Doogee S98 Pro Review – Upgared For Smartphone With Thermal Imaging

The S-Series from Doogee stands out for its obvious superiority in the value-for-price point as a flagship rugged smartphone series, which makes its phones shine every year in this category. And now, after the success of the Doogee S98, is back with the launch of a new upgrade under the name Doogee S98 Pro, which comes with a set of improvements in cameras and sensors, while retaining all the specifications of the previous version. So let’s get to know more about this smartphone and if do you have to upgrade or buy it? all this and more in this review.

Briefly, its equipped with great specifications in terms of the 6.3″ LCD FHD+ Waterdrop Screen and MediaTek Helio G96 Octa-Core SoC, up to 8GB RAM & 256GB Storage, Sony 64MP AI Triple Rear Camera, InfiRay Thermal imaging sensor, and 20MP Night Vision Camera, and most importantly, has a durable design with IP68 & IP69K protection, And it’s good that he keeps Android 12.

• OS Android 12
• MediaTek Helio G96 Octa-Core
• 8GB RAM + 256GB UFS 2.2
• 6.3″ LCD FHD+ Waterdrop Screen
• InfiRay Thermal imaging Sensor
• Sony 64MP AI Dual Rear Camera
• 20MP Night Vision Camera
• 6000mAh Battery, 33W Fast Charging, 15W Wireless Charging
• Dual 4G Network, IP68 / IP69K / MIL-STD-810G, NFC

Design And Build Quality

The design of the Doogee S98 Pro is solid and rugged, it features a large screen on the front of 6.3 inches, and on the back, high-quality metal and rubber with a length of 172mm and a width of 82mm with an aluminum-alloy frame and with rubber cushions to suck the impact and give a kind of thickness with 15.5mm a wonderful feeling when held in your hand, despite its weight of 400g may be heavy for some, But it’s normal in a durable phone, I hope its performance is worth it. If you ask me about the quality of the manufacturing, there is nothing to complain about it, Doogee is always working to provide high-quality products to users all over the world at an affordable price.

On The Front

In front of the device is a full screen measuring 6.3 inches with very thin bezels on the sides, and at the bottom, there is a narrow chin, in addition to the Waterdrop display with a 16MP camera in the middle of the top for taking selfies and video chats, which we will talk about a lot soon.

On The Back

The back has dual cameras with an infrared night vision lights sensor, and an InfiRay Thermal imaging Sensor that comes in a circular shape, and all of this is placed in a compartment with a bump in the upper center. At the bottom of the back is the name “DOOGEE”.

Ports And Buttons

As for the ports, the phone comes with a USB Type-C port from the bottom and a microphone and speakers. The buttons are, the usual, the power button, fingerprint sensor, volume button, and dual SIM with the memory slot. It should be noted that there is a customizable shortcut button on the side to customize the function to turn on the flashlight, take a screenshot, and more. Also, Type-C ports are well protected by rubber flaps that isolate the electrical parts from water.

If you notice the 3.5mm audio jack is missing, that means either you have to use wireless headphones or a USB-C to 3.5mm included in the package adapter.

Waterproof

The Doogee S98 Pro is covered by high-quality synthetic rubber and rated with IP68 and IP69K, which means it is dust-resistant scratch-resistant shock and drop-resistant, and water-resistant up to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes. Moreover, it can withstand high pressure and high-temperature washing test, and withstand 100 bar (1450 psi) high water pressure and 80°C high water temperature. In addition, it also has MIL-STD-810G certification, a military standard certification that ensures the integrity of the device is maintained in almost any situation.

Doogee S98 Pro – Display Quality

Unlike Doogee S98, The Doogee S98 Pro doesn’t have a dual display. The front is a 6.3” LCD display with an FHD+ resolution (1080*2340 pixels) with a peak brightness of 480nits for a more immersive experience. It is thin, energy-efficient with great performance for gaming and viewing experience, and gives you bright, sharp colors and wide viewing angles which are more than great for consuming visual content on YouTube or otherwise. And comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass layer for protection from drops and scratches.

In short, with the S98, I will say that is one of the best screens in the Rugged Smartphone category, you will get the best value for what you pay, a high-quality screen suitable for media consumption, whether you are watching a video, playing games or browsing the social media.

Doogee S98 Pro – Cameras

One of the main points of the Doogee S98 Pro is the cameras. In terms of their specifications, there is nothing to worry about, but the last word remains in the actual performance. On the back, you get a professional-grade thermal camera flanked on either side by a 48MP SONY IMX582 primary camera and a 20MP SONY IMX350 night vision camera. According to the company, they made the decision to use an InfiRay sensor because it offers more than twice the thermal resolution of any other thermal sensor on the market. Its high frame rate of 25Hz ensures pictures are detailed to be able to properly detect and diagnose dampness, elevated temperatures, blockages, etc. Also, it comes with the Dual Spectrum Fusion algorithm makes it possible to combine images from both the thermal camera.

