Doogee S200 review: a rugged phone with AI camera power

Yahoo

22-02-2025

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I've tested several Doogee phones over the years, each with unique camera features. But you'll immediately notice what makes this latest model so appealing, in what is possibly one of the coolest phone designs I've ever seen. The new Doogee S200 sports a digital AMOLED display screen positioned in the centre of the rear camera unit, which can be customised with different watch faces, easy-access widgets for notifications, and can be used to control the rear camera.
Aside from this seriously sci-fi design element, there are plenty of other features that make the Doogee S200 one of the best Android phones for photography, and I'll dive into the performance, specs, and top features of this phone throughout this review. In short, it has an impressive night vision camera with infrared sensors, and you can even use it for underwater photography too – thanks to its fully secure design and IP68/IP69K resistance rating.
This phone is primarily intended for users who operate in challenging environments, such as industrial sites, as well as those who enjoy activities like hiking and outdoor camping, and thrill-seekers who need a smartphone that's far from fragile. Rugged phones are renowned for their robustness and durability, and this Doogee device can withstand the elements, as proven when I tested its resilience during a trip to Slovenia (where temperatures were around -15 degrees celcius).
The Doogee S200 sits at a comfortable price point at the upper end of the mid-range market, retailing for $412 / £326. I'm not sure if it quite counts as a budget smartphone since you can get powerful AI camera phones like the Xiaomi Poco X7 for as little as £249 now, which is a mere fraction of the cost of flagship powerhouses like the iPhone 16 Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra handsets.
I think the Doogee S200 is priced fairly for what it offers, and the niche-ness of its rugged and reliable design makes it a desirable phone for people who want extra protection for their device without needing to pay for insurance on top or subscribe to some kind of care plan for repairs should the worst happen. The S200 is equipped with military-grade levels of durability, having been tested to withstand hefty drops and high-pressure water jets.
Right now, at the time of writing, Doogee is selling the S200 model at a discounted price of $339.99 / £259.99 over at Amazon, and you can also buy it directly from Doogee and bag a 15% discount while the New Year sale is still live.
I've already mentioned that this phone is bulky and rugged, but it's seriously heavy too. According to our sister site, TechRadar, who weighed the phone, it clocked in at approximately 396g which is comparable to the weight of a clear glass vase. This smartphone will definitely weigh your pockets down, but at least you'll notice if it ever disappears.
When first handling the Doogee S200, its heavy weight can be a little off-putting, but you soon get used to it and it feels comfortable to hold in one hand. The rugged design not only applies to the outer casing and Corning Gorilla Glass covering the display, but also the thick buttons which are actually quite soft to press. I love the custom button on the left side of the phone, which can be customized with actions based on whether you one-click, double-click, or long-press it.
On the right-hand side of the Doogee, there's a smooth panel that can be used to recognize your fingerprint. I've found this to be much handier than I originally thought, and it aligns with how I typically hold my phone for quicker access. One feature that I especially appreciated during my experience of quad biking in Slovenia was the phone's 'gloves mode' which makes it much easier to unlock and operate the device while wearing padded biker gloves.
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Now onto the most exciting design feature of the Doogee S200, its AMOLED rear display screen. If you've ever used a smartwatch before, then you can appreciate how quick and easy it is to check the time, view notifications, and control your phone without needing to unlock it. This has the exact same effect when used on the Doogee S200.
By going into the phone's settings, under 'mini display' you can customize the watch face on the rear display, add a wallpaper from your photo gallery, write a text signature that can appear on the screen, and decide which widgets you want to see when swiping across the circular display – from music control to a calendar view, and a remote control shortcut to access the front camera and take a snap without unlocking the phone.
This vibrant rear display combined with the mechanical and futuristic sci-fi elements of the phone gives it a truly unique selling point, and the reaction I've had every time I take this phone out of my pocket has been "Wow, what is that?". It looks and feels like a premium flagship Android phone but from another dimension.
Like most phones, you'll find the charging port at the very bottom. The Doogee S200 uses USB Type-C for charging and has a rubber cover that can be opened and closed over the port for keeping out liquids and dust. There's no 3.5mm headphone jack sadly, but you can always get around this by using an adapter for your headphones or Bluetooth for wireless audio devices. There's also a dual SIM card port, which is a nice touch for those who travel for work, and the storage can be expanded by MicroSD.
The overall camera performance with the Doogee S200 is pretty standard, it's certainly not the best quality camera phone that I've ever used, but at this price point, I don't have many complaints either. The first thing you'll find with the Doogee is that it likes to overcompensate with sharpness through grain, especially if you're using modes like HDR. This works in most cases to output a sharp shot, and it's not until you zoom in that you'll notice the finer imperfections and lost details (but it's really not that bad).
Open up the camera app and you'll be met with several different options and camera modes along the bottom row just above the shutter button. 'Picture' will be selected as default, which only offers 25MP at a 4:3 ratio, and 24MP at 16:9, so you'll need to swipe left to be on the '100MP' setting for the best results. I'm unsure why Doogee has a separate tab for this 100MP camera option, surely this should be the default? It's worth noting that when you're in this specific camera mode, you won't benefit from combined AI features or HDR quality.
