DOOGEE S96 Pro

Doogee, a Hispanic-Chinese joint venture specialized in the production of rugged phones, re-proposes the Magnetic Mod application to increase the autonomy and audio power of their new armoured smartphone.

Being a rugged device,the DOOGEE S96 Pro is a far cry from the canonical standards: we have in fact a bulky and heavy device, where the finest (and most delicate) materials leave room for sturdy rubber frames, which protect the aluminum chassis. Available only in Mineral Black color, it has a small frontal notch and on the back a triple chamber with flash and creep contacts to magnetically connect Mod.

High 168mm, 79.3 mm wide and 13.8 mm thick, it is not easy to handle especially because of the weight of 286 grams. The fingerprint reader, positioned on the side, is comfortable only if you firmly hold the device that, otherwise, risks to unbalance and fall from the hands. The 3.5 mm jack is missing but the Type-C is present.

The display of S96 Pro is a 6.22-inch, low oleophobic unit whose readability in direct sunlight is quite critical. This is probably due to the adoption of a double layer of Gorilla Glass, which covers the IPS FHD+ panel with 1080×2160 and 384 PPI resolution. On board we find the Helio P90 Octa-core processor, 8 GB RAM and 128 GB UFS 2.0 expandable memory. Good GPS connectivity, integrated by a barometric sensor.

The Helio P90 processor certainly does not make the interface (still based on Android 10.0) of this device fly, great for those seeking maximum strength and waterproofing, but not aiming at performance. Who will put this smartphone in his pocket will surely appreciate its incredible robustness: the manufacturer declares that it is able to withstand 1000 falls from a height of 2 m and that the IP68 certification allows it to stay up to 4 hours under 3 m of water.

48 MP main camera with Sony IMX582 sensor, 8 MP for the 117 degree wide angle and depth sensor. The performance of the standard camera is acceptable in good light conditions while the wide angle lens tends to blur the edges of images. Videos have completely wrong light handling, focusing is slow and inaccurate. Images also burned by the front camera, which allows to make Zoom 2X, to which we would have preferred a possible wide angle.

Suitable for those who need autonomy and maybe work in dusty and chaotic environments or practice a lot of hiking. We have never particularly appreciated Mods, even on devices from other manufacturers, but those who found them useful will certainly appreciate the idea of Doogee to propose them again.

Among the shortcomings of DOOGEE S96 Pro rugged phone, we can not fail to emphasize the insufficient brightness of the display and sacrificed aesthetics. It is, all in all, a good device if contextualized to the rugged category.