Doogee Smini: The most accessible Android small phone now
It’s been a week since I’ve got this phone, and I think this is one of the best devices to have if you want a capable small and compact daily driver.
Yes, there’s the iPhone minis and Unihertz of the world, I even featured my Rakuten Mini here which is smaller, but to say that the Doogee Smini is thick because it’s also a rugged phone, it’s really not.
Weighing only 155 grams, this phone from a lesser-known Chinese brand named Doogee piqued my interest when they launched a Christmas sale which listed this one with a 70% price cut (original price was around Php13,000, do the math). The chance to have a proper small compact device with a newer Android version is a welcome one, since my Sharp AQUOS serie MINI, Rakuten Mini, and Sony XZ2 Compact all ran older versions of the OS (Android 8,9, and 10).
The specs are too good for its price, it packs a decent MediaTek Helio G99 chipset with 8GB of RAM and a generous 256GB of storage. It supports two SIM cards or one SIM and micro SD card. There’s also an option to extend the RAM to an additional 7GB, but I don’t bother to switch it on, since you won’t be doing any multitasking here.
The screen is a 480p IPS LCD panel with decent brightness outdoors and in a tall almost 21:9 aspect ratio that reminds me of Sony Xperias of yesteryear. I love the tall aspect ratio while being able to reach it all the way to the top because of its 4.5-inch size. It has no notches, but instead a selfie camera above a bezel section, to which in turn, encased in a rugged construction. The 480p looks good here because the screen is tiny.
As for the performance, the AnTuTu score is included below. It’s decent enough. But the real star is the IP69K water and dust resistance and the tough MIL-STD-810H, which guarantees it can survive being submerged in water (to a point), and being dropped to a higher ground. The form factor is very nice, being able to grip it with one hand. Of course, body is made from metal and rubber. I have the silver one, but it’s also available in black or purple.
As for its usage, it has stock Android, which is a big plus for me. It took quite some time for me to use the keyboard, and I wrote this post using this. As for software updates, it has some. But don’t expect for major software updates.
Gaming on this is alright. Call Of Duty is great, Farlight 84 works well. Mobile Legends…I don’t play that so I don’t have anything to say about it. Emulation works well here, at least PPSSPP. However, there’s a bug where the screen stops working for no reason. I found that the small resolution and weird screen size interferes with it. One fix through the display size and it’s all fine.
Call quality is great, texting is alright, Wi-Fi strength is commendable, and the seven-segment rear LED display shows you quick glances of battery life, weather, temperature, humidity, and time. If you want some construction tools, there’s also a dedicated menu that includes a protractor, ruler, compass, pedometer, and more. There’s also a special key that you can designate for whatever you want to launch. The power button doubles as a fingerprint scanner and it is quite snappy. Face unlock is also present here.
As per the battery, it has a 3,000mAh one. Pretty lacking by today’s standard, but it lasted me one to two days on moderate usage. And charging is also real fast. it can fill the phone’s battery from 0% to 100% in just 38 minutes. And finally, the cameras. It has all the basics like night mode, portrait, 2k video support, and panorama. It has a 50MP shooter with 2MP macro. The shots are fine on situations with good lighting, but suffers when the subject lacks sufficient brightness. The 8MP selfie shooter is outright bad. It has no OIS or EIS for video.
In conclusion, despite the usual downsides, this device is a great secondary phone that won’t let you down if you need it. The Smini has all the essentials packed in a small form factor. And yes, it’s more accessible because it’s readily available online for a decent price.
