Top 5 – What’s the Best Doogee Smartphone?

8
What's the best doogee smartphone

Can Doogee reign supreme as King of the Budget Smartphones?

Update: Doogee changed their strategy in late 2018 / early 2019 by focussing more on their tough & rugged range. Fast-forward to 2020 and there’s still some great budget options, but don’t forget to check out the latest budget competition from Xiaomi & UMiDigi as well.

If you haven’t heard of Doogee before, then you’ll be happy to know that while not a mainstream brand yet, they receive high-praise from the budget smartphone community. They started designing & manufacturing smartphones in Spain back in 2013 and after a promising start were then bought out by a Chinese investment firm to boost development of the Doogee brand.

They continue to stick to their Spanish roots and remain popular through a variety of football partnerships, but, also have the benefit of now being based in the world’s smartphone manufacturing hub, Shenzhen, China.

Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro
Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro
Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro
Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro

Since 2013, they’ve impressively released over 85, mainly budget, smartphones giving them the expertise and acumen to know makes a great mobile phone. When smaller mobile brands like Doogee last this long, it usually means they’re doing something right!

Fast forward to 2020 and let’s see what are the most exciting Doogee Smartphones you can get your hands-on.

The Best Doogee Phones 2020 Edition

Doogee N20 Pro

Doogee N20 Pro – A Serious Upgrade

Price from: £139/$159

Often we see the name ‘Pro’ thrown at budget phones without any real thought, so it’s nice to see the N20 Pro earning its title.

The Pro version of the N20 gets a big performance update with the much newer Helio P60 8-core CPU which not only runs much faster but is also built on the more power-efficient 12nm process. As well that this hefty speed bump, you’re also now getting Bluetooth 5, 6GB’s of RAM and a huge 128GB’s of storage.

Gone is the cheap plastic battery cover in favour of a dual-glass design that’s managed to stay super-lightweight at only 175grams despite its large 6.3″ Full HD Display. And it’s a great display both indoors and out thanks to an average max brightness of 570nits.

All this adds up to one of the best looking budget phones that’s running Android 10.

… Bright Display + Solid Performance …

So what’s the catch?

While the camera bump closely resembles Apples, the picture quality doesn’t. Images can look washed out with plenty of noise unless you have bright lighting. Although it’s a nice touch that Doogee added a macro-mode for interesting close ups.

We’re also missing a notification LED, it’s still using micro-USB and we don’t see NFC (not a deal-breaker at this price).

Overall though, the Doogee N20 Pro shines above the competition thanks to it’s bright & vivid display coupled with excellent battery life and performance.

It’s a thumbs up from us!

Available Now

Colours: Streamer Purple, Fantasy Forest or Space Grey

Display: 6.3″ Full HD+ (2280×1080) | PPI: 428 | CPU: Helio P60 (8-Cores) | RAM: 6GB | Storage: 128GB (expandable 256GB) | OS: Android 10 | Rear Camera: Quad 16MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP | Selfie Camera: 16MP Samsung Lens | Full UK Network Support: Yes | WiFi: Dual-band AC | NFC: No | Battery: 4400mAh (10w Fast Charge) | Weight: 175 grams

Doogee X95 Phone

Doogee X95 – Super Budget Phone

Price from: £69/$79

If you’re looking for the cheapest phone possible that still has a crisp bright display and long battery? then the Doogee X95 is for you!

Perfect for web browsing, social media, youtube & Netflix, this (Gorilla Glass protected) 6.52″ phone comes with a healthy 4350mAh battery plus 10watt fast charge. Doogee chose to use plain stock Android 10 so you don’t have to worry about any bloatware or apps slowing down the processor.

And that’s a good thing as its using an older 4-core MediaTek CPU to help save on cost. While the cameras might seem impressive, don’t get your hopes up on this one. Photos don’t look too bad on the phone but colour accuracy and dynamic range are poor.

… Great Value Budget Device …

Storage is also very lean at 16GB, but, you can add a micro-sd card up to 128GB. The downside to this is that you have to sacrifice the 2nd SIM card slot.

Overall though, the Doogee X95 is well worth the low asking price. It covers the basics, great display, large battery and basic connectivity.

At only £69/$79, it’s another thumbs up!