The camera can be configured to operate in night mode, panorama, slow motion, and a pro mode where you can manually change settings such as ISO and white balance. Also, has a beauty mode so you can add filters to make your face smoother, slimmer, or enlarge the eyes. You can zoom in to images with 4x digital zoom, and the Doogee camera app allows for UHD, panoramics, and the usual social media-friendly features.

Front camera

In the front for selfies or video chats, you get a 16MP camera with a Samsung S5K3P9SP Sensor chip with an impressive algorithm, and several modes to choose from. Also, has facial recognition which is quick and accurate in good light conditions, although it does struggle to recognize me in dimly lit conditions.

Doogee S98 Pro Performance

Well, Its time to expose Doogee S98 Pro to some tasks that need more effort and there is nothing better than playing games with high settings, the conditions here differ according to the application, game, or any type of program that need large resources, and because the processor used is the ultra-fast speed by equipping it with the top-end 4G octa-core chipset, MediaTek Helio G96, aka the MT6781, is an SoC launched in Q3 of 2021 and sports 2 powerful cores of Cortex A76 at a frequency of 2.05 GHz, and 6 cores of Cortex A55, at a frequency of 2.0 GHz, and 12 nm precision manufactured by TSMC.

This provides a balanced solution for both performance and energy management. Based on the AnTuTu benchmark, Helio G96 scores 247831. However, its GPU is only Mali-G57 MC2, which is a clear downgrade from the G76 MC4 that came before in the Helio G95.

The new processor carries the same specifications as its predecessor, Helio G95, with small updates in terms of support for cameras and screens and the use of a newer Bluetooth version. But it also comes with a significant drop in graphics performance due to the use of a much weaker graphics unit than its predecessor. But on the positive side, we are expected to see a significant improvement in terms of thermal stability and power consumption, as the Mali-G57 MC2 unit is dedicated to this purpose.
In all, you can see that the Helio G96 processor is a completely overhauled version of its predecessor with improved camera and screen support and a big hit to the graphics unit. This processor’s present in many models of famous brands such as Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S and Blackview BV8800, Infinix Note 11 Pro, and more.

Graphics Unit

And as we mentioned the graphics processing used is Arm Mali-G57 MC2 up to 950MHz, not the best, but its value for the price makes up for it so that it performed well in games depending on the type of game and its requirements, and sometimes there is some kind of lag in high games although it did not constitute hitch, and that’s in games like CoD mobile and PUBG. However, all you have to do is play on medium settings, more than those settings, yes you can play games but not with the perfect experience.

Memory

Most of the applications run very quickly and thanks to the 256GB UFS2.2 storage capacity, it would be suitable for installing any application you need. Yes, the capacity is large and you have the ability to expand via a Micro SD card to 512GB.

And for multitasking, browsing between applications was smooth because it is equipped with an 8GB RAM LPDDR4X dual-channel which is more than enough for most of the tasks that you can do with a smartphone such as keeping many applications or large games running in the background. In Short, for multitasking, this smartphone will give you a very positive experience.

Playing Content & DRM Support

Playing the content on YouTube, was very smooth. You can play videos at a maximum of FHD at 30 FPS with HDR and without any problems or lag, And this is the highest quality you can get. Next, let’s take a look at the DMR information and Widevine security. I can tell you I’m a little disappointed with this because it’s only Level 3, so you won’t be able to get HD on Netflix or other streaming services. and this level maybe not be found on all Chinese smartphones without exaggeration. However, you can still enjoy Netflix and all other streaming services in 480p resolution. It’s really unfortunate, especially with a good screen quality in this category.

Software

One of the standout features of the Doogee S98 Pro is that it will be an early adopter of Android 12 out of the box with up to 3 years of security update guarantee from the company. OS comes with a burden-free design and new features centered around work, convenience, play, and for a better user interface, privacy dashboard, and some interesting customization additions with UI that has better gesture navigation controls, a Dark Theme, and contains most of the features that come with the system, the most important of which is the presence of all Google services, Making the smartphone experience smoother and more personalized.

As I always say, the stock Android system is best for cheap devices, with a simple and smooth launcher for better performance, especially since it does not contain pre-installed apps or games, I really hate this because of the large number of ads, However, it has some toolkit apps in the outdoor toolbox folder will give you a compass, a pedometer, and a height meter as well as an alarm bell, flashlight, and more. but does not burden the device and is without pop-up ads.

Connectivity

Doogee S98 Pro is a dual-SIM smartphone equipped with a SIM slot that accommodates two 4G nano-sim cards that support all bandwidth offerings of 4G and 3G and so on, so its expected that you will get wide coverage for calls and internet, In addition to having a MicroSD card on the same socket.

