ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Doogee V Max Plus is offered for $499 ($130 off) on Amazon.
- It is an exceptionally rugged telephone with a robust case that protects the machine from out of doors extremes, with a battery that lasts longer than you would possibly assume potential.
- The V Max Plus forgoes the same old Android App Drawer, the cameras are merely serviceable, and efficiency is on par with mid-range Android gadgets.
Do you spend time in rougher terrain? Perhaps you are an avid hiker or climber, or perhaps your building job requires you to work in off-the-grid areas with no means for charging your gadgets. In that case, you perceive the necessity for a telephone that may not solely stand as much as the weather but in addition has sufficient battery energy to go the space.
You definitely do not wish to be caught in a state of affairs the place you have to contact somebody, solely to search out out your battery is simply too low or lifeless. I have been there. It is not enjoyable.
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If that feels like a realistically believable state of affairs, the Doogee V Max Plus may be the telephone for you. The corporate is thought for producing gadgets that may take a beating and carry on ticking, and the V Max Plus is not any exception.
Let’s state the apparent: this telephone is huge and heavy. Put this in your pants pocket, and also you would possibly discover it is heavy sufficient to pull your trousers down. Yeah, it is that heavy. The rationale for that is the ultra-beefy case and the big battery. It is so huge that it’s a little off-putting at first, till you notice simply how lengthy this factor lasts.
Doogee V Max Plus tech specs
- CPU: Dimensity 7050 / Octa-core / 5G
- RAM: 16GB + 20GB Digital
- Storage: 512GB DDR5
- Show: 6.58″ FHD+ 120 Hz IPS with 480 nits, 16.7 million colours, 1500:1 distinction, and Gorilla Glass Victus
- Rear cameras: 200MP + 20MP + 8MP
- Entrance digital camera: Sony 32MP
- Battery: 22,000 mAh with 33W charging
- OS: Android 14
- Value: $499 on Amazon
My expertise
Each time I maintain a Doogee telephone, I can not assist however snort at how huge and heavy it’s. Once you’re accustomed to carrying round a Pixel 8 Professional, the scale and weight distinction is appreciable. On the similar time, I perceive why these telephones are designed as such.
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If it weren’t apparent by now, it needs to be clear that the Doogee V Max Plus is not aimed toward your conventional consumer. These telephones are extra at house in rugged terrain, the place dropping an everyday telephone would nearly definitely result in catastrophe. So for anybody who spends period of time round rocks, water, mud, and different less-than-idyllic environments, this telephone is for you.
You possibly can drop it, and it will snort at you. You possibly can sandblast a wall, and it will carry on keepin’ on. It is robust, and it means enterprise.
Essentially the most spectacular characteristic of the V Max Plus is the battery. We’re speaking hours right here that few telephones can match:
- 1,540 standby hours
- 156 calling hours
- 142 music enjoying hours
- 45 video-watching hours
- 18 net shopping hours
After preliminary setup, I made a decision to shelve the telephone and see what occurs when it is simply left on. After every week, the battery had barely budged. Perceive, throughout that point, I did not use the telephone and I hadn’t put in any third-party apps that will run within the background. Even so, that is severely spectacular. If I attempted that with my Pixel 8 Professional, I would be fortunate to get two or three days out of it. That is what occurs once you set up a 22,000 mAh battery in a telephone: it lasts seemingly ceaselessly.
So far as the efficiency of the telephone goes (the battery apart), it is definitely not going to outdo Google’s or Samsung’s flagship gadgets, but it surely holds its personal within the midrange house. Animations had been easy, apps opened shortly, and navigation had little or no lag. I’ll say that the fingerprint scanner is not fairly as much as par — it is on the facility button and a bit sluggish to acknowledge fingerprints. The face unlock can be a bit hit-and-miss; typically it was sooner to only kind in my PIN.
If I needed to knock the telephone for one thing, it will be the truth that its Android UI would not include the App Drawer. Due to that, each app you put in will add a launcher on the house display screen. For many who want a minimal interface, you may have to put in a third-party house display screen launcher (akin to my favourite, Nova Launcher).
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For picture hounds, the cameras are serviceable. With sufficient gentle, you may take some good photographs. When the lighting will get a bit dim, be sure to have a really regular hand, in any other case your whole photographs will end up blurry. Talking of blur, the primary digital camera does a reasonably good job with background blur, so if you happen to like taking extra inventive photographs, you may.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Doogee V Max Plus is focused at a selected viewers: those that want a telephone that may take a beating and infrequently run out of battery. If that sounds such as you, this telephone is not going to disappoint. It is a stable entry within the midrange house, and its sturdiness and battery life make it stand out. When you want your telephones to be extra petite, you must draw back from this beast.