Doogee S89 Pro

[cadaveca]

The Doogee S89 Pro is a tough and rugged smartphone ready to take on your next adventure. Paired with a rather unexpected night-vision capability, the Mediatek Helio P90-based S89 Pro is not only functionally durable, but value-oriented, too.

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[TheinsanegamerN]

See, I'd love to get one of these, the version with the thermal camera specifically. However, it doesnt support US bands, and the forums are full of people who buy these only to find they dont work, and with the shutdown of the 3g network and carriers being picky on what they allow on VoLTE, these wont work at all stateside.

Its a real shame too. Why does the USA get shafted on big battery phones? Even samsung's 7000 MaH phones dont see a US release.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

See, I'd love to get one of these, the version with the thermal camera specifically. However, it doesnt support US bands, and the forums are full of people who buy these only to find they dont work, and with the shutdown of the 3g network and carriers being picky on what they allow on VoLTE, these wont work at all stateside.

Its a real shame too. Why does the USA get shafted on big battery phones? Even samsung's 7000 MaH phones dont see a US release.

Maybe we're more thin-ness obsessed than other markets? Even 5000 mAh can get one a long way, though.

 

[Denver]

See, I'd love to get one of these, the version with the thermal camera specifically. However, it doesnt support US bands, and the forums are full of people who buy these only to find they dont work, and with the shutdown of the 3g network and carriers being picky on what they allow on VoLTE, these wont work at all stateside.

Its a real shame too. Why does the USA get shafted on big battery phones? Even samsung's 7000 MaH phones dont see a US release.

Because most people are obsessed with fragile, light and thin devices.

 

[wheresmycar]

This definitely deserves a place in our home. We terminated our landline and now rely on a spare s7 phone with an amazing SIM deal for all-family use. Problem is, although ive got it wrapped in a durable case, its been knocked around a bit (screen crack, black ink like stain and some lightly visible lines running top to bottom). More importantly, battery life is pants.

The Doogee S89 would make the perfect addition (a second all-fam phone). Battery life sounds amazing and I like the idea of having a dual SIM phone although not an immediate requirement. Other perks are equally necessary: rugged design, waterproof, etc. Best selling point: 12000mAh > about time!!! The only thing i would have liked a little different is the aesthetics... a less transformerish/batmanish design with a more sleeker look would have been nice.

 

[HairyLobsters]

The design looks like it's made for edge lord teenagers.

 

[R-T-B]

The design looks like it's made for edge lord teenagers.

So "edge-lord teenagers" like rugged brick phones now?

 

[spnidel]

fuck yeah, for when you want to get some leg day work in while you're out and about

 

[The Quim Reaper]

I just purchased one of their lower end (ST35) models for when I go on my long distance hiking treks, so needed a weatherproof phone with a decent battery life, for navigation apps and listening to my audio-book collection whilst walking and in the tent, in the evenings.

I couldn't care less about the camera quality or 'gaming' performance as I simply didn't get it for any of that.

Battery life is very good, keeping it in airplane mode and low power battery, when not using the navigation apps, and 5-8hrs of audio-book playback a day, I get at least 10 days out of it before needing a recharge.

The only real criticism I have of the phone is the touch sensitivity of the screen is on the weak side, sometimes requiring more than one attempt for it to register my inputs.

For only $140, I'm more than happy with it as it does everything I need it to and nothing more.

 

[wheresmycar]

I just purchased one of their lower end (ST35) models for when I go on my long distance hiking treks, so needed a weatherproof phone with a decent battery life, for navigation apps and listening to my audio-book collection whilst walking and in the tent, in the evenings.

I couldn't care less about the camera quality or 'gaming' performance as I simply didn't get it for any of that.

Battery life is very good, keeping it in airplane mode and low power battery, when not using the navigation apps, and 5-8hrs of audio-book playback a day, I get at least 10 days out of it before needing a recharge.

The only real criticism I have of the phone is the touch sensitivity of the screen is on the weak side, sometimes requiring more than one attempt for it to register my inputs.

