Genuine (unpaid) Doogee S98 Pro review

[@roberthoople]

It's good to see that our tricorders are finally getting closer to being tricorders, rather than just being Candy Crush advertising machines.

[@kyoudaiken]

Still wonder why they didn't use the Tricorders as communication devices as well.

[@martinbalmforth2665]

It just needs that bluetooth whistly scanner thingy

[@roberthoople]

@@kyoudaiken I wondered about that too. Perhaps it's a built-in feature they can use if necessary, since Tricorders seem to have a data connection with the ship. Although I'd still prefer to use the comm badge for comms, since it's very convenient. Same with the original series flip communicators. I'm actually planning on building a Bluetooth badge, similar to the comm badge, at some point in the future, and then trying to tie it in with a walkie talkie app or something on my phone. But that got me thinking that in Star Trek, maybe the comm badges connect to the tricorder for longer distance comms, like on away missions, since the tricorder would have more power and range due to its larger size. Although, I don't think canon supports that hypothesis at all, but it would make logical sense in a real world scenario I think.

[@Petertronic]

Candy Crush is free though.

[@treguard1982]

May the force be with you :D

[@andrewwilson6240]

I remember back in the 80s I used to use a thermal camera for the very purpose you demonstrated. Finding hot spots in electrical substations. It came in 2 metal cases, and you also needed a flask of liquid nitrogen to cool the sensor. I dread to think what it cost!

[@Mrbrownthesemite]

Holy crap

[@Marks-Garage]

We used a FLIR camera now to perform Thermovision of substations. We even have a few drones with thermal cameras. I have just got the bigger brother of this phone the V20 pro and its amazing that this sort of technology can be put in such a small device.

[@maximusironthumper]

That picture of the power lines is incredible. I've been very happy with my thermal camera equipped Blackview (bought following your review I think) but I'm now very tempted to upgrade!

[@bigclivedotcom]

I'm surprised how quickly thermal cameras have evolved.

[@ytmndleaks1598]

​@@bigclivedotcomshut up wankjon

[@CJDavies]

The big concern for me with all Chinese handsets like this is that you are at the mercy of the manufacturer when it comes to the Android OS & its associated security updates. The hardware from manufacturers like Doogee, Ulefone, etc. may be stellar, but far too often they ship with older versions of Android & receive security updates late or never at all.

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

That was what made me go for the 98Pro instead of the latest Blackview. BV puts their extra layer on top of Android so they are behind in version. Doogee seem to use pretty bog standard Android and updates reasonably quick.

[@Knaeckebrotsaege]

I always find it funny how everyone cries about being behind in android versions and "hurr durr security!!11"... what? are you that paranoid that the proof of concept exploits that either require physical access (ie pointless) or prolonged contact to the phone (ie someone stalking you) hit *you* specifically with nothing of value whatsoever to get? 🤣 It's almost like the intel CPU exploits that no average joe would be target of because it either requires physical access or the owner has to be straight-up dumb AF to run whatever they get sent... ie a complete nonstarter for someone with half a brain edit: not to mention getting an android phone and then crying about security and privacy.. and a chinese one at that 🤣

[@Zlodej5]

One of the way to look is Lineage, Doogie is big enough to have a rom available. you will be supprised how Good Lineage is. Warnings: 1.Custom rom will void your warranty. Lineageos (custom android) Tends to be fixed faster and more often then even mainstream flagships. 2. With custom roms if unofficial release (some phones do official lineage release) you rely on how trustworthy the maintainer is. As there is a risk that china might endup spying on you via custom rom, as well as official one

[@nickgray123]

Installing a custom rom often involves rooting the phone/bootloader...which can mean banking apps etc won't work ? Is that still the case ?

[@Zlodej5]

@@nickgray123 This depends on the phone and ROM. By default Lineage now installs unrooted and barclays works for me on mine XIOMI which does let you unlock bootloader the formal way without having to root anything, but makes you wait 30 days to do it. On mine old samsung accessing advanced features was about breaking in, but it being samsung that was well researched by its users and yet again barclays app worked until recently when I was on another end of UK and barclays have decided to stop doing contactless in the middle of the day without telling anyone ahead...

[@bjackman16502]

I recently replaced the phone for one of our engineers with the Cat S62 Pro Rugged which is supported on AT&T in the US and also has the FLIR camera although no night vision. He has had the phone for about 3 months now and so far no complaints. He loves the FLIR camera... Also, if you look at the price of inexpensive FLIR cameras even if you don't want this as a cellphone - the price is competitive just as a FLIR camera with expandable storage, great battery life, and wifi capability.

[@acidhelm]

Android has a nice feature called adaptive charging. If you plug the phone in at night, and you have an alarm set for some time in the morning, the phone will charge slowly and at just the right speed so the phone reaches a full charge just before the alarm goes off.

[@ryanjcole]

iOS and iPadOS have the same feature, and you can override it if needed. But you do have to have faith in the software to do it. Using a 5VDC source avoids the need to have faith.

[@justthisguyyouknow666]

Ah, so that's how it works! I don't use an alarm, but I do use a charging pad that simply shuts off when the phone is charged.

[@motogeee510]

So it won't cycle off an on while charging an possibly flash the screen on while doing so ? An screw u apple an Samsung? Sounds like an invitation 😂

[@gordonwelcher9598]

Only 48 megapixels traditional? So useless. So traditional.

