Doogee S200 Max ZDNET's key takeaways The Doogee S200 Max is on sale now for $750.
It's a super chunky handset that won't fit in your pockets, but it's incredibly durable, passing IP68/IP69K and MIL-STD-810H standards.
It's not exactly cheap, and you have to be a certain user to carry a phone this durable. $799.99 at Amazon
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
I remember when companies such as Doogee started making ruggedized Android smartphones that were more at home on a construction site. They were big, bulky, and, well, not all that impressive in the performance department.
That's all changed, as I'm now seeing ruggedized Android handsets that cram a lot of performance into that tough outer. The Doogee S200 Max is one such handset.
Also: I test dozens of Android phones every year: How the Google Pixel 10 Pro stacks up
Aptly named, everything about the S200 Max has been turned up to the max. This Android 15, 5G-enabled smartphone features a big 6.72-inch 2,400 x 1,080 pixel (2.4K) display that can hit 120Hz refresh rate.
But this isn't the only screen -- on the back is a 1.3-inch IPS always-on secondary screen that allows you to peek at things like notifications, the time and date, and battery status without having to be distracted by the big display.
Running the show is a 6-nanometer octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor, running at up to 2.6GHz and a whopping 16GB of RAM, which can be further augmented by 20GB of virtual RAM (my usual advice is to set the virtual RAM to the max for the best performance, but in this case it's been done for me), and 512GB of storage. And if that gets a bit tight, you can bump this up with a microSD card.
Performance-wise, the S200 Max felt buttery-smooth no matter what I threw at it. I usually have to wait a bit for a smartphone to complete its housekeeping tasks after first turning it on and setting it up, but this handset was straight to business, and effortlessly handled running a myriad of apps and browsers with dozens of tabs open.
The secondary display on the back of the S200 Max is handy. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Powering this huge handset is a 22,000mAh ultra-large battery that offers a massive 1,200 hours of standby power (that's 50 days of standby) or 30 hours of web browsing.
Try that with your iPhone 17 Pro Max!
The huge battery makes the S200 Max more a power bank with a phone attached, and Doogee is well aware, which is why the handset supports 18W reverse charging, so you can get your friends out of a battery pickle with their smartphone, camera, drone or whatever. The battery can be charged at up to 66W, and that this power you can go from flat to full in two hours.
Also: My search for the most durable USB-C cable is over - this one passes my brick test
This is one of the very few smartphones where I rarely have to think about battery life. In fact, I'm actually surprised when it needs charging!
And before you ask, yes, there are cameras galore on the S200 Max. On the back there's three: a 108-megapixel main camera (this is a quad-Bayer sensor that uses four pixels instead of one to perform better under low-light conditions), a 20-megapixel night vision camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. And on the front is 32-megapixel camera to handle selfies and video conferencing.
The night vision camera with active infrared floodlight is very effective. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
As is always the case with non-flagship handsets, the cameras are more than adequate for what users want -- mostly capturing photos and video for social media. You don't get the cinematic punch that you get with an iPhone or latest Samsung Galaxy, but even that's wasted on social media because images and videos are compressed and downscaled to conserve storage space and bandwidth.
Everything is packed into a tough outer that's rated for IP68/IP69K and MIL-STD-810H, and it can resist immersion in six feet of water for a day, drops from over 3-foot, dirt, dust, humidity, and pretty much anything else Mother Nature can throw at it.
Also: This $30 multitool took on way more than I thought it could (and it fits in my pocket)
On the side is one of my favorite Android features -- a fingerprint reader to handle all the biometrics.
Last but definitely not least, on the top is a twin-LED flashlight that is, no joke, one of the brightest I've seen on a smartphone. I made the mistake of looking into it in broad daylight and I was seeing after-images for several minutes. It's crazy bright, and it was only later that I discovered it was only at 60% power.
There's nothing subtle about the S200 Max! Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Just be aware of its bulk. The device isn't small, measuring 7.1 x 3.2 x 1 inches (yes, this is a one-inch-thick smartphone), weighing 1.2 pounds. It's a truly behemoth of a smartphone and there's nothing subtle about the S200 Max. Unless you have a bag or big, huge cargo pockets or a belt to hang this phone from, you're going to be carrying it because this baby isn't fitting into your pockets.
ZDNET's buying advice
The Doogee S200 Max is one of those handsets that isn't for everyone. You need a certain kind of user who wants a phone that is an inch thick, weighs well over a pound, and doesn't fit in normal pockets.
But for those who need durability and performance and battery life that goes on and on and on, this is a handset to consider. At $470, it's not exactly cheap, but for those who need a combination of rugged, fantastic battery life, and good performance, this is up there as one of the best handsets you can buy.