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Launched as an improve to the MediaTek Helio G90-driven S96 Professional, the Doogee S96 GT comes with the marginally quicker Helio G95 processor alongside 256 GB of inner storage and a 32 MP selfie shooter. This MIL-STD-810H-certified rugged handset additionally comes with Android 12, however the remaining specs and options stay unchanged.
Again in 2020, Doogee launched the S96 Pro smartphone with Android 10 onboard, an evening imaginative and prescient digicam, and powered by the MediaTek Helio G90 processor. That MIL-STD-810G-rated rugged handset grew to become a bestseller and, in line with Doogee, a couple of million items had been bought.
Now, the S96 Professional returns because the S96 GT with the identical specs general, together with weight and dimensions, however is powered by the MediaTek Helio G95 processor and preloaded with Android 12. The Doogee S96 GT is licensed to adjust to a superior ruggedness normal, trades the inexperienced coloration possibility for gold, and in addition receives a 32 MP selfie shooter. Final, however not least, the 128 GB cupboard space of its predecessor is pushed as much as 256 GB.
In the long run, are all of the adjustments talked about above sufficient to make the Doogee S96 GT not less than as profitable as its predecessor? That is the query that we are going to attempt to reply in at this time’s hands-on evaluate.
| Doogee S96 GT | MIL-STD-810H Android smartphone |
|---|---|
| Processor | MediaTek Helio G95 |
| GPU | ARM Mali-G76 MP4 |
| Show | 6.22-inch IPS LCD, 1,520 X 720 pixels |
| Reminiscence | 8 GB |
| Storage | 256 GB and microSD assist as much as 512 GB |
| Water resistance | IP68, IP69K |
| Connectivity | 4G twin SIM, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi 802.11ac/a/b/g/n, NFC, 3.5 mm audio jack, USB-C, GPS with Glonass, Beidou, Galileo assist |
| Major cameras | 48 MP AI digicam f/1.8 (Samsung S5KGM1ST), 20 MP evening imaginative and prescient IR f/1.8 (Sony IMX350), 8 MP large 130° FOV f/2.2 (Samsung S5K4H7), 2 MP portrait f/2.8 |
| Selfie digicam | 32 MP 90° FOV f/2.0 (Sony IMX616-AAJH5-C) |
| Battery capability | 6350 mAh, 24 W quick charging and 15 W wi-fi charging |
| Battery life | 2-3 days common use, 29 hours calls, 19 days standby |
| Weight | 310 g (0.68 kilos) |
| Dimensions | 167 x 81.4 x 15.5 mm (6.57 x ) |
| OS | Android 12 |
| Colours | black, orange, gold |
| MSRP | US$349.99 |
Though launched as a restricted version gadget, the gold Doogee S96 GT offered for this evaluate is available in a typical yellow field, much like that of the much less succesful Doogee S61 Professional. Along with the telephone itself, the cardboard field additionally accommodates a spare display protector and the equipment wanted to use it correctly, a SIM tray elimination instrument, a wrist rope, a person handbook, a guaranty card, in addition to a 24 W charger and a USB-A to USB-C cable.
Design-wise, the Doogee S96 GT is an identical to its predecessor. The scale and weight are the identical, all ports and buttons have the identical placement. The customizable secret’s on the left, whereas the devoted fingerprint scanner, energy button, and quantity buttons are situated on the precise. The show is similar 6.22-inch LCD HD+ with a water-drop notch that can also be discovered within the S96 Professional. The speaker sits on the again, which is each and a nasty thought. If the telephone drops backside corner-down, the chance of damaging the speaker decreases, however the sound faces outwards when enjoying movies or in a name.
Whereas the telephone feels strong in hand and the metallic elements look nice, the polycarbonate and rubber elements of the case feel and look somewhat cheaper. Nonetheless, this can be a instrument for powerful environments, not a telephone that one would use as a style assertion, so I do not see an issue in having some much less refined elements. However because the Doogee S98 Professional featured excellent supplies and craftsmanship throughout, one can solely hope that the successor of the S96 GT will elevate the bar for the S96 lineup as effectively.
| Benchmark | Rating/Particulars |
|---|---|
| A1 SD Bench | 422 MB/s learn, 324 MB/s write for the inner reminiscence; 4610 MB/s for RAM copy |
| Geekbench | 490 single-core, 1629 multi-core; 1998 Vulkan, 1973 OpenCL |
| GFXBench | 1413 frames (Excessive Tier) and 2228 frames (Regular Tier), each on Aztec Ruins OpenGL at 1370 x 720 pixels |
| 3DMark | 3247 (Sling Shot, OpenGL ES 3.0) and 1354 (Wild Life, Vulkan) |
As proven by the benchmark outcomes above, the efficiency figures of the Doogee S96 GT are according to what we may anticipate from a MediaTek Helio G95-powered handset. In terms of video games and warmth, I simply ran Raid: Shadow Legends for not less than half-hour after which held the telephone. Barely heat, and much from sizzling. I additionally measured the temperature on each side with two thermal imaging cameras, and the values proven had been at all times under the conventional human physique temperature. I obtained fairly completely different outcomes and no skilled thermal imaging gadget was concerned, so I deemed the photographs unusable and deleted them.
Fashionable video games like NFS No Limits may not work flawlessly on the highest high quality settings, however the low display decision of the Doogee S96 GT makes most gaming experiences smoother than anticipated. The speaker can get fairly loud, so if there’s no one round to be disturbed by it, players can spend some high quality time with this rugged smartphone that was actually not designed for gaming.