For only $140, I'm more than happy with it as it does everything I need it to and nothing more.

nice one!

I wonder why we don't have premium phone options without the camera and gaming characteristics whilst upholding excellent battery life. I'm sure there's a small but decently sized cost-effective market for it. I have 2 phones... i only occasionally use the camera on one and never on the other... no demanding gaming on either of them. I remember using my nokia non-smartphone for agesss, long after smartphones became a thing... even whilst owning a smartphone. The battery life was simply amazing until it just got too old, boring, small and feature-less.

 

[redzo]

There is nothing "affordable" about this thing. The helio P90 was announced in 2018. It's dinosaur tech in a luxury box/package with the most outrageous price, 0 customer support and 0 software updates.
Rugged design is basically useless as long as you buy something else after 1 year of ownership. just replace it after 1 year and you are better off with other "unrrugged" products.

 

[wheresmycar]

There is nothing "affordable" about this thing. The helio P90 was announced in 2018. It's dinosaur tech in a luxury box/package with the most outrageous price, 0 customer support and 0 software updates.
Rugged design is basically useless as long as you buy something else after 1 year of ownership. just replace it after 1 year and you are better off with other "unrrugged" products.

Here in the UK its going for around £277 on ebay (shipped from China) or £329 locally. For this specific market (or targeted audience) can you suggest a similarly priced or more affordable alternative?

I don't believe the targeted market here is performance-driven and in many cases not everyone appreciates having to fork out £600-£1400 for a mid-performance or top-notch hi-tech phone which will mostly be used for basic tasks and then further be limited to a small battery which is definitely an obstacle some/many are looking to overcome. I already have a S8+ as my main driver and already have a use-case for this particular phone (as detailed in a previous post).

Personally I think its a perfect alternative for those with "specific needs" - a small market audience but a relevant one. I've not familiar with these types of big-battery-phones and if there are better alternatives out there i'd like to view/compare them.

 

[HairyLobsters]

So "edge-lord teenagers" like rugged brick phones now?They like batman and RGB lights

I'm saying a phone that looks like Batman with RGB lights doesn't seem like a phone for adults.

 

[R-T-B]

I'm saying a phone that looks like Batman with RGB lights doesn't seem like a phone for adults.

Oh, yeah, I get that part. The RGB stuff isn't really in sync with the rugged theme at all.

 

[lexluthermiester]

the Mediatek Helio P90-based S89 Pro is not only functionally durable, but value-oriented, too.

I'll agree with this statement. Ticks a lot of the deal-maker boxes for me. I like it! But can it be had in North America?

EDIT:

But can it be had in North America?

https://www.amazon.com/DOOGEE-Smartphone-Waterproof-Cellphone-Breathing/dp/B0BBLYZDNN

And the answer is yes! For a fair price as well.

 

[Vayra86]

See, I'd love to get one of these, the version with the thermal camera specifically. However, it doesnt support US bands, and the forums are full of people who buy these only to find they dont work, and with the shutdown of the 3g network and carriers being picky on what they allow on VoLTE, these wont work at all stateside.

Its a real shame too. Why does the USA get shafted on big battery phones? Even samsung's 7000 MaH phones dont see a US release.

Because phone carriers in many countries and the USA front and center, are one big corrupt shitstorm.

And most people get their phones with their carrier sub in quite a few countries too. If you don't have a regulating government keeping the market healthy, this is what happens.

 

[xBruce88x]

I used to get these "off brand" rugged phones, but they always had weird issues that people referred to as the mediatek bug. Then there were the odd compatibility issues with some apps. Getting things like tap to pay at stores proves useless. Even though the phones would claim to support it, it would never work. I've had a couple of ulefone armor phones. I think we had one of the review brand too. I call BS on their waterproof claims. The moment the speaker gets wet, it'll sound like a blown radio forevermore. Had this issue with every rugged phone ever. Screen sensitivity and general stability can be issues, such as Pandora always crashing because it thinks it's an idle app. Many memory managers do this too. As a positive, I once used the feature to charge another device to power a pair of USB powered speakers. Sounded much better than the phone lol.