[@jamesmauer7398]

I've not seen this on any android phones so far - which phone/OS has this?

[@netzwerkman]

Appreciate these honest and no-shill reviews. Ended up with a BV9900 Pro two years ago after seeing a mates one who bought by way of your review. The battery capacity in that has started to diminish and I was really struggling to figure out what to replace it with. There's no way I was going back to not having a thermal camera in my pocket or a phone that needs TLC. Problem solved.

[@umbrellacorp.]

Really nice phone, I like it.📱 And you didn't destroy it and say it's a durability test like other youtubers. 😎👍 I hate seeing people destroy nice stuff for nothing.

[@mariusschmitt5855]

Yes destroying phones for testing or just for fun is wasteful and kind of unnesscessary. I like to watch "Jerryrigeverything" videos but his "manhandling" of Smartphones makes me angry.

[@chriswilson4614]

I'm glad you mentioned Motorola because I've just bought a Motorola z4 and the amount of Moto mods you can get for it is incredible . LED projector. Hasselblad true zoom camera. 360 camera. Magnetic snap-on power Banks. Alexa speaker. Zero ink printer. JBL speakers. I'm over the moment and I know it's got nothing to do with your brilliant description of the doogee phone but I just thought I would mention it

[@agentvx8320]

I bought one specifically because of this video and I love it. The thermal camera and price tag even caught the attention of my dad, who is a die hard iPhone fan.

[@ecospider5]

If you need to fast charge a phone but want to protect the battery set a water bottle on it. If your water bottle has a reasonably flat bottom then it will be a fantastic heat sink and will keep the battery cool while charging. When I tried this the first time I was amazed how cool the phone got after just 2 minutes. It was about 10 degrees above ambient instead of 30 degrees above ambient.

[@stepheneyles2198]

Why has that got me thinking about using a phone as a Teas-made? Immerse phone in water jug, set to charge, wake to nice warm brew when your alarm goes off!! 😁

[@nobodynoone2500]

@@stepheneyles2198 sounds like an overly complicated sous-vide

[@OffendingTheOffendable]

That's ridiculous

[@UserUser-ww2nj]

@@stepheneyles2198 😂😂😂

[@Havlock]

Could you achieve the same effect by placing a heatsink on the phone instead of a water bottle?

[@ionstorm66]

My biggest gripe with the night vision ir camera, is it automatically cranks the screen brightness when you chnage to it. This blinds you and makes it hard to use.

[@Yonatan24]

The screen goes only up to 500nits which is ridiculously dim

[@markrainford1219]

What is a nit?@@Yonatan24

[@mattymerr701]

The "prominent western" brands have also had issues with advertising. I think the industry attempted it at one point to see what they could do and realised the hell that users can sometimes raise

[@gorak9000]

At one point? US phones still come with lots of crapware pre-installed that you can't uninstall unless you root the phone.

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

​@@gorak9000 And with most new phones, good luck rooting them

[@lifeai1889]

why would u even trust closed source os always use lineage or sth like that

[@tncorgi92]

I had a Samsung Galaxy J3 that came with so much pre-installed, non-removable crap that it took up half the 16GB of memory, I wasn't able to install all the apps I needed. Recently got a Nokia G300 and am very happy with it, except for the non-replaceable battery. I like that IR camera dongle, wonder if there are any less expensive ones out there.

[@Mwwwwwwwwe]

Your datas belong to the CCP- Glory th XI Jing Poo

[@tjsynkral]

US phone user here, can confirm that our market is often neglected for being a bit "weird." This phone will work with T-Mobile US but only on 4G and T-Mobile is nerfing the shit out of their 4G to convince people to get 5G. I used to be 100Mbps+ on 4G now I'm lucky if I get 5Mbps 4G, in a spot with 500+Mbps 5G.

[@MMuraseofSandvich]

I've experienced dead zones on T-mo, and it's even worse for me because I'm using an MVNO so I'm towards the bottom of the priority totem pole...

[@detoxorg]

Is it because 5G uses ipv6 exclusively so tracking is several magnitudes easier than with IP hopping 4G?

[@oldblueshirtguy]

@@detoxorg No. CGNAT IPv4 systems are actually easier to log (track) than IPv6 as it's a requirement for CGNAT to work. With CGNAT IPv4 you log not only the IP (user), but the port/protocol and therefore can also more easily determine the application they're using. IPv6 enhances privacy over IPv4.

[@dimitar4y]

@@detoxorg yep. ipv6 allows easier "unique" tracking. Your ip can stay the same across multiple cell-towers as it doesn't need to change. Don't listen to people saying ipv6 is "better".

[@makak_zeleny]

@@dimitar4y do you think your carrier doesn't know which cell tower you're connected to? And if you are talking about other services that might track you, I would be more concerned about the dozens of device fingerprinting methods rather than your IP

[@turboconqueringmegaeagle9006]

Mine is over 2 years old now, it's the 3rd doogee I've had, 1st was a basic tough phone, second was a semi-tough flagship that had detachable speaker and battery but wasn't tough enough and now this peach which has been stellar, factory/workshop/idiot proof with the camera lenses recessed so are not all scratched to buggery.

[@NiyaKouya]

Nice review, that beast really looks like a workhorse. But one aspect would kill it for me: the screen. Ever since I had my first AMOLED phone I swore to never go back to IPS screens because the "true black" and energy saving options with dark themes are just too good. And about long-term updates/patches: AFAIK google is more or less forcing manufacturers that use Android to support their phones for 3 years with 2 major version upgrades and regular security patches. Though some companies apparently found loopholes to get around that...

