The Doogee S98 is the latest in Doogee’s line of increasingly indestructible smartphones, and with it comes a selection of features that are sure to come in useful for many rugged smartphone users out there. It starts from $260 and is available at AliExpress, Doogeemall, and the S98 official page.

But with attributes like “explosion-proof” and a “military standard 810G rating” you might think you’re investing in an M1 Abrams or an F-15 fighter jet. Well, you’re not, you’re investing in a smartphone and, for some, it should prove quite the investment, based on my testing. Let's see what this smartphone is all about.

Unboxing the Doogee S98

As with all Doogee smartphones these days, it comes in a flat, square, black box, with Doogee's logo emblazoned across the top in silver, and a sticker indicating the model of the phone on the bottom right. Opening the box, you have:

• Doogee S98 smartphone
• Charger and associated cable
• Spare explosive film and screen prep kit
• Film removal tool

And that is your lot. Ready to see how indestructible this smartphone is?

The Look of a Rugged Smartphone

Taking a tour around the S98, we have a device that is 6.7 inches long, 3.2 inches wide, and 0.6 inches thick. It weighs in at a touch over 0.7 pounds, so it is quite the chonk, although this is pretty standard for a rugged phone. Especially one containing a battery the size of the S98.

The frame is aluminum alloy and rubber, and it feels very much like a rugged smartphone should… rugged. Given its hard-wearing chassis, the Doogee is capable of withstanding drops, knocks, bumps, and whatever other physical strain you want to put it under.

The front face carries the indicator light for notifications, the 16-megapixel front camera, and the ambient light sensor. You’ve also got the 5.3 inch LCD FHD+ waterdrop display, which has a 1080 x 2340 resolution and a 19:9 aspect ratio. I mentioned earlier that the phone is reportedly explosion-proof, but this is really an “explosion-proof film” that Doogee has pre-applied to the screen and which you can see if you look just below the receiver at the top of the display. However, as this isn’t Mythbusters and I don’t have an explosives budget, I couldn’t test this feature, but I did put the S98 through its paces in other ways.

If we flip the device over, we have the camera array, comprising an 8 MP wide angle, 20 MP night vision, and a 64 MP main sensor; plus two infrared night vision lights for night-time snaps, and the flash. You’ll also notice the rear screen, which can show a selection of notifications as well as a clock. However, for me, this is more of a cosmetic feature than a genuinely useful one. Sure, I can see the time, or a WhatsApp notification… but I can see all those literally on the other face of the phone, along with much more besides. Perhaps it might be good if you don’t want lots of notifications bothering you.

On the bottom edge, we have the speaker, microphone, and the USB type-C port, which you can’t see until you reveal it by removing the handy little plug to keep dust and water out. This is an excellent feature and one that has been present on several previous Doogee models. Drop the S98 in water or sand, and nothing is getting inside to damage your charging port.

On the left edge is the custom key, and the slot for adding your sim and a micro-SD, while the right-hand edge carries a volume rocker, the power key, and the fingerprint sensor to unlock the device. And that completes your tour around the Doogee.

How About Specs?

Inside, you’ll find a 6,000mAh battery, which is a humongous capacity and lasts several days, even when used as your day-to-day smartphone. So, excellent for long trips in the wilderness, and you can also use reverse charging to charge other devices from the S98. It supports 33-watt fast charging and 15-watt wireless charging.

Powering the S98 is an 8-core MediaTek Helio G96, so you’re only going to get 4G connectivity out of this smartphone. That will be fine for most users, but a deal breaker for some. You’ll have no issue uploading photos of construction site progress to your company server, for example, providing you have access to a cellular data network at your location. I had no problem with connectivity when using the handset, which is important while you’re out in the field.

For storage, there's 256GB on board, which you can easily upgrade thanks to the aforementioned card slot, and 8GB RAM. The S98 runs 2021’s Android 12, so the phone is bang up-to-date when it comes to the OS.

Doogee S98: Performance

As this is a “rugged smartphone”, I’ll only briefly touch on performance in terms of graphics and processing speed; the criteria you’d expect to see in any bog-standard smartphone review. Rather, I am going to concentrate more on some of the features that make this stand out as the rugged smartphone you need in your utility belt or camping bag.

In terms of device performance, we’ll deal with graphics first. I downloaded Genshin Impact mobile edition—a notoriously intensive game—and tested that to see how it runs. The game’s detailed graphics and open world environments can make your phone’s chip work hard, and the S98 coped well, with no noticeable lag.