To connect to WiFi networks, the S98 supports dual bandwidths of 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and of course, there is Bluetooth 5.1. That’s not all, there are also some basic sensors for a smartphone, including a gyroscope, accelerometers, and support for 4 navigational satellites (GPS, BeiDou, Galileo GPS). Also, has NFC so you can make mobile payments ( Supports Google Pay ).

Doogee S98 Pro Battery And Charging Time

Doogee S98 Pro has a built-in non-removable Li-Po battery with 6000mAh that allow 1.5 day for moderate use such as surfing the Internet, Google, YouTube, and following social media, of course, the time is less when playing games or using 4G, but it will stay with you for a whole day on one charge it mostly takes about 2 hours to fully charge 6000mAh using Type-C with fast charging supports 33W, S98 also supports 15W wireless charging. So, I can say that the battery was very good.

Final Verdict

In short, the Doogee S98 Pro smartphone looks like it’s built to be durable in every inch. It offers average performance unless you are looking for a high-end gaming experience. The camera array on the back is of very good quality for a mid-range smartphone.
More disappointing is the lack of L1 DRM support for HD streaming like Netflix, especially with the great screen, but it’s fun to watch HDR content on YouTube at FHD, and that’s not forgotten by the good battery and fast and wireless charging, and if you wonder about the InfiRay Thermal imaging Sensor, it does not give the phone that’s something special feature, But if you need it for your work and something similar or you are just curious about it, I think it’s okay. However, the S98 Pro is one of the best-rugged smartphones in 2022.

Doogee S98 Pro Price And Where To Buy

The Doogee S98 Pro New Flagship Rugged Smartphone is currently available in Banggood and the AliExpress Store or Official Website for a very good price So, don’t miss out on this great deal. And to view its price or buy it, you can access the offer by clicking on the store icon.

• DOOGEE S98 Pro Smartphone
• EU Charger(11V/3A)
• Type-C USB Cable
• Anti-explosion film(pre-applied)
• Packing Box
• User Manual
• Card Slot Opener

Model	DOOGEE S98 Pro Global Bands (8GB+256GB)
Network	2G: GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8  3G: WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19        CDMA: BC0/BC1/BC10  4G: FDD-TLE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28A/B28B/B66  TDD-LTE: B34/B38/B39/B40/B41  SIM Card Slots: Dual SIM Dual Standby(2 Nano SIM Card+1 TF Card)
Hardware	OS: Android 12.0  CPU: Helio G96, 2x Cortex A76 2.05GHz 256KB L2 + 6x Cortex A55 2.0GHz 128KB L2, 1MB L3, 12nm, Octa Core  GPU: ARM Mali-G57, 3600M pixel/sec@900MHz  RAM: 8GB  ROM: 256GB, UFS 2.2  Card Extend: Support T-flash Card Up to 512GB
Display	Display Size: 6.3″ LCD FHD+ Waterdrop Screen  Resolution: 1080*2340 pixels, FHD+, 19:9 ratio (~409 ppi density)  Screen color: 16.7 million colors Brightness: 480cd/m2 Screen Contrast: 15000:1
Rear Camera	Rear Camera: 48MP+20MP  – Main Camera: 48MP  Sensor: IMX582-AAJH5-C  Lens: 6P, 1/2.3inch  Aperture: 1.8±5%    Sensor type: 90°  PDAF: Support  Flash led: Support  – Night Vision Camera: 20MP  Sensor: IMX350-AAMH5-C  Lens: 1/2.8inch  Aperture: 1.8±5%  Sensor type: 80°   PDAF: FF  Flash led : Support 2 infrared night vision lights  Software function: Picture, Video  – Thermal Imaging Camera  Sensor: Vanadium Oxide Uncooled Infrared Focal Plane Detector   Sensing area: 12um  Aperture: 3.2mm F1.1  Sensor type: FOV 56°* 42°  PDAF: FF  Flash led: No  Software function: Heat map video (Video), heat map photo (Picture), object surface temperature,Temperature imaging, dual light fusion
Front Camera	Front Camera: 16MP Sensor: S5K3P9sp  Sensing area: 1/3.inch  Aperture: F/2.0±5%  Optical Image Stabilization: No  Sensor type: 80°  Flash LED: No
Language	Multi-Language
Battery & Charging	Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 5850mAh Fast Charging: 33W  Wireless Charging: Support  Charge Interface: Type-C
Other Features	WIFI: 2.4G/5G, 802.11ac/a/b/g/n  bluetooth: BT5.1  Positioning: Beidou,Galileo,Glonass,GPS  Sensor: G-sensor, Proximity sensor, Ambient light senor, Compass(magnetic), Geomagnetism, Gyroscope  Unlock Options: Side Fingerprint Unlock + Face Unlock  NFC: Yes  OTG: Yes  FM Radio: Support  Earphone: Type-C
Size & Weight	Product Size: 172*82*15.5mm  Product Weight: 400g