[@bigclivedotcom]

The Chinese are notorious for not following mere rules. (Which is sometimes admirable.)

[@d.t.4523]

I was on call today, so I missed the stream. However, my S98 Pro arrived yesterday. Thanks for the review. Cheers!

[@tacmonkey]

Ah! Glad to have some fellow cheap-yet-suprisingly-stacked phone aficionados. Been ridiculed and doubted for many years while trying to convey how much better kit you can find with what in EU/US is considered an off-brand phone. Been using a POCO X3 Pro for 2 years (!).. battery is keeping pretty healthy, charge it every 2 days. It has true stereo speakers, 120Hz screen, gaming grade processors, chunkloads of RAM and storage, 3.5mm jack, macro and ultra-wide cameras etc... and a freaking awesome IR blaster, which comes to more use than you'd think.

[@PainterVierax]

TBF about the updates on western brands, I was disappointed to only have a couple of them during the 2years warranty period of my quite old Moto G3 osprey then the support dropped with no more OTA updates. Though the software was bug free. The large community is what made it worth with unofficial security support for 6-7 years (edit: and still a tiny bit ongoing despite the Lineage support drop a year ago).

[@garyphillips7993]

Nice impartial review 👍 I’ve been using a Doogee Armor X8 for the last 3 years, it’s taken everything I’ve thrown at it and works a charm. I still have the original screen protector on it - complete with a few cracks & scratches. I agree with the charging point being a tad fiddly, sadly the X8 doesn’t have wireless charging. Battery life on the X8 is easily 2 days with my use. I’m now looking at updating it as it has Android 10 that has just fallen out of support. I’ll pop the 98 on the list of possibles.

[@jimmytvfclassic]

I had a Doogee once. Very good phone. Cost me 70€ back in 2015 i think it was. After a year and a half, the battery started to not charge properly and starting to inflate. I broke the screen, maybe the fall damage did broke one of the cells or something. The game performance was very good. The call volume not so good, and it got like a sort of a touch gesture at the back that was a good gizmo, but never really used it. Enjoy it!

[@ForTheBirbs]

I ordered one as soon as I saw your thumbnail before seeing video as I miss having a thermal camera. Around $500AU on May 4th

[@godslaughter]

I never liked the sleek, minimalist design of most modern smartphones so this industrial-looking monster is SO sexy. Like, wow, that's what I want to see. I will always prefer practicality and function over "good looks", even though this looks very nice to me (in this case we're gonna ignore it being so heavy and thicc). Kinda the reason why I like cargo pants so much - more pockets for rocks, coins, bones and bugs!

[@therealsnufkin]

Most of your audience admire you as a professional and respect your opinion, so to hear you independently endorse a product carries quite a lot of weight. I'd never heard of Doogee but am now actively looking at their products. Maybe if Doogee see this video, they should consider providing your next phone pro gratis. 👍🏼

[@bigclivedotcom]

They have offered free products, but I don't accept them.

[@ThunderBassistJay]

Looks like a great smartphone with an outstanding battery capacity. 👍 Thanks for the review! 🙏

[@UpLateGeek]

Good to see someone is finally making a more appropriately sized phone for Big Clive!

[@iainwalker8701]

I used to have a Blackview 9900 Pro that had FLIR thermal imaging. Worked perfectly for two years despite constant abuse from me until it fell out my pocket and I lost it in a boating pond. It was fully water proof, fell in the bath loads of times. Screen never cracked despite so many falls. Dropped it off my garage roof on more than one occasion and never used a screen cover.

[@davidbwa]

I'd never heard of that brand. I like the infrared / night vision aspects. My last couple of phones have been Samsung G Power - unlocked - $200 ball park. Have been very happy with them but they lack some of the features you mentioned.

[@francistaylor1822]

Just FYI infrared Night vision as you only see temp gradients it wont be that helpful to see stuff at night

[@j.f.christ8421]

@@francistaylor1822 This phone has both.

[@francistaylor1822]

@@j.f.christ8421 I stand corrected, I missed that in the review !

[@ljchrzan]

For 10+ years I used a Samsung Rugby flip phone. It was great, it would go 3 weeks on a charge. Here, in the US AT&T stopped supporting 3G so I had to get a new phone. I wanted another rugged phone but they are not available in the US. I did a lot of research and ended up with an Oukitel WP5 Pro. It was kinda sketchy if the phone would work on AT&T network but I've had no problems. Doogee was a brand I did look at, but for less than $200 US the Oukitel has really fulfilled my needs.

[@Sylvan_dB]

In the USA, AT&T should work and also T-Mobile. (Those are the primary GSM-based providers in the US.) Verizon and Sprint (which has been acquired by T-Mo so will be going away) are CDMA which is almost never found in the rest of the world. However as things move to LTE-only and 5 gen the CDMA is going away (LTE is based on GSM) and I expect these concerns to minimize. The other problem is the frequency bands used - different carriers own different bands and they use some bands in some areas and other bands elsewhere to avoid conflicts. Radios in phones are getting more flexible but still are limited in the bands they support. If a phone doesn't work on any of your carriers bands, no cellular for you. Or maybe it works on a few of your carriers bands, so will work in some places but not others.

