Doogee S59 Pro Review – How durable is this phone?

Doogee S59 Pro Promo

The Doogee S59 Pro is designed for one reason, to be durable and rugged. Designed for the worker or sports enthusiast, the S59 Pro features a rubber, metal, and hard plastic casing using military standard IP68 and IP69K certifications to offer the best protection on the market so you can feel confident should your phone be accidentally dropped.

While not featuring the highest specs, for the price point it has very respectable specs that are capable of using the latest apps and games while offering a smooth experience.

And now, let’s unbox the phone, turn it on, and see whether the Doogee S59 Pro can withstand some abuse.

Unboxing

If you’ve purchased any new smartphone within the last decade or so then you will have a good idea of what to expect as it is a pretty standard affair.

Included in the box is the phone itself, a USB plug and cable, a screen protector, and a wrist strap. It is great to see screen protectors becoming commonplace with new phones.

One thing to note is, the plug that came included in my box was a European 2-pin plug, despite being from the UK and sent via Amazon.co.uk. It isn’t much of an issue as I have more USB plugs than I know what to do with, but it is something to keep in mind when you’re purchasing the phone yourself.

The phone uses USB-C too which is great, as most new devices are using this version, and if nothing else it is great to start building a collection of these around the house so I can finally get rid of the 500 micro-USB cables I have kicking about in every drawer I own.

Specs

For a sub-£200 smartphone it is obvious that you won’t get the top of the line specs, but that doesn’t mean that the specs are anything to scoff at. The Doogee S59 Pro is loaded with some very reasonable hardware which offer a smooth experience.

The Doogee S59 Pro features an 8-core 12nM 2Ghz Octa-Core Mediatek Helio P22 CPU, along with a IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU. While not the best models out there, they are designed for affordable and budget friendly phones and serve their purpose very well and gave me a smooth experience in the games and apps I tested out on the phone, more on that later.

4GB of ram backs up the CPU and GPU, a pretty good amount that has the become the new minimum standard in devices of this price range. While its not the 6GB that we see in some other budget brands such as Xiaomi, the phone serves its own market that likely isn’t looking for their phone to outperform every phone out there, so 4GB is more than acceptable and offers a perfectly fine experience.

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One disappointing spec in the phone is the display resolution, coming in at 720×1520 with a 295ppi. Similarly priced phones, such as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 10, offers a resolution of 1080×2400 with a 409ppi, quite a large difference .

If you’re not a techie then I’m probably just typing gibberish right now and this means nothing to you, the screen still looks fine overall and more than useable, but if you’re a tech enthusiast then this probably isn’t the phone for you.

Something that did surprise me was the 90hz refresh rate for the display, which offers a much smoother experience and it wasn’t something I expected to see on a phone who’s main selling point is being durable and rugged, so if you do like to play games on your phone then this will offer a nicer experience if the game supports it.

Storage is a huge selling point for every phone buyer, if you’re like me you probably look at the ram and storage before anything else. The Doogee S59 Pro comes with a very respectable 128GB of internal storage, which can also be expanded using a micro-SD card. 128GB should be more than enough for the majority of users when it comes to installing apps and games.

Here are the full specs of the phone:

Doogee S59 Pro Specs
Display5.71 inches, IPC LCD, HD+, 720 x 1520, 295ppi, 90Hz, Corning Gorilla Glass
Weight340g
CPUMediatek Helio P22 2.0GHz 12nm
GPUIMG PowerVR GE8320
RAM4GB
Storage128GB, expandable up to 256GB via microSD
CameraMain: 16MP f/2.0 130° ultra-wide + 8MP wide-angle + 8MP macro + 2MP depth
Front: 16MP
Dimensions6.41 x 3.19 x 0.63 inches
Battery and charging10,050mAh, 24W fast-charging via USB Type-C
ConnectivityDual-SIM, WiFi 6, NFC,
DurabilityIP68, IP69K, United States Military MIL-STD-810G
SecurityFace unlock, side-mounted fingerprint sensor
MaterialMetal and hard plastic blend

What’s It Like To Use?

Upon taking it out the box the first thing I noticed was the weight of this phone, with it coming in at 340g. To compare, my current phone, the Xiaomi Mi 10t Lite 5G weighs just 205g.

The Doogee S59 Pro is definitely a phone that you won’t lose because it will probably pull down your pants if you’re not wearing a belt. But, with it being designed as a durable and rugged phone, it is reassuring to feel such weight as it makes me more confident should it be accidentally dropped.

When it comes to using the phone, it is your pretty standard Android experience. The phone uses Google’s Play Store to download and install apps, and all of the usual apps are pre-installed such as Chrome, Gmail, YouTube, then the standard clock, calendar etc.

But, one huge downside of the phone is there are no buttons at the bottom of the screen. Buttons use to be on the bottom of the border of the screen and now are quite often found by scrolling up from the bottom to reveal them, this phone has neither from what I’ve been able to find.

To exit an app you scroll up at the bottom, which can be incredibly awkward to do on apps such as Gmail that relies on scrolling to navigate your emails. For apps that don’t feature an on screen back button, I have found myself having to close the app and restart to be able to navigate to where I want to go next, a huge flaw in the UI of this phone.

Battery Life

The area that perhaps deserves the biggest praise is the battery life, coming in at a huge 10,500mAh, this phone should last the average user multiple days between charges.

I am a heavy phone user, using it for Netflix, YouTube, Tik Tok and other social media platforms which can be battery drainers, and my current 4,820mAh phone usually needs charging after around 1-2 days, so this should easily last the average user around 4-5 days between charges, even longer if it is just used while at work.