When it comes to battery life, the Doogee S96 GT can simply get by way of a whole day in mixed-use situations, however enjoying video games and capturing photographs will deplete its battery in roughly 8 hours. That being mentioned, the 2-3 days autonomy talked about by Doogee for normal use is sensible for many potential consumers. Wired charging time is about one hour and a half, and wi-fi charging takes not less than three hours, relying on the charging pad.
For the reason that specs of the cameras had been talked about earlier, I’ll get straight to the purpose by saying that whereas the IR evening imaginative and prescient digicam can ship good outcomes — generally fairly spectacular, actually — for navigating at the hours of darkness and for taking snapshots that normally find yourself a bit out of focus. The selfie shooter will get the job performed effectively sufficient in well-lit situations, however the software program usually fails to course of the enter correctly, for instance when utilizing the Portrait mode.
Talking of the digicam software program, I’ll say that the Evening Imaginative and prescient mode is unusable. The usage of the UHD or common photograph modes supplies higher outcomes, however even then it is rather laborious to shoot first rate evening photographs. Avenue lights, for instance, made a large number of all my pictures, it doesn’t matter what settings I used. Utilizing a third-party digicam software program like Open Digicam may resolve the issue, but it surely wasn’t my purpose to do that. Anyway, a third-party piece of code can not resolve the somewhat unusual visible artifacts that I observed at evening, that are more than likely attributable to the optical meeting of the cameras.
In good lighting situations, the pictures taken with the Doogee S96 GT can prove first rate, however the colours nonetheless look washed out. Fortunately, that is nothing that a picture processing software program cannot deal with.
Doogee made just a few minor modifications to the vanilla Android 12 ROM and loaded it on the S96 GT. The obvious adjustments are the “Straightforward Key” configuration part, the “OutDoor Toolbox” suite of helpful instruments for numerous duties, together with the power to measure the sound degree, and Doogee’s software program updater.
Sadly, the aforementioned software program updater signifies that the Doogee S96 GT doesn’t obtain updates immediately from Google. Due to this, the most recent Android safety replace put in on the smartphone is dated June 5, 2022. Sadly, Doogee doesn’t launch updates as shortly as different producers. A notable instance for that is that the Doogee V20, which is able to quickly get a successor and was promised to get Android 12, however remains to be ready for it.
On the brilliant aspect, the software program is steady, runs effectively, and can obtain not less than essential safety updates and minor tweaks once in a while. This might have been worse, however there’s additionally a lot room for enchancment.
With engaging seems to be for a rugged telephone, the Doogee S96 GT additionally options beneficiant battery life, loads of reminiscence and cupboard space, in addition to a clear software program setting. The 32 MP selfie digicam works effectively in most situations, though it clearly struggles in low-light situations. The evening imaginative and prescient IR digicam is excellent at capturing photographs in full darkness, however much more for real-time navigation in preview mode (most vary is now roughly 15 meters/50 ft). The fingerprint reader works nice and isn’t situated on the facility button, one thing that I usually discover fairly inconvenient on my Xiaomi Mi 10T Professional.
General, the photograph and video capturing high quality is much from what I anticipated. Future software program updates would possibly enhance issues a bit, however it’s potential for some visible artifacts to be attributable to the low-quality lens. The buttons jiggle and a few non-metallic elements of the case may have been manufactured extra rigorously. The show is similar lackluster low-resolution IPS LCD as that of the S96 Professional, and possibly the following member of the S96 household will lastly sport an AMOLED panel.
As an improve to a rugged Android 10 handset, the Doogee S96 GT will get many issues proper: it comes with Android 12, a barely quicker processor, extra storage, and an improved navy normal safety ranking. However as a day by day driver for normal use, the Doogee S96 GT is much less related now than its predecessor was again in 2020. How related will depend on the worth and the person’s particular necessities.
Disclaimer: The creator of this evaluate obtained the Doogee S96 GT rugged smartphone from Doogee freed from cost for the aim of testing.
Solely accessible in a 8/256 GB variant, the Doogee S96 GT is presently accessible on Amazon US for US$349.99, however a US$30 coupon is accessible for a restricted interval as effectively. On Amazon.de, it’s accessible for 349.99 EUR. The worth when buying from on-line Chinese language retailers equivalent to Aliexpress or Geekbuying varies loads relying on the client’s location and numerous promotions which may apply, so be at liberty to search for the perfect deal round whereas conserving in thoughts that, in these circumstances, transport and import charges would possibly apply.
Doogee (official product web page)
Codrut Nistor – Senior Tech Author – 5697 articles revealed on Notebookcheck since 2013
In my early college days, I hated writing and having to make up tales. A decade later, I began to take pleasure in it. Since then, I revealed just a few offline articles after which I moved to the web house, the place I contributed to main web sites which can be nonetheless current on-line as of 2021 equivalent to Softpedia, Brothersoft, Download3000, however I additionally wrote for a number of blogs which have disappeared over time. I have been using with the Notebookcheck crew since 2013 and I’m not planning to depart it anytime quickly. In love with good mechanical keyboards, vinyl and tape sound, but additionally smartphones, streaming companies, and digital artwork.
Codrut Nistor, 2022-11-13 (Replace: 2022-11-13)