Available Now

Colours: Streamer Purple, Fantasy Forest or Space Grey

Display: 6.52″ Full HD+ (2280×1080) | PPI: 386 | CPU: MediaTek 6737 (4-Cores) | RAM: 2GB | Storage: 16GB (expandable 128GB) | OS: Android 10 | Rear Camera: 13MP + 2MP + 2MP | Selfie Camera: 5MP Lens | Full UK Network Support: Yes | WiFi: Dual-band N | NFC: No | Battery: 4350mAh (10w Fast Charge) | Weight: 189 grams

Editors Note: The Doogee Phones Below Are Archived.

Doogee Mix Smartphone

Doogee Mix – The Doogee Flagship Smartphone

While not a true flagship, it’s the best smartphone you can get that’s made by Doogee right now. If such a thing exists, the Doogee Mix would be classed as a mid-range flagship. What it’s lacking is a full HD display and top level mobile processor like the Snapdragon 835.

What you do get though, is a fantastic Super AMOLED display that covers most of the front of the phone, giving it an impressive screen-to-body-ratio. Like the name suggests, its design is a copy of 2016’s Xiaomi Mi Mix which was the first smartphone to feature a tri-bezel-less* design (*where the screen expands to three edges).

Even with the screen covering a large portion of the phone, the Doogee Mix has still squeezed in a front-facing fingerprint reader, but, it has moved the selfie cam to the bottom. You could complain about the camera placement, but I say just turn your phone upside down and quit moaning! : )

There are three options to choose from with the Doogee Mix. Available in either 4GB of RAM / 64GB Storage, 6GB RAM / 64GB Storage or a 6GB / 128GB option. Go for the 4GB RAM / 64GB version and save yourself some money as any performance gains from the extra 2GB of RAM will be negligible. If needed, you can then expand the storage using a memory card.

And, finally onto the best feature of the Doogee Mix, the price. You can have a super AMOLED display with mid-range performance all squashed into a glass sandwich design that manages to stay under 200 grams for around the £150 mark.

This week’s best Doogee Mix offers…

Doogee Mix 2 Smartphone

Doogee Mix 2 – Full HD 18:9 Display

The Doogee Mix 2, while successor in name the Mix above, strays from the tri-bezel-less design and instead comes with thinner bezels and a small top and bottom border. They’ve moved the fingerprint reader to the back and, thanks to the extra room, keep the dual selfie cameras up top.

It uses the newer 18:9 aspect ratio for its 5.99″ full HD+ (2160×1080) display making it just as easy to hold as a traditional 5.5 inch phone. While its put some weight on at 210 grams, this comes with the benefit of a 4060mAh battery,  20% bigger than the original Doogee Mix.

It’s also one of the first Doogee phones to use USB Type-C meaning no more fiddling around at night to make sure the charging cable is in the right way. With the advent of USB Type-C, Doogee has completely removed the headphone AUX port.

There is a USB Type-C to AUX adapter included in the box, but, if your headphones aren’t wireless (Bluetooth) it’s just another annoying adapter you’ll have to carry around with you.

In terms of performance, it uses the same MediaTek Helio P25 mobile processor as the Doogee Mix above, and comes with 6GB RAM as standard, plus 64GB’s of onboard storage with an SD Card expansion space.

Has the Doogee Mix 2 tickled your tech buds?

Doogee BL5000 Smartphone Blue

Doogee BL5000 – Best Budget All-Rounder

The Doogee BL5000 comes with, you guessed it, a 5000mAh battery that’ll keep you off-grid well into your second day. It’s a quirky smartphone that won’t be for everyone with it’s pearlescent reflective design, but, during my time with the BL5000 I surprised myself ending up a big fan.

View the full Doogee BL5000 review.

Packing a huge battery inside has meant that the BL5000 isn’t the thinnest or the lightest, but, it does come with a bright vivid 1080P display protected by Gorilla Glass 5. The performance isn’t on par with the Helio P25 found in the Doogee Mix & Mix 2, but it’s still a smartphone worth considering.

Doogee BL5000 has excellent battery life…

Doogee BL12000 Pro Smartphone

Doogee BL12000 Pro – Huge Battery Life

The Doogee BL12000 is just plain ridiculous. Doogee claims its won the Guinness World Record for the smartphone with the biggest battery. I couldn’t find anything on the Guinness website, but as far as my smartphone knowledge goes, the Oukitel K10000 (10000mAh) would have been the previous owner of that title.

