-made rugged Android 12 smartphone for selfie lovers - Notebookcheck.net

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Released arsenic an upgrade to the MediaTek Helio G90-driven S96 Pro, the Doogee S96 GT comes with the somewhat faster Helio G95 processor alongside 256 GB of interior retention and a 32 MP selfie shooter. This MIL-STD-810H-certified rugged handset besides comes with Android 12, but the remaining specs and features stay unchanged.

Back successful 2020, Doogee released the S96 Pro smartphone with Android 10 onboard, a nighttime imaginativeness camera, and powered by the MediaTek Helio G90 processor. That MIL-STD-810G-rated rugged handset became a bestseller and, according to Doogee, much than 1 cardinal units were sold.

Now, the S96 Pro returns arsenic the S96 GT with the aforesaid specs overall, including value and dimensions, but is powered by the MediaTek Helio G95 processor and preloaded with Android 12. The Doogee S96 GT is certified to comply with a superior ruggedness standard, trades the greenish colour enactment for gold, and besides receives a 32 MP selfie shooter. Last, but not least, the 128 GB retention abstraction of its predecessor is pushed up to 256 GB.

In the end, are each the changes mentioned supra capable to marque the Doogee S96 GT astatine slightest arsenic palmy arsenic its predecessor? This is the question that we volition effort to reply successful today's hands-on review.

Doogee S96 GT MIL-STD-810H Android smartphone
Processor MediaTek Helio G95
GPU ARM Mali-G76 MP4
Display 6.22-inch IPS LCD, 1,520 X 720 pixels
Memory 8 GB
Storage 256 GB and microSD enactment up to 512 GB
Water resistance IP68, IP69K
Connectivity 4G dual SIM, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi 802.11ac/a/b/g/n, NFC, 3.5 mm audio jack, USB-C, GPS with Glonass, Beidou, Galileo support
Main cameras 48 MP AI camera f/1.8 (Samsung S5KGM1ST), 20 MP nighttime imaginativeness IR f/1.8 (Sony IMX350), 8 MP wide 130° FOV f/2.2 (Samsung S5K4H7), 2 MP representation f/2.8
Selfie camera 32 MP 90° FOV f/2.0 (Sony IMX616-AAJH5-C)
Battery capacity 6350 mAh, 24 W accelerated charging and 15 W wireless charging
Battery life 2-3 days regular use, 29 hours calls, 19 days standby
Weight 310 g (0.68 pounds)
Dimensions 167 x 81.4 x 15.5 mm (6.57 x )
OS Android 12
Colors black, orange, gold
MSRP US$349.99

Although released arsenic a constricted variation device, the golden Doogee S96 GT provided for this reappraisal comes successful a emblematic yellowish box, akin to that of the little susceptible Doogee S61 Pro. In summation to the telephone itself, the cardboard container besides contains a spare surface protector and the accessories needed to use it properly, a SIM tray removal tool, a wrist rope, a idiosyncratic manual, a warranty card, arsenic good arsenic a 24 W charger and a USB-A to USB-C cable.

Design-wise, the Doogee S96 GT is identical to its predecessor. The dimensions and value are the same, each ports and buttons person the aforesaid placement. The customizable cardinal is connected the left, portion the dedicated fingerprint scanner, powerfulness button, and measurement buttons are located connected the right. The show is the aforesaid 6.22-inch LCD HD+ with a water-drop notch that is besides recovered successful the S96 Pro. The talker sits connected the back, which is some a bully and a atrocious idea. If the telephone drops bottommost corner-down, the likelihood of damaging the talker decreases, but the dependable faces outwards erstwhile playing videos oregon successful a call. 

While the telephone feels coagulated successful manus and the metallic parts look great, the polycarbonate and rubber parts of the lawsuit look and consciousness alternatively cheaper. However, this is simply a instrumentality for pugnacious environments, not a telephone that 1 would usage arsenic a manner statement, truthful I don't spot a occupation successful having immoderate little refined parts. But since the Doogee S98 Pro featured precise bully materials and craftsmanship each around, 1 tin lone anticipation that the successor of the S96 GT volition rise the barroom for the S96 lineup arsenic well.

Benchmark Score/Details
A1 SD Bench 422 MB/s read, 324 MB/s constitute for the interior memory; 4610 MB/s for RAM copy
Geekbench 490 single-core, 1629 multi-core; 1998 Vulkan, 1973 OpenCL
GFXBench 1413 frames (High Tier) and 2228 frames (Normal Tier), some connected Aztec Ruins OpenGL astatine 1370 x 720 pixels
3DMark 3247 (Sling Shot, OpenGL ES 3.0) and 1354 (Wild Life, Vulkan)

As shown by the benchmark results above, the show figures of the Doogee S96 GT are successful enactment with what we could expect from a MediaTek Helio G95-powered handset. When it comes to games and heat, I conscionable ran Raid: Shadow Legends for astatine slightest 30 minutes and past held the phone. Barely warm, and acold from hot. I besides measured the somesthesia connected some sides with 2 thermal imaging cameras, and the values shown were ever beneath the mean quality assemblage temperature. I obtained rather antithetic results and nary nonrecreational thermal imaging instrumentality was involved, truthful I deemed the pictures unusable and deleted them.

