Doogee and I think theyll forgive me for saying this has a propensity for releasing strange phones.
Rememberthe Doogee Mix 2 phone?
Yknow, the one which had to be flipped 180 degrees to make it take a selfie?
Well, theDoogee S90is weirder.Unequivocally.
Or perhaps theLenovo Moto Z Series, from 2016.
Why youd want to is anyones guess, but its certainly nice to have.
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We at TNW got our grubby paws on a S90 last week.
Specifications
Underneath its rubberized chassis, the Doogee S90 has some fairly respectable middle-of-the-road specifications.
The Helio P60 is broadly equivalent to Qualcomms Snapdragon 660 platform.
It differs in having a 12nm production process, rather than the Snapdragons 14nm process.
The handset comes encased in a thick, heavy plastic, with prominent rubberized corners that protrude.
Did I mention its also really heavy?
At the top of the screen, youll find a small notch.
This contains the phones solitary front-facing camera, as well as its earpiece.
The S90 has a somewhat prominent chin, which displays the Doogee logo.
Below it is a rubber flap, which protects the phones USB-C port from any potential water damage.
The back of the phone contains the handsets dual cameras.
These are straddled by a pair of LED flashes.
Phones typically come with just one flash, so thats pretty unusual, although certainly not unheard of.
In the same area, youll find the phones physical fingerprint reader.
This is extremely fast and accurate.
Adorning the edge of the phone are a plethora of physical buttons.
So, how does it work in practice?
Heres the good part.
Theres surprisingly little faffing about.
It works really well.
The downside is that the magnetic mechanism doesnt really feel particularly secure.
If thrown in a bag, theres a real chance that the two parts might become separated.
The review unit Doogee provided to TNW came with four separate add-ons.
Thats also true of the walkie-talkie module.
Speaking personally, I think Im more likely to use the battery module and the gamepad.
The former is a bit chunky, yes, but not onerously so.
Even with it attached, the phone still slipped comfortably into the pocket of my Levis.
The battery adds an extra 5,000mAh of juice.
That means that, when connected, the phone has access to a total of 10,050mAh of power.
As for the gamepad, this clips neatly onto the back of the S90.
This connects over Bluetooth and charges via a built-in MicroUSB port.
Software
The Doogee S90 runs Android 8.1 Oreo.
This comes skinned with Doogees custom UI, which is… interesting.
It comes with a fairly unusual color scheme, which meshes grey, silver, and gold.
It certainly bucks the recent trend for gadget manufacturers to exercise restraint when customizing the stock Android experience.
Theres an app for the aforementioned walkie talkie and night-vision features.
Thats hardly surprising, considering that Android doesnt come with these features included by default.
Mercifully, theres not much bloatware to speak of.
Who is the Doogee S90 for?
The Doogee S90 is a bloody weird phone.
Ruggedized phones are already a vanishingly small niche.
Is there much of a market for a modular ruggedized mobile?
The quirky handsetdebuted on Kickstarter yesterday, and already has attracted over $100,000 in backer funds.
Thats no small feat for an obscure manufacturer touting an unusual design.
Rugged phones are typically the preserve of those doing physical tasks while basking in the elements.
Think soldiers, engineers, and construction workers.
This phone, paired with the walkie-talkie and battery modules, would serve this demographic fairly well.
you’ve got the option to back the S90 from today.
At the time of writing, the super-early bird pricing is available.
Doogee is also selling the modules separatelyvia its Kickstarter page.
These start at just $29 for the gamepad.
The most expensive module is, as expected, the night vision camera, which goes for $59.
Of course, its worth mentioning that when you back a Kickstarter campaign, youre not buying something per-se.
Its worth remembering that theres always an element of risk, and you could end up empty-handed.
This is true of every crowdfunding campaign.
That said, Doogee is a well-established brand, and the product already exists.
In fact, its sitting on my desk right this second.
As Kickstarter campaigns go, theres not much to fear from this one.
In the meantime, keep an eye out for our full review in the coming weeks!
We like some products.
We dont like others.