[@bradley9856]

thats awesome, I'm getting one for myself. If that thing had Lidar it would be out of this world

[@gonzo_the_great1675]

Brought one of these on Clive's recomendation (in live streams). Love it to bits. But agree on the slippy nature of the case. Dropped this one three times in it's first week. About as many times as my previous one in 5 years!

[@bigclivedotcom]

The condom case gives a lot more grip.

[@NoName-zn1sb]

its first

[@stepheneyles2198]

I would buy it for the "Dual Spectrum Fusion Algorithm" it mentions on the product page!! Just the thing to impress friends with!

[@thomaswykes3647]

I bought one last summer and find it superb. The IR camera comes in handy all the time when at work and DIY. The long battery life suits my week long work trips. The rugged construction is holding up very well. It's also very heavy so doubles up as a hammer!

[@culmalachie]

Clive! just watching "he Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band" - never noticed them before - and your vid pops up.... thought your viewers may like to know ( as an aside) but keep on going with your vids - always more than just interesting. Cheers!

[@hermannschaefer4777]

I bought a TOPDON TC001 addon camera some months ago, also 256x192 resolution, and really happy with it. Easily shows the metal frames behind a gypsum plasterboard and also the wires (when conducting some power) in a wall. Great stuff.

[@bubba99009]

Using a thermal camera to find NM cables hidden behind drywall (and maybe even an illegal junction someone slipped into the wall and covered over) - that is a great idea. Now I want one.

[@ziginox]

That one uses the same Infiray-made sensor! It's great.

[@AcidOllie]

I had a Doogee phone a few years ago and I was very happy with it overall.

[@brabbytimsin7088]

My friend, what an excellent review! I love your honesty and humbleness... No sponsorships! I respect you greatly and would love to see more off-branching content from you in the future 🌚

[@seanet1310]

Now im an office based engineer, i missed my thermal imageing cameras. Looks like a great phone in general for the use case. I worry about the general photo quality, my only Helios soc expernece was woefull in photo and video quality. Dont need flagship but do need very useable photos and videos of the family etc. Despite working in the RF industry, I can take or leave 5G

[@barrieshepherd7694]

Thanks Clive, now even more pressure for me to buy a thermal camera 🤣 I have an IR modified DSLR but the extended range & false colour the thermal cameras gives is very tempting. Will have to find the spudger and pry some coins out of the money box

[@Ni5ei]

A DSLR (or any digital camera) modified for Infrared is completely different than a thermal cam. You can't use them for thermal imaging and they're only suitable for artistic use. I'm into Infrared photography myself and have modified multiple camera's. It's awesome but not so much from a technical point of view.

[@barrieshepherd7694]

@@Ni5ei Thanks, I probably should have made it clearer that the IR camera was not delivering across the thermal range - not that I got it for that purpose I did get it for photography effects 😎

[@sargfowler9603]

I didn't know such a thing existed! Good review. Ideal for a bloke like you!

[@bengraham3707]

Wow this phone is only $472AUD, which is just an amazingly cheap price for such a phone. Thanks for this review!

[@marcelvanbeek7048]

I also have one and happy with it. I use it for technical purposus. Before i had a cat61. What a disaster. Then i bought a Blackview, better but was soon outdated with the software. Now i have the Doogee and it is not perfect but for the price and specs it does the job well. Greetings from the Netherlands.

[@captainboing]

great review from a genuine use-case - ordered one. been after a new phone and wanted IR capability, this phone seems to have the engineering features in buckets. It has just dropped in price to $400 (+20 express delivery) so such a good deal. Cheers Clive.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Much appreciated, thanks.

[@Mr_natenut]

Sir I really hope u keep on making review videos. Honesty to me it seems is what u wane get across. I appreciate that. Your experience with electronics, is definitely a plus

[@AlwaysFaxkenCashinHandMate]

I’ve never thought about the word review before you said it 😂 it’s a RE-VIEW!

[@xXKisskerXx]

I have a Doogee S88Plus for a few years now, and I love it. Huge battery acts as a nice battery pack for other devices, or just.. a week of use. I needed a rugged phone without a clunky case for waterproofing, for outdoor/heavy use. I did look into the IR camera ones and such too, but wouldn't have gotten as much use out of those. (although I might need in the near future) I can confirm the waterproof on mine really is. The only thing that really suffers is the speakers. They need to dry out before audio is clear and loud again. The screen is a bit clunky to use underwater, but possible. - and it has been in Chlorine pools as well as saltwater pools and the Atlantic Ocean. The clear grippy TPU-like shell that can be put on it (for extra protection) has yellowed a bit in age and UV and use (it has also been in all those waters) but isn't cracking or crumbling yet. There other issue seems to be a software issue - there is a "light mode' for music playing, and although I wouldn't really need/use it - it was advertised, but no matter what I did I couldn't get it to work. I really like the brand. I wanted a rugged phone and I found one and gave it a try. I will probably look at them again for another phone for other uses, like this S98Pro - for more work use.

[@arcadeuk]

Be aware that Doogee usually has delayed install malware. Usually 2-3 months after you start using it the phone will suddenly be riddled with Chinese adware that you will need to root the phone to remove

[@makak_zeleny]

You don't need a root to remove protected apps, you can do it using adb too

[@sandy_knight]

@Tusch 001 I was hoping the same thing but wouldn't reinstalling the OS mean reinstalling the hardware drivers? If so lets hope it works with non-proprietary/OS drivers!