Modern games similar NFS No Limits mightiness not enactment flawlessly astatine the highest prime settings, but the debased surface solution of the Doogee S96 GT makes astir gaming experiences smoother than expected. The talker tin get rather loud, truthful if there's cipher astir to beryllium disturbed by it, gamers tin walk immoderate prime clip with this rugged smartphone that was surely not designed for gaming.

In presumption of artillery life, the Doogee S96 GT tin easy get done an full time successful mixed-use scenarios, but playing games and shooting photos volition deplete its artillery successful astir 8 hours. That being said, the 2-3 days autonomy mentioned by Doogee for regular usage is realistic for astir imaginable buyers. Wired charging clip is astir 1 hr and a half, and wireless charging takes astatine slightest 3 hours, depending connected the charging pad.

Since the specs of the cameras were mentioned earlier, I volition get consecutive to the constituent by saying that portion the IR nighttime imaginativeness camera tin present bully results — sometimes rather impressive, successful information — for navigating successful the acheronian and for taking snapshots that usually extremity up a spot retired of focus. The selfie shooter gets the occupation done good capable successful well-lit conditions, but the bundle often fails to process the input properly, for illustration erstwhile utilizing the Portrait mode.

Speaking of the camera software, I volition accidental that the Night Vision mode is unusable. The usage of the UHD oregon regular photograph modes provides amended results, but adjacent past it is precise hard to sprout decent nighttime photos. Street lights, for example, made a messiness of each my shots, nary substance what settings I used. Using a third-party camera bundle similar Open Camera could lick the problem, but it wasn't my extremity to bash this. Anyway, a third-party portion of codification cannot lick the alternatively unusual ocular artifacts that I noticed astatine night, which are astir apt caused by the optical assembly of the cameras.

In bully lighting conditions, the shots taken with the Doogee S96 GT tin crook retired decent, but the colors inactive look washed out. Thankfully, this is thing that an representation processing bundle can't handle.

Doogee made a fewer insignificant modifications to the vanilla Android 12 ROM and loaded it connected the S96 GT. The astir evident changes are the "Easy Key" configuration section, the "OutDoor Toolbox" suite of utile tools for assorted tasks, including the quality to measurement the dependable level, and Doogee's bundle updater.

Sadly, the aforementioned bundle updater means that the Doogee S96 GT does not person updates straight from Google. Because of this, the latest Android information update installed connected the smartphone is dated June 5, 2022. Sadly, Doogee does not merchandise updates arsenic rapidly arsenic different manufacturers. A notable illustration for this is that the Doogee V20, which volition soon get a successor and was promised to get Android 12, but is inactive waiting for it.

On the agleam side, the bundle is stable, runs well, and volition person astatine slightest captious information updates and insignificant tweaks from clip to time. This could person been worse, but determination is besides overmuch country for improvement.

With charismatic looks for a rugged phone, the Doogee S96 GT besides features generous artillery life, plentifulness of representation and retention space, arsenic good arsenic a cleanable bundle environment. The 32 MP selfie camera works good successful astir scenarios, though it evidently struggles successful low-light conditions. The nighttime imaginativeness IR camera is precise bully astatine shooting photos successful implicit darkness, but adjacent much for real-time navigation successful preview mode (maximum scope is present astir 15 meters/50 feet). The fingerprint scholar works large and is not located connected the powerfulness button, thing that I often find rather inconvenient connected my Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro. 

Overall, the photograph and video shooting prime is acold from what I expected. Future bundle updates mightiness amended things a bit, but it is imaginable for immoderate ocular artifacts to beryllium caused by the low-quality lens. The buttons jiggle and immoderate non-metallic parts of the lawsuit could person been manufactured much carefully. The show is the aforesaid lackluster low-resolution IPS LCD arsenic that of the S96 Pro, and possibly the adjacent subordinate of the S96 household volition yet athletics an AMOLED panel. 

As an upgrade to a rugged Android 10 handset, the Doogee S96 GT gets galore things right: it comes with Android 12, a somewhat faster processor, much storage, and an improved subject modular extortion rating. But arsenic a regular operator for wide use, the Doogee S96 GT is little applicable present than its predecessor was backmost successful 2020. How applicable depends connected the terms and the user's circumstantial requirements.

Disclaimer: The writer of this reappraisal received the Doogee S96 GT rugged smartphone from Doogee escaped of complaint for the intent of testing.

Only disposable successful a 8/256 GB variant, the Doogee S96 GT is presently disposable on Amazon US for US$349.99, but a US$30 coupon is disposable for a constricted play arsenic well. On Amazon.de, it is disposable for 349.99 EUR. The terms erstwhile purchasing from online Chinese retailers specified arsenic Aliexpress oregon Geekbuying varies a batch depending connected the buyer's determination and assorted promotions that mightiness apply, truthful consciousness escaped to look for the champion woody astir portion keeping successful caput that, successful these cases, shipping and import fees mightiness apply.

Doogee (official merchandise page)

Codrut Nistor, 2022-11-13 (Update: 2022-11-13)

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