Likewise, streaming movies with the phone is a delight. The screen displays colors faithfully, with a nice brightness that lower-priced smartphones often lack. So, if you simply must play Genshin Impact or watch the next episode of your favorite series instead of taking in the breathtaking majesty of the rocky mountains you’re camping amongst with your S98, you can and you’ll have a great experience.

Processing is probably a little more important to those who want a rugged smartphone. The likelihood is you’re using it for work, so you want it to complete tasks quickly. Well, the S98 can cope well with running multiple apps at once, and doesn’t stutter while cycling through apps and loading them, or have apps failing to load altogether. Note, though, that this is wholly dependent on exactly what apps you use, and how many you have open at once. Therefore, this is likely to vary a touch from person to person.

Is the Doogee S98 Really "Rugged"?

So, we know it can run the apps you want it to (or don’t want to run depending on what you’ll use the phone for), but what about its ruggedness? Well, I’m pleased to report that it is indeed a rugged handset. I put it through a number of tests to ensure that the Doogee can live up to its claims and you can buy with confidence.

But first, a caveat. As you may know from my written reviews, I’m a stickler for an IP rating. The IP68 rating means that the S98 is protected against water and particle ingress. IP stands for ingress protection and is an international standard used to measure how well-protected a device is. 6 is the highest score for particle ingress, so no sand, dirt, or dust is going to make its way inside the handset. In terms of water resistance, the Doogee S98 can withstand submersion in up to 1.5m of water for up to 30 minutes, thanks to its rating of 8 on water ingress.

You can ignore the IP69K rating. Yes, it means that a device is capable of withstanding dust, heat, and high-pressure water jets. However, this standard is only applicable to equipment installed on road vehicles. So something like the control panel on a refuse truck would have a rating like this, to indicate it can withstand high pressure washing. This also contradicts the IP68 rating.

You should also disregard the "military standard" applied to the S98. In testing, Doogee may well have used the same criteria as a US military-certified lab would when testing a device’s ruggedness, but such a lab did not award this certification, so it is merely to draw you in with some fancy design standard.

Putting the Doogee S98 Through Its Paces

I carried out some practical tests on the Doogee S98 to see if it really is a rugged smartphone.

First, I submerged it in water and left it for an hour. Coming back to the S98 after 60 minutes, I was somewhat relieved to find that it was in no way damaged, and worked just as it should after a quick dry off.

I then tried it with wet, stony muck. Again, thanks to the explosion-proof film over the gorilla glass screen, the phone emerged from its mud bath unharmed. If you lose your S98 at a festival and it is trampled into some mud then, providing it is still on and you have Find My Phone enabled, you should be able to locate it, give it a clean, and have a perfectly working S98 in your hand again, if you want a real life example.

Finally, I tried the drop test. According to Doogee the handset can withstand a drop from 1.5m. I tested this, dropping the phone face first to emulate the “worst case scenario”. The Doogee did just fine withstanding the shock of hitting the floor, the ballistic film offering enough protection to keep the screen damage free.

What About Other Features?

So, the S98 is rugged enough, but what about other features? Well, one that stands out for me is the camera, and in particular night vision mode. Dealing with the main camera first, the 64-megapixel sensor takes some really nice shots. So, for example, if you’re working on set design, you can take pictures worthy enough to post on your company socials, or to report an issue back to HQ, remotely.

Now I mentioned the night vision camera, and this is actually a really fun feature. Aside from the obvious benefits of night-time photography with the 20-megapixel Sony sensor, such as capturing shots of nocturnal creatures and so on, the night vision camera can help you find your way in dark surroundings.

Dark sky camping, for example. Don’t start light-polluting the sky with your Fenix flashlight; instead, find your way using the screen on your phone, in crystal clarity. This was a feature present on the Doogee S96, and I’m happy to see it is still present on the S98.

Basically, if you spend time outdoors at night, you’ll love the night vision mode as much as I do, and it is a feature you won’t find on a great deal of other smartphones on the market, even your top-end Apples and Samsungs. The only complaint I have about the night vision is the inability to capture video footage, but hopefully, this will be something Doogee develops in the future.

Should You Buy a Doogee S98?

Absolutely, if you need a rugged smartphone. The S98 is a rugged smartphone with plenty to shout about, aside from all the features you’d expect from your regular flimsy smartphone. With the ability to take shots at night, and the chops to withstand a wide range of conditions, this is a great handset for the outdoor-based smartphone user. Highly recommended.