[@TedCornish]

£350 what a bargain 👍👍. That’s my new phone sorted. Thanks Clive

[@Johadart]

Clive I’ll be looking to get this, wow it’s awesome as you review it.. cheers mate 🤙🏼🇦🇺 Joe from Australia 🤙🏼🇦🇺

[@williama29]

this is an interesting phone what interests me more is the thermal imaging dongle part and I enjoy watching your videos often

[@KeritechElectronics]

Nice thermal vision diagnostic device. No shorted MLCC will escape! :)

[@grahamleiper1538]

Am on my second Ulefone Armor phone (microphone died on my first one after a couple of years). Generally just buy from Amazon these days for the initial warranty if there's a problem out of the box. First was bought before that was possible. Next one will have FLIR but I don't want too big as current 6.2" screen one barely fits the charging bay in my car. (First world problems) The good thing about most of the "rugged" Chinese phones is untweaked Android and dual SIMs (I worked overseas a lot). Amazing what you can get for £200-300.

[@tridsonline]

👍🏻 Thanks for the review, especially the emphasis on practicality and functionality. It's great to see some common sense alternatives to the expensive bling that so many manufacturers focus on. I'm just holding my breath for someone to release a practical phone like this that comes with a stylus. Samsung got me hooked with their Galaxy Note series, but they've been removing essentials like expandable memory and replacing them with useless and pricey curved screens and with fragile glass backs that get hidden by any sensible protective case, and which raise the cost of battery replacements. But enough ranting - suffice to say that i deeply appreciate the common sense approach adopted by phones like this. Thanks for sharing your impressions

[@gilgammesh1]

I bought the Doogee s89 pro as my daily rider a few years back. Great hefty phone thats perfect for my job as a fabricator. I can leave it out on my bench without much worries and i have dropped it 3 times and barely a dent. Think its time to upgrade to this though, looks great.

[@DanielJPole]

Can agree, Doogee customer service is non existent. However, the rugged phones are high quality, great price, virtually indestructible. Been running an S95PRO for over 2 years and only just bust the screen after any other phone would have failed a million times over. I said no more smart phones as if one lasted 3 months i was lucky, then got a Doogee Rugged.. would buy again..

[@hinspect]

My first employment while finishing my degree was associate engineer with an FM/AM Radio station back in 1981 and one of the Engineering Magazine articles was on a new idea for "Cellular" communications named for multi repeating Towers in the diagram of a Honeycomb array of the antennas. The artwork resembled a "Honeycomb" of Hexagons! (Cells) I wish I would've kept that issue 🤔

[@oldblueshirtguy]

This was the UK equivalent on Tomorrow's World in 1982: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGbVeHeGZ6qsqpo

[@TopEndSpoonie]

Great review Clive. I really want one, but not at the moment. Perhaps the next model.

[@bigclivedotcom]

They're evolving fast. Hopefully the price of the thermal sensors will drop and they will appear in more phones.

[@DANGERTIM112]

Been using Dooggee phones for multiple years now, very satisfied with the looks and usefullness of them, as all the big brands are all abouth the "smooth roundd edges" and "as small as possible body"

[@kornaros96]

Congrats on the new ride. Meanwhile I'm rocking the Nokia 6.1, on its third battery. I'll replace it when it kicks the bucket, and I hope that HMD launches a good one, otherwise I'm jumping to Sony.

[@rogerhargreaves2272]

Nice review Clive. I think these phones are Spanish, I have a Doogee mix lite which says Spanish on the back. It’s lasted years but I can’t get the back off to change the battery, which no longer charges.

[@bluedogdataelectrical6303]

Thanks mate, great review to the point I have purchased one now waiting for it to come.. so I'll let you know how it goes down under

[@mysteriousbigboy6744]

It would be fascinating to push this device to the max. Could you do a test to find out the maximum amount of time it can go in Thermal Video Capture and how many mAh it consumes ? Does it shut down due to device overheating after some time and if so, after how much time ? Ambient temperature, etc. Also, Would a mirror be able to capture its own thermal footprint by reflection ? Icing on the cake, sharing the file size. Damn, so many questions... Details like these rarely get named by reviewers! YOu are the boss, CLive.

[@fredfred2363]

Gotta be more than 256x192 resolution to capture that level of detail outside. The power lines look very clear, not pixellated at all. Good review. 👍🏻😀🇬🇧

[@Sekir80]

Yeah, the anti-aliasing works well here. Thin objects can however introduce stairstepping, but not a dealbreaker. This thing is a fine piece, I use it as well.

[@SarahC2]

The price alone is fantastic! My HT-A2 thermal camera (320*240, -20 to 300c) cost just a little bit less than this entire phone! (256x192, -?? to 500c!) the thermal resolutions aren't much different either - and the HT-A2 only takes pictures, no video, and no "smart images" for processing later. I think I might be getting this phone when my current one dies.

[@Sekir80]

The thermal range info was a bit misleading here. He said -15 to 550. If I remember correctly it goes down to -30, but that isn't the point here. This device has 2 modes, one from -30 to 80 (IIRC), and a higher one from 80-550. So, it's not ONE -30 to 550. If you care about this tidbit.

[@MrKoakai]

Nice. I picked up a BV9900 based on your review. I'll have to keep this on mind for the inevitable replacement.