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The battery is that large they have even added a feature where you can use your phone as a power bank to charge up other devices.

Doogee S59 Pro Battery

The Camera

The Doogee S59 Pro features a 16MP Samsung camera both front and back, so the quality is really good. For the price I was very surprised at the quality of the camera. While not the best on the market, or even at the price point, it is more than passable for general snaps. Here are some images I’ve taken with the camera, both during the day and on a night.

NOTE: The images were over 5MB in size each, they have been compressed to 500KB so the image quality has been lowered.

Dogee S59 Pro Night Shot Indoors
Dogee S59 Pro Outside Picture

Is The Phone Really Durable?

On the Amazon listing for the phone it states that “After extensive testing, DOOGEE S59 Pro is a rugged phone that meets military standards and has passed IP68 and IP69K certifications. If you want to have a good time by the pool or the beach, this phone is the best choice!” while also noting that it is drop-proof, waterproof, and dustproof.

However, just because it should offer protection, it doesn’t mean that Doogee want you to put it to the test as these damages aren’t covered by their warranty. In the user manual it says “Do not expose the phone to liquid or touch it with wet hands, since damage caused by water may be irreparable”, and “Protect your phone from shock and impact. Some parts of the phone are made from glass and might break if the phone is dropped or is subject to severe impact.”

While that sounds like standard wording in the manual, to tell the buyer that it is suitable for a extreme sports enthusiasts, market gardener, construction worker or farmer, and then tell you not to drop it is sort of mixed messaging.

Doogee S59 Pro Safety

So, I am going to put it to the test myself so you don’t have to. Can the Doogee S59 Pro withstand some falls and drops that could occur in the work place or through a very active lifestyle. It actually pains me to write what I’m about to do because it is a brand new shiny phone and I quite like it and really hope it doesn’t break because I want to keep using it, but I also do not want you to purchase this phone and feel your phone is durable if it isn’t.

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For my test I am first going to drop the phone down the stairs, if it withstands that I am going put it in a bath for 30 seconds. Should the phone still work then I will drop it out of my first floor window to see if it can withstand a long fall. If you work on a construction site then it is very possible your phone could see a 10-20 foot drop and it could end up submerged in water on a beach, so I want to find out whether it would survive.

I am really nervous about trying this, but here are the results.

The Stairs

My first test involved throwing the phone down the stairs. I decided to avoid hitting the stairs and opt for a single long drop to the ground as my stairs are carpeted and it wouldn’t create as much impact.

The first drop landed directly on the front side, but when checking the screen was absolutely fine, I even did it twice to see if it would crack. But nope, the screen was still fully intact.

Dogee S59 Pro Phone At Bottom Of Stairs
Dogee S59 Pro Phone After Stairs

The Bath

Next, I put the phone in the bath for 30 seconds to see if it was be damaged by the water and not turn on afterwards. Due to the phone have rubber seals over parts such as the USB it did nothing but make the phone wet, it still worked perfectly afterwards.

  • Dogee S59 Pro Phone In Water
  • Doogee S59 Pro Bath Timer
Dogee S59 Pro Phone Wet

The Window

Right, it is time for the grand finale, if it survived the stairs and bath then surely dropping from a second storey window screen first onto concrete would break the phone? WRONG.

When a phone gets damaged there is a good chance it will be the screen that cracks so I made sure the phone made impact on the front side.

Dogee S59 Pro Phone On Concrete

Upon inspection, the screen was fine with nothing more than a few scuffs on the screen protector. I put the screen protector on prior to doing this to prevent scratches because I’d quite like to keep using the phone as a possible webcam if it survived the tests.

Since the phone didn’t break at all, I decided to throw it in the air and let it land on the concrete three more times for good measure, and apart from some scuffs on the outer shell, the phone is fine.

So, it is hard for me to give the Doogee S59 Pro anything but top marks for durability, it is marketed as a tough and durable phone and it 100% lives up to expectations so you can be reassured about taking it to work, the beach etc.

Dogee S59 Pro Phone After Damage

*A NOTE TO POTENTIAL PHONE MANUFACTURERS WHO MIGHT BE READING THIS: Don’t worry, I won’t throw your phone out of the window, unless you tell me it is durable.*

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, for the price point the phone comes with perfectly adequate specifications that you would expect to see for the price. The screen resolution lets the phone down a bit, but if it is a work phone then having a 4K display likely isn’t a top priority for you.

The Doogee S59 Pro likely won’t appeal to the general user due to its weight and rather large outer shell, but the average user who wants to create Tik Tok’s and watch YouTube likely won’t be looking at this phone as a potential purchase, although you wouldn’t necessarily be disappointed if you were.

This phone is marketed at the worker and the person who tends to damage their phone, and I don’t think you can get any better in that regard.

Hats off to Doogee, I seriously tried to destroy your phone and failed.

For more information and to purchase the phone, click here.

DISCLAIMER: The Doogee S59 Pro was sent to The Click for review purposes, however, our opinions remain our own. Links on this page direct to Amazon where we may earn a small commission from your purchase.

Doogee S59 Pro

8.3

Ease Of Use

6.0/10

Camera

7.3/10

Performance

8.2/10

Battery Life

10.0/10

Durability

10.0/10

Pros

  • Battery life is incredible
  • The phone is a tank
  • Specs are good for the price

Cons

  • No on screen buttons
  • Screen resolution is pretty low
  • Too heavy and bulky for the average user

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