The other Doogee camera modes include Beauty, with sliding scale filters to adjust buffing, whitening, Ruddy (whatever this means), and Slimming – which I discovered is used to slim your face slightly, as well as tabs for Night Vision, Video, and a Super Night mode. There's a Pro camera mode too which is hidden in the 'More' tab on the far right, and this is great for when you want full control over an image, including focus and depth of field for macro shots.
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Doogee offers plenty of camera features to help you experiment, and in the more tab, you'll also find Portrait, GIF, Panorama, Slow Motion, Mono (black and white), Bokeh, QR Code, and Macro modes which you can drag into the bottom tab and reorganise should you choose. When testing out this camera phone, all of these modes worked just fine and did their job, although Bokeh was a bit hit-and-miss in most cases.
There's sometimes a delay between pressing the shutter button and the process of capturing the image, so you really need to hold the phone still during this buffer time for the best possible results. I wasn't shooting any fast-moving subjects with this phone camera, but I did have a few blurred shots when trying to take a still photo of my easily distracted dog, so keep this in mind.
Arguably the standout feature of the Doogee S200 camera phone is its night vision camera, which is truly exceptional. It can illuminate a pitch-black room using infrared sensors, and I would even say that the quality of this camera is better than what you get with the standard lens, as long as you can settle for a black-and-white image. Take a look at the sample image section below to see the before and after shots of using standard mode vs Night Vision mode.
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All of the Doogee smartphones I've tested to date have been equipped with underwater cameras. When I tested the Doogee S98 Pro, I used my kitchen sink. Back when I tested the Dooge S96 GT model, I leveled this up and used an outdoor fountain in Bath. This time, with the Doogee S200, I decided to dunk it in Marine Lake – check out the video below to see what happened.
It turns out there was nothing much to see under the surface of the water here, but now I know. At the very least you can see that (despite the wobbly footage from my cold hand), the video quality of the Doogee S200 is pretty decent, and it survived multiple plunges into cold water too without the footage or device being affected.
There are a lot of other reasons to choose a Doogee phone aside from its amazing futuristic rear watch display, or even its unique night vision and underwater camera features. For starters, the S200 model comes equipped with the Mediatek Dimensity 7050 chip, which isn't the best on the market by a long shot but is certainly reliable enough to handle things like photo editing, streaming, gaming, and general multitasking with ease.
I carried out many creative tasks on this phone that included putting together a TikTok video using Capcut while in Slovenia, playing smartphone games like Marvel Future Fight and Pokemon TCG (though admittedly these aren't big titles) in the hotel, streaming movies on Disney+ to watch on the plane, and editing templates in Canva. During this time, I didn't have to worry about the batterly life for a single second, and I only charged the phone once during the trip.
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Not only is the 10100 mAh battery life impressive, but you can have up to 32GB of RAM installed on this phone should you need it. The general performance is smooth and lag-free, with zero issues to report. It also has a 1400:1 contrast ratio which is excellent for when you're using the phone in darker environments or direct sunlight. The 120Hz refresh rate is excellent for gaming too, and can be adjusted manually or automatically throughout the day for the best results.
A lot of the hidden gems within this phone are buried in the settings for you to find, but Doogee made sure that you wouldn't miss its super handy pre-installed digital toolkit on the app screen of your phone. The toolkit offers a compass, sound meter, picture hanger, height measure, magnifier, protractor, plumb bob, pedometer, gradient, alarm bell, and torch. Sure, you might never need or use any of these features, but it's better to have them and not need them.
I've spent well over a month using the Doogee S200 now and it's clear this is a device attempting to offer the full package at a reasonable price, and it almost achieves it. Let's not forget that this rugged smartphone has a very specific target market in mind, designed for those who work outdoors, in construction, enjoy camping, or have specific interests that benefit from features like a night vision camera for wildlife watching or caving, plus the waterproof camera for snorkelling or fishing.
It's obvious that this kind of smartphone would certainly be appealing to photographers, but I think it misses the mark ever so slightly with its camera quality falling behind. If you're after one of the best Android cameras for photography, then you might be better off with some alternatives. When it comes to cameras, this phone is definitely capable of capturing a sharp shot if used with patience, but grain and soft focus will almost definitely make an appearance at some stage.
Overall, the Doogee S200 is a strong contender in the rugged smartphone space, but if you don't need a phone that can take a beating or one with a rear AMOLED display and night vision camera, then you'll find better quality elsewhere. For everyone who does indeed fit the category, this phone is an excellent choice.
Honor Magic 7 ProThis is a much slimmer and sleek smartphone compared with the Doogee S200, but with very similar levels of durability and rugged protection. For example, the Honor has an IP68/69 rating, and can survive freezing temperatures.
Google Pixel 9 Pro / XLThis phone sits at the top of our list as one of the best Android phones for photography, and its class-leading features such as panorama photos are just one of the reasons we love it so much, it also excels in night photography too.