[@gertbenade3082]

Definitely a good specced phone. Will investigate if it works in South Africa next time I have yo upgrade... Thanks Clive!

[@djayers]

I had rugged Doogee for a couple of years. Bust the gorilla glass screen by dropping it on tiles. But it only died properly when I tried to replace screen. Now got a Blackview rugged. Is brilliant as long as it doesn't get too hot (like, sun) or too cold (winter), the keyboard goes bonkers. Some try sticking it in the fridge.

[@Ivan.Atanasov.]

Bv9900 pro user here. Never had an issue. Loving the thing

[@McTroyd]

The US networks you're looking for are Verizon (VER-eye-ZON) and Sprint, which I think is now part of T-Mobile US. They used a CDMA cellular network, which was completely incompatible with with the global GSM networks. I understand there is (was?) at least one CDMA network provider in Japan as well. This is less an issue nowadays -- Verizon and Sprint phased out CDMA with 3G, and T-Mobile has even shut down Sprint's 4G LTE. (It was redundant to their 4G network.) I suspect your phone will be generally compatible in the US, but only 4G -- the carriers have been quite aggressive at shutting down 2G and 3G.

[@InssiAjaton]

About the American (and at least AT&T) compatibility issue - I once had a Nokia Communicator that was imported from the UK. Worked fine where I live. But then I was sent to a customer site in Southern Illinois and could not make or receive calls. As staying in contact with my employer was a key need, I went to a shop where I tried a Blackberry phone with my AT&T SIM card and it worked. So I bought it. Emergency avoided. On my way back, I had a lengthy wait in Atlanta. You may have heard a saying: In South, it does not matter whether you are going to Heaven, or Hell, you have to change planes in Atlanta... Well, I decided to try my Communicator again. And it worked. Further study indicated that the American frequency bands for GMS extend lower than the European ones, and it so happens that the Southern Illinois area allocation at least for AT&T cell phones was just in that lower range and thereby out of reach with my European Communicator. I still have my old Communicator that operated in 2G and 3G, but have since used a Nokia 6.1 with 4G capabilities, until AT&T claimed that my phone was only supporting 3G (apparently old archive info about the long since retired Communicator) that the were dropping last year, along with the introduction of 5G. So now I have a Samsung S22, purchased in last December. However, immediately after my purchase, Samsung started bombarding me with a request to upgrade to S23. Well, I don't, because the S23 as well as new 5G capable Nokia (HMD) phones are too big for my shirt pocket. The S22 is the same size as my Nokia 6.1 and my shirt pocket. Consider that a funny new make or break compatibility criteria!

[@forgingluck]

Fortunately there's an expensive workaround for "whitelist" networks like AT&T here in the states - just buy the cheapest Samsung or whatever phone the carrier has that has the same sim format, activate the Sim card, and just pop it into the blackview or doogee. That's what I had to do with the blackview 8800 pro (activated the Sim on the free S10e AT&T sent me), and it works perfect 💯

[@Farm_fab]

For those that live in the States, there are no carriers that have approved this phone on their network. While it uses the same frequency as some domestic services, none of those companies have made any attempts to promote this or other independent manufacturers.

[@oldblueshirtguy]

Strange that SIM only is not being aggressively promoted by the US networks in the same way as it is elsewhere. You would think that having customers that are effectively 100% profit from acquisition, rather than being a loss for the first year or two while a subsidised phone is paid off, would be an incentive for them to move into the 21st century.

[@LewinEdwards]

The fast-updating IR camera is also considered a military item in the US and getting them across the border is complex. 9fps is the upper limit for unrestricted shipping.

[@mduvigneaud]

Clive, oh nice! Good information! I'm still using an original Google Pixel. I've replaced the battery and screen, though.

[@Aco747lyte]

This is a very interesting, feature-packed phone although for medical ops needing thermal imaging, my colleagues and I use embe for pc based thermography, but this Doogee is handy for pocket use in the cramped conditions as our chopper. I was so impressed with the features that I bought another for my watchmaker daughter Billie. Still a teenager she loves the phone for her outdoor activities. You did a great review there, Clive. As always you're tops! 😊

[@SiaVids]

It looks a great phone with a lot of functionality but I've recently had a lot of bad experience of unscrupulous Chinese sellers so there is no way I would be parting with that sort of money directly with a Chinese company.

[@JasonJrake]

Many Doogee will work on these finicky U.S. networks, so long as you set up the account with your SIM card in an “approved” device, then relocate it to your Doogee device.

[@camifnisil2684]

I have the s96pro it's awesome. The s98 is likely to be my next upgrade

[@mastweiler22]

Would love to try one for SAR, guess it depends on how much battery it eats in thermal mode... could help when searching a bramble thicket.

[@janemba42]

Marques Brownlee did a video on how much of an issue the battery degradation is with fast charging and modern smartphones, it's super interesting and worth the watch.

[@Sekir80]

I'm not following him, but this is useful, thanks for the info!

[@chriselliott2485]

Wileyfox... OMG there's a blast from the past. I had one of those (the Swift), never saw another one "in the wild"!

[@magar6247]

There's something sweet about printing out the photos instead of showing them on screen

[@ExperimentIV]

i’ve gotta show this to my dad. i think it could be something he’d enjoy.

