Rugged smartphone specialist Doogee has added a new model to its V Max family, which is pitched as the first starter-level flagship phone. As well as being a tough cookie, the handset packs a huge battery, 120-Hz screen and dual camping lights.
Doogee boasts that its V Max S smartphone has been "engineered to thrive where ordinary devices fail." That means it's been built to MIL-STD-810H durability standards so can operate in temperatures as low as -10 °C (14 °F) or sizzling highs of 60 °C (140 °F).
It can shake off drops from a height of 3 m (~10 ft) without having to wear additional armor, and can be plunged in the drink or wallow in mud for short periods without complaint – being sealed against water and dust ingress to IP68/IP69K standards.
The design includes a shockproof frame for dealing with life's hard knocks. And the 6.58-inch scratch-resistant FHD+ (1,080 x 2,408) display is sensitive to touch from gloved hands, and boasts a gaming-friendly refresh rate of 120 Hz.
A rugged smartphone with the heart of a power brick, the V Max S comes with a 22,000-mAh battery that's reckoned good for up to 156 hours of phone chats, 45 hours of watching videos, 142 hours of serving up mobile music or 18 hours browsing the internet. It's not the largest capacity battery we've seen in this kind of phone, but with over 2 months on standby, this phone could prove to be a worthy adventure buddy in an emergency.
When you do need to find a wall outlet, 33-W wired fast-charging is supported and the phone also enables 5-W reverse charging for topping up other gadgetry while out and about. The monster battery also powers the phone's two camping light modules around back, which illuminate the after-dark wilderness across five levels up to a combined peak brightness of 1,200 lumens.
Along with the 108-megapixel F1.89 main camera supporting 4K video at 30 frames per second, the V Max S also features a 20-MP night vision camera with a 77-degree field of view and a 2-MP macro lens – plus there's a 16-MP selfiecam to the front for 1080p video chats. Doogee says that the camera system also benefits from AI-enhanced anti-shake technology for run-and-gun image stability.
Processing brains shape up as a MediaTek Dimensity 7050 5G chipset with an octa-core CPU and Mali graphics. This is supported by 8 GB of RAM, which can leech another 16 GB of virtual memory from the 256 GB of onboard storage (with microSD expansion) for high-performance tasks.
Rounding out the key specs, the phone runs Android 14 out of the box, features Wi-Fi 6 and 5G connectivity as well as Bluetooth 5.2, and benefits from quad-satellite positioning. It's no featherweight though, tipping the scales at 536 g (19 oz) and you'll need rather loose pockets to accommodate its 26.3-mm (1.04-in) girth.
"Built for those who demand uncompromising durability, unstoppable performance, and game-changing innovation," the V Max S is on sale now for US$479.99, though there is currently a $50 discount code.
Product page: Doogee V Max S