UNBOXING
The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a screen protector.
DESIGN
Once you pick the phone up, it’s obvious this is a rugged phone since it is larger, thicker and heavier than your usual smartphone.
That is because Doogee S55 has the IP-68 rating meaning that it is water and dust resistant. Also, the rugged body assures that the phone will survive a few accidental drops. Unlike some other budget rugged phones, there are flaps that cover the ports to avoid water damage.
Unlike on the Doogee S50, the headset jack flap is easier to open.
The overall build quality is solid as the phone is built to last. Despite a huge footprint, it’s quite comfortable to hold the phone in the hand. Also, the device is relatively thin considering a huge battery inside.
Battery lasts for a long time, just like on the Doogee S50. You can get up to 18 hours of screen on time under light usage but if you use the phone more intensively, you should expect to get about 11 hours of SOT. It takes over 3 hours to fully charge the phone with the supplied charger which is a pretty good result considering the size of the battery.
I found the 18:9 display to be quite nice and sharp despite the fact it’s only HD+. Also, the sunlight legibility is above average.
Other features include a dual-camera system on the back, nice and tactile buttons and a fingerprint scanner that is quite accurate but there display could light up faster. On the front, there is a single camera system as opposed to dual selfie cameras found on the Doogee S50.
Removing and inserting the side-mounted SIM card tray is quite easy. You just need to open up the flap and use a sim ejector pin to remove it.
I’m a bit disappointed that the capacitive buttons are not backlit and there is no LED notification light. Lastly, the loudspeaker quality is not really good. The sound is tinny and flat just like on the Doogee S50.
HARDWARE
As far as hardware goes, the S55 ships with a pretty nice looking list of specs, considering the price. The gaming performance is good considering this is a budget rugged phone. You should be able to play most of the games without significant lag but obviously, there will be some skipped frames and stutter in some titles.
USER INTERFACE
As opposed to Doogee S50, the S55 ships with the Android 8 out of the box. The user interface preserves stock look but there are some design changes and added features like gesture and motion controls that actually work quite well. After using the phone for nearly 3 weeks, I can assure it is fast and smooth most of the time.