[@firworks]

I really wish it would work on AT&T. I'm still limping along a CAT S61. It was a slow phone when it was new. Now 5 years later its near unbearable but I'm still hanging on because I use the thermal camera regularly. I recently bought one of those Infiray P2 Pros to see how annoying it would be to switch away from a phone with integrated thermal and the Infiray sensor blew me away with how great it is compared to the terrible integrated FLIR option on the CAT phone. However... having to always carry it with me in addition to my phone is a hassle vs just having it integrated and being able to pull it up at a moments notice. This phone looks like the perfect successor to the CAT phone but I'm on AT&T and I just know it wont work. My wife tried to get a Blackview phone working on the network and after battling with AT&T support for 2 weeks straight we had to return it. I'm really tempted to buy it off Amazon and just see what happens and return it if they refuse to allow it on the network. I think the odds there are slim to none though.

[@smartperson1]

It probably will work. I looked it up and this phone supports every AT&T 4G band except band 30. And I don't think band 30 is a major one for AT&T.

[@firworks]

@@smartperson1 It's not an issue of supported bands. They maintain a white list of devices allowed on the network and if your device isn't on that list it will be disconnected. KZbin doesn't let you post links in comments but look up AT&T BYOD White List and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

I assume you can't use one of the smaller providers that don't enforce a whitelist, like Mint Mobile?

[@marcogenovesi8570]

@@smartperson1 big mobile ISPs in the USA have device whitelists and will not allow devices that they have not "validated" on their network

[@dashcamandy2242]

@@marcogenovesi8570 Also, many brands have been blacklisted in the US due to suspicion of Chinese spying. And, as I discovered with a refurbished T-Mobile LG V60 ThinQ 5G Dual-Screen, even if the phone operates on all the AT&T bands, it might still be unusable on the network. So instead of the refurbished ThinQ ($380), I was forced to buy a used one that WAS usable on AT&T (extra expense of $300), and that phone has a bad charging port.

[@bnuttsgee]

One million subs approaching .

[@ssgeek4515]

Do like my Cat s42 No thermal imagery (s50 circa £500) but certainly is a tough phone My garage floor confirms this.great vid sir.

[@TagCavello]

I have a Doogee S96 Pro as my daily driver. 2020. Still doing well.

[@lucasagm]

If you want to be more impressed, the brand agm mobile released a smartphone with a built-in long range thermal camera with up to 1000m in thermal detection. Quite cool technology

[@DatBoiOrly]

I'm still rocking my CAT s61 phone & i'll doubt that'll change anytime soon

[@ani_matus]

I had doogee titans 2 for a couple of years and it was a bad experience. It was a heavy duty smartphone with a very bad cam and screen, despite it was a "flagship" of the brand. A year ago I decided to check out another flagship - doogee V20. Im using it for a year now and it feels good.

[@bigclivedotcom]

Some of the earlier rugged phones had very basic cameras.

[@SinsBird]

This brand is on my blacklist since they were selling a phone full of malware both in the apps and system packages so it couldn't be removed in any way and they did nothing to correct this, the malware would come alive after a month or so and basically render the phone useless, it would become super slow, show ads all over the place, open web pages and constantly download additional malware or apps.

[@yodasscrotum]

Yes, awful company.bought a dooggee phone that died after a month,sent it away directly to dooggee,they lost the phone for over six months and after many emails to them I received the phone back 8 months after sending it for repair!

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

Funnily, the non standard Android was the reason I didn't purchase a Blackview. One good thing with my 98Pro is that it got a more standard Android 12, while the BV had it's own OS based on Android 11 (at time of purchase)

[@Sekir80]

Yeah, great stuff! I've bought this as well to satisfy my desire for a thermal imager, looking for a use case. But interestingly, as soon as I bought it I found I use it almost daily! Checking the resistors in the battery tester? No problem. Looking for a bad connection on my crocodile clips making them heat up? Oh, yeah, found them (replaced them today). Even imaging the food from the microwave to see if it's heated up evenly or not! Hint, there's a big differential between the insides and outsides of a meat loaf. Edit: what I really love about the thermal imager is the resolution. Previously, every phone/heat camera needed to have the optical mixed to the thermal image, because the FLIR has 80x60 resolution and you can't see shit. With 256x192 I don't need the mixed mode because I can see in thermal sharp enough. To credit FLIR and newer phones they started using the Lepton 3.5 camera with 160x120 resolution. Still shit, but way better than the Lepton 2.5.

[@spamletspamley672]

I had a similar problem with my Planet Computers 'Cosmo Communicator' slipping through my fingers, which, for a keyboard phone made it impractical if I had to keep looking for a flat surface to type on rather than type while holding it in my hands. After a painful experience when I had to put my bare foot out to stop the heavy, slippery phone smashing on the kitchen tiles, I came up with a better way of holding phones that works brilliantly: Stick a strip of the fluffy side of black velcro, along the back, or clam shell lid of the phone wherever it won't interfere with cameras etc. Then all you need to do it get some of the cable tidy velcro, and wrap it round a couple of fingerswith the hook side out. It doesn't have to be very tight, and you can leave the finger loop on the fluffy strip on the back of the phone, so you automatically tuck a finger through it whenever you pick the phone up. I never bothered with a bulky case after that. I don't think I've dropped the phone since, and I spend much of the time typing lying on my back. A velcro loop round the fingers really is that good. Try it. (y) I also stick phones to my laptops with velcro too when I want to manually copy from them. And, just lately I got some A4 velcro sheets and glued them to boards,so that I could tidy my USB sticks away on them. It does mean looking for sensible shaped sticks, you can stick velcro one side and a label the other, but it's much better than any other storage methods for memory sticks that I've seen.