 

[theFOoL]

Doogee is a crappie company. There camera choices and cpu are garbage (why didn't they go with Mali at least instead of PWRVR). I doubt the battery is 12kmah (edit: yep it actually is 12kmah)

 

[xBruce88x]

They do so because they can offset their R&D costs for essentially making a permanent otterbox in the phone. They probably get the other bits wholesale from companies looking to offload outdated inventory.

 

[wheresmycar]

I used to get these "off brand" rugged phones, but they always had weird issues that people referred to as the mediatek bug. Then there were the odd compatibility issues with some apps. Getting things like tap to pay at stores proves useless. Even though the phones would claim to support it, it would never work. I've had a couple of ulefone armor phones. I think we had one of the review brand too. I call BS on their waterproof claims. The moment the speaker gets wet, it'll sound like a blown radio forevermore. Had this issue with every rugged phone ever. Screen sensitivity and general stability can be issues, such as Pandora always crashing because it thinks it's an idle app. Many memory managers do this too. As a positive, I once used the feature to charge another device to power a pair of USB powered speakers. Sounded much better than the phone lol.

Doogee is a crappie company. There camera choices and cpu are garbage (why didn't they go with Mali at least instead of PWRVR). I doubt the battery is 12kmah (edit: yep it actually is 12kmah)

seeing you both have experience in this sort of area. What would you recommend for a secondary type phone (as I already have my S8+ daily driver). Purpose of use: Purely a spare phone which replaces our landline at home (for the family) for calls/messaging/light browsing/light gaming for kids/etc?

 

[silentbogo]

There's already a teardown video on the net. The thing you have to remember about these phones - is that they all are total s$%t.

I had few of those in my workshop, from older abominable Doogie and Oukitel, to newer Blackview - most of them had laughable issues regardless of their made up MIL/IP ratings. One didn't survive a week at construction site after "ingesting" lots of metal shavings into the loudspeaker through a defective membrane. One died after a trip to sauna(moisture killed touch panel and second mic). Quite a few simply fell out of pocket(screen or glass damage just like on a regular phone). etc.etc. etc. What's even worse about these is parts price and availability. You'll be better off getting a normal phone, a "power bank" case w/ bumper, and saving the rest to pay for a couple of screen replacements you may never need.

What would you recommend for a secondary type phone (as I already have my S8+ daily driver). Purpose of use: Purely a spare phone which replaces our landline at home (for the family) for calls/messaging/light browsing/light gaming for kids/etc?

Definitely not a $400 "rugged" that weighs 400 gramms(almost 1lb for americans) and can shoot deer with NoIR cam(or scare bears with megatron blinkers). I'd go for a used or overstock mid-tier phone from a couple of years back. Just give it a nice IPA cleanup and you are good to go. Or get yourelf a new phone and use that sammy as a backup before its battery pops.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

seeing you both have experience in this sort of area. What would you recommend for a secondary type phone (as I already have my S8+ daily driver). Purpose of use: Purely a spare phone which replaces our landline at home (for the family) for calls/messaging/light browsing/light gaming for kids/etc?

A true rugged phone is not for browing and light gaming. That's the catch. A good one is going to cost you up to the thousands and use old hardware. But it's also going to have walkie-talkie functions, probably sat access for cell, you can hurl it through a window, sink it in 20 feet of mud or water, and run it over with a truck, repeatedly. These are built for military and industrial applications so the point is for it to be damn near immortal. So they go with old proven tech that they know works and the bugs are gone and then over engineer the ever living fuck out of it. They also run a secure version of android that's stripped down and updates are rare, you can't get it from google it's through them.

But if you want something that isn't going to break, and even if cell is down you have sat options, there's no better way to go. And while it seems insane the hardware you are getting for the ask, these are often used for like 5+ years rather than the upgrade each year stuff.