Further reading: Smartphones with Amazing Battery Life – 2019 Edition

Squeezing a 12000mAh battery into a smartphone is no easy feat. To achieve this in the BL12000, Doogee has actually put two batteries side-by-side.

So what happens to a smartphone when you squeeze a 12000mAh battery inside? It grows to 140mm in thickness and it makes it weight a hefty 300 grams in your pocket. While that doesn’t sound too crazy, the Doogee BL12000 is one of the biggest smartphones available only trumped by phones in the Tough & Rugged Category.

There must become a point when it becomes more practical to carry around a small 5000mAh power bank in your pocket than have a goliath smartphone, right?

Battery aside, the Bl12000 is actually packing some decent hardware. A full HD+ display, 6GB RAM, 128GB Storage, Helio P23 2.5GHz next-gen CPU and, of course, the much needed 3amp / 12V fast charging.

Want to own the smartphone with the biggest battery ever?

Doogee Mix Lite Smartphone

Doogee Mix Lite – Best Budget

The final Doogee Mix comes in the ‘lite’ variety and uses the same design as the original mix but with some hardware tweaks to bring the price down.

It loses the Super AMOLED display instead using an IPS display, drops the Helio P25 for a budget chip and only comes with 2GB of RAM & 16GB of storage (still expandable).

What does this all equate to? A smartphone that looks just as good as the original but comes in under the £100 price-point. Impressive!

It still comes with the same battery capacity of 3080mAh but it’ll last much longer due to the scaled back hardware choices and smaller, more pocket-friendly 5.2 inch display. It’s also a lot lighter weighing in at only 150 grams.

It’s a real contender against the UHANS MX plus it even includes 4G.

Pocket-friendly Budget Heaven…

Doogee S60 Design

Doogee S60 – Tough & Rugged

The Doogee S60 is one of the first phones to marry performance with ruggedness. Rugged phones of the past have often had mediocre specs, being seen as a smartphone category for people who don’t care about performance.

Well not so with the Doogee S60 which comes with 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, is fully IP68 water submersible and also includes high-end features like NFC, Gorilla Glass 5 and a Full HD display.

You can find out more about the Doogee S60 here.

The King of Rugged Phones… best deals

Doogee S30 Rugged Smartphone

Doogee S30 – Tough & Rugged & Wallet-friendly

The Doogee S30 takes a different approach to tough & rugged smartphones. It believes you can be tough and beautiful, and well… it’s kind of right!

The S30 is IP68 waterproof, shockproof, dustproof but doesn’t look like like a regular tough & rugged smartphone. It features a side facing fingerprint reader and even has a huge 5580mAh battery to keep you off the grid for days while still keeping a low price-tag.

The rest of the hardware specs aren’t very impressive with only 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage, but, this has meant you can get your hands on the Doogee S30 cheaply. A tough throwaway phone that you don’t care if you break on your adventure.

Always dropping your phone but don’t love the 80’s Walkie Talkie design?