[@madmancrow7659]

Just wow!, That image so clear

[@tjmarx]

I'd never even heard of this brand before, but I was seriously thinking about buying one based on your review until you got to connection type. The lack of 5G is a deal breaker. In Australia we already have 85% 5G coverage, Telstra were the global trial partner of 5G technology so Australia has had 5G since 2017. Thank you for making me aware of this brand though, I'll keep an eye on them bringing out a 5G variant.

[@daveredd9832]

Is there an actual advantage to 5G?

[@Alacritous]

Man, there is nothing you're going to do that needs 5G.

[@Providence83]

Alternatively, the Ulefone Power Armor 18 is another very attractive option for these rugged phones.

[@janisvaskevics93]

Engineers have no use of super speed broadband in phone. I feel that 4G with sub 100mbits is more than enough for my day.

[@frankryan2505]

​@@daveredd9832it's blindingly fast ( even more so compared to our shitty Australian internet infrastructure)

[@xlncaustralia3261]

I had the Doogee S90 Pro when it first came out. It was a terrific phone and it served me well in a high use work environment. My biggest gripe was that it had no security updates, and no OS upgrades beyond the Android 9 that came installed. Their contact support was also terrible. That was the let down that made me shy away from updating to another Doogee device when the time came. The price was amazing, the phone did everything advertised, the 5000mAh battery was brilliant, and it worked flawlessly for a couple of years. In the end it was the touch screen that was the failure point. I never found a matching screen protector so the glass ended up with dead zones in the common touch locations, and the bezel was susceptible to foreign matter which caused ghost touches around the edges of the display. Hopefully they can resolve some of their support and update downfalls.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The lack of updates is pretty standard for the import phones. I'm going to guess that every time they send an update it invariably results in someone bricking their phone, so they don't like the flurry of angry messages after the updates.

[@BruceKreikemeier]

I purchased this phone nearly a year ago... I thought it is as good and useful as the specs say it is then I really can't go wrong. My previous phone is a Samsung S8. Comparing it to the S8 it has the following issues and Doogee tech support does not care. 1. camera is not AT ALL clear when you zoom in. I believe they used a cheap sensor for the standard camera and "fake" the resolution numbers that they publish. If not, the sensor is just not very good. 2. touch pad is inconsistent. can never seam to click where needed, is always clicking on things next to where i actually clicked. Continues to do things, at random, that I did not click on. 3. Power button will not turn off the phone right after you have done something else on the screen. ex, I send a text then try to turn off the phone to put it in my pocket and it will not shut off. Then I press the button 4 or 5 times an it calls 911. Have to cancel that, and then I can finally turn it off. 4. Does not work on the Verizon network very well. when ever I leave from home, WiFi calling, and enter the Verizon net work or change from one cell tower to another it will say I have service but will not receive calls, send text, or call out. Is showing 2 to 3 bars of signal but does not work. S8 works find in this situation. 5. The camera app that is in the factory OS quit working. Acts like it is taking a picture but then when you click the lower left image to review it, it is the most recent image that has been actually recorded on the device. The picture it appears to have taken exists NOWHERE on the phone. Tried resetting to factory defaults a few times, still did not work. Had to download a third party phone app and takes pictures as expected. 6. Camera is really slow to focus. I end up taking a lot of blurry pictures because the phone takes about 15 to 20 seconds to focus. 7. the thermal camera is OK at best. Again not the resolution they publish. A stand alone thermal camera with half the resolution has twice the clarity compared to the S98 pro. The thermal camera also costs half the price. 8. It is not nearly as responsive to normal use, speed to respond to selections and such, as an S8 or any other name brand phone I have used. Does not appear the video processor does it any good. I would not try gaming on it as it appears WAY to SLOW responding to user input. 9. The screen protector is constantly sliding off the edge of the phone when kept in the pocket... I will put it in my pocket in the morning and when I pull it out at noon or so, 4 hours, the screen protector will be hanging off the right side of the phone... Ruggedness and battery life appear to be the only specs that hold true to the Doogee claims. I will not purchase another Doogee phone, too much trouble and frustration with it and tech support is useless..

[@bigclivedotcom]

The phone does not have the polish of a mainstream flagship phone. It's an engineers phone. The connectivity issues are due to America using non standard protocols. They could definitely improve the phone. I'd like to see a company like Samsung make a similar phone with the same ruggedness and thermal imaging.

[@grenvillephillips6998]

Matt, over on Schrodingers Box, demonstrates how he quickly tracked down a parasitic draw on a car battery, and a bad coil-pack, using a similar piece of kit to Clive.

[@rambo1152]

It occurred to me when you were showing the cameras, but before you mentioned the flash "bleed" problem, that if I was designing this phone, (ha ha) I would put the illuminator for the active camera next to the lens that is not being used.

[@GerhardMack]

Android's design means that antivirus apps don't have enough access to do anything useful. The only reason I replaced my Doogee is because I thought I had broken it when in fact, my service provider broke it for me by making network changes that caused intermittent outages for people using international phones. Ended up moving all my apps and data to a new phone only to discover the new phone didn't work either. I ended up switching from Telus to Bell Canada with the added advantage of having working IPv6. Since I went through all of the trouble of moving and didn't want to do it again the Doogee has a new home with a very happy owner.