Best Doogee Smartphone Comparison Table

Smartphone Doogee Mix Doogee Mix 2 Doogee BL5000 Doogee S60 Doogee BL12000 Pro
Screen Size 5.5 inch 5.99 inch 5.5 inch 5.2 inch 6 inch
Pixel Density 267 403 401 424 402
Screen Resolution 720×1280 1080×2160 1080×1920 1080×1920 1080×2160
Screen technology Super AMOLED,
Gorilla Glass 5
18:9 IPS,
Gorilla Glass 5
IPS,
Gorilla Glass 5
SHARP IPS,
Gorilla Glass 5
IPS, 18:9
Thickness 7.95mm 8.6mm 10.3mm 15.5mm 14mm
Weight 193 grams 210 grams 210 grams 287 grams 300 grams
Material Glass Sandwich Glass / Metal Metal / Polycarbonate Polycarbonate / Aluminium Metal / Glass
Colors Available Black, Blue,
Silver
Black, Blue,
Gold
Black, Blue,
Gold
Black, Gold,
Silver
Black, Blue
Storage 64GB / 128GB 128GB 64GB 64GB 64GB / 128GB
Processor (CPU) MediaTek Helio P25
(2.5GHz 8-core)
MediaTek Helio P25
(2.5GHz 8-core)
MediaTek Helio MT6750T MediaTek Helio P25
(2.5GHz 8-core)
MediaTek Helio P23
(2.3GHz 8-core)
Graphics (GPU) Mali-T880 MP2 Mali-T880 MP2 Mali-T860 MP2 Mali-T880 MP2 ARM Mali-G71 MP2
RAM 4GB / 6GB 6GB 4GB 6GB 6GB
Android Version Android 7 Android 7.1.1 Android 7 Android 7 Android 7 (Android 8 OTA)
IP Rating (Water, dust) NO NO NO IP68 NO
Micro-SD Card Yes – Uses 2nd
SIM Slot (128GB max)
YES YES YES YES
Notification LED YES YES NO YES YES
Finger Print Sensor YES (Front / Home Button) YES (Rear facing) YES YES YES
USB Type Micro-USB Type-C Micro-USB Micro-USB Micro-USB
4G Bands LTE FDD Bands: 1 (2100MHz),
3 (1800MHz), 7 (2600MHz) 8
(900MHz), 20 (800MHz)
LTE FDD Bands: 1 (2100MHz),
3 (1800MHz), 7 (2600MHz) 8
(900MHz), 20 (800MHz)
LTE FDD Bands: 1 (2100MHz),
3 (1800MHz), 7 (2600MHz) 8
(900MHz), 20 (800MHz)
LTE FDD Bands: 1 ,2, 3, 4, 5,
7, 8, 12, 19, 20, 38, 39, 40, 41
LTE FDD Bands: 1 (2100MHz),
3 (1800MHz), 7 (2600MHz) 8
(900MHz), 20 (800MHz)
3G Bands WCDMA: 900, 2100MHz WCDMA: 900, 2100MHz WCDMA: 900, 2100MHz WCDMA: 850, 900, 1700,
1900, 2100MHz
WCDMA: 900, 2100MHz
2G Bands GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz
SIM Support Dual SIM – Micro + Nano Dual SIM –  Nano x2 Dual SIM- Nano x2 Dual SIM- Micro x2 Dual Sim- Nano x2
WiFi 2.4 GHz + 5GHz (a, b, g, n) 2.4 GHz + 5GHz (a, b, g, n) 2.4 GHz (b, g, n) 2.4 GHz + 5GHz (a, b, g, n) 2.4 GHz + 5GHz (b, g, n)
GPS Tech GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Bluetooth Version 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
NFC NO NO NO YES NO
Sensors Light, Proximity,
Magnetic, Accelerometer
Light, Proximity,
Magnetic, Accelerometer
Light, Proximity,
Accelerometer
Light, Proximity, Gyroscope,
Accelerometer, Compass, Barometer
Light,  Proximity, Accelerometer
OTG YES YES YES YES YES
Battery Size 3380 mAh 4060mAh 5050mAh 5580mAh 12000mAh
Fast Charging YES YES YES YES (+ Wireless)
12V / 2Amps
YES (12V/3Amps)

Should you choose Doogee for your next smartphone?

While you’re unlikely to find Doogee in your local mobile phone store it doesn’t mean they’re newcomers to the block. They’ve been around since 2013 producing smartphones for 6 years now.

In the time I’ve been writing for www.review-hub.co.uk I’ve seen many brands appear then disappear into obscurity. The fact that Doogee is still around, is a testament to them producing smartphones that are durable and reliable with modern features and design.

Of the many smartphones we’ve reviewed here, we’ve found Doogee to be some of the best. While not always cutting edge, or pushing boundaries we’ve found them to be reliable with a good level of build quality.

Do you love Doogee? Hate Doogee? Have any Doogee questions? Let me know in the comments below…

8 COMMENTS

  1. I have had 12 rugged tough phones including the panasonic tough smart phone at £1800 .. but this doogee S60 is fantastic ..

  2. Hey Geert,

    Thanks for your comment. Always good to hear everyone’s experiences! Could of used the 1 years manufacturing warranty to get it fixed?

    Yeah the security updates is a real issue with many phones. Hopefully with the onset of Android Go and with Manufacturers moving towards stock ROMs again we can see more updates coming through.

  3. I purchased a T5 from Doogee and was sent a T5 Lite in error. When I notified the company they apologised and sent me the correct phone but told me to keep the T5 Lite at no cost. This immediately made me realise this company is relable and extremely concerned about customer satisfaction. I not only recommend their products but also highly recommend the company itself. I have had the T5 for 8 years with no issues but now want to upgrade so will be buying the S95, a bargain at £210 when compared with the overpriced high street mobile phones. It does everything and more including it’s own detatchable stereo speakers and a back up power pack. BRILLIANT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here