DOOGEE Takes To Kickstarter To Sell Its First Rugged Modular Smartphone

Do you guys remember DOOGEE? The small handset maker from China that mostly makes copies of other China handset (but doing it pretty darn well)? Well, it looks like they have progressed quite a bit. The company is breaking into the U.S. market with its new device called DOOGEE S90, which it claimed as “the most versatile unbreakable smartphone.”

With the S90, DOOGEE breaks away from the trend of making the phone slimmer, sleeker, and set on a path of ruggedness. And it is doing so with modularity and MIL-SPEC toughness. Built-wise, it is IP68/IP69K rated and has a toughness of MIL-STD-810G – all of which are officially certified. How? Don’t ask. We are just going to take the company’s words for it.

There’s nothing particularly high-tech about the S90. Instead, the focus is with the built-tough aspect and as mentioned, modularity that leads to the claim of “versatility.” The handset is designed to accommodate a series of modular attachment, including a night vision camera, a power module (basically, a power bank), and a walkie-talkie module for push-to-talk communication.

Oddly, there is a gamepad module too, that will turn this seemingly made-for-adventure smartphone into a portable gaming device. I guess you do need a break when you out in the wild, patrolling the forest. Clockwork is courtesy of a next-generation Helio chip, the 12nm process MediaTek Helio P60 (MT6771) octacore that features 4xCortex-A73 2.0GHz and 4xCortex-A53 2.0GHz processors and a 800 MHz ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU while software end is covered by Android 8.1 Oreo.

Other details include a 6.18-inch U-notch FHD+ IPS display (1,080 x 2,246 pixels, 403 ppi), Corning Gorilla Glass 4, 6GB RAM, 128 GB ROM, expandable storage via microSD card (supporting up to 256 GB), dual rear-facing cameras (16 MP+8 MP Samsung AI cameras, f2.0, PDAF and 4 LED flash), a 8 MP front-facing shooter (Sony IMX134, f2.0, 90-deg wide-angle), 1080p30 videoing, dual SIM support, super fast rear fingerprint scanner, and the usual suspects of connectivity and sensors.

The real boon here is, the DOOGEE S90 Modular Rugged Smartphone is not expensive. It costs as low as $299. Or at least it is if you were to pre-order it on Kickstarter where it is being crowdfunded. The campaign has 15 more days to go on the calendar, but already, it is 2,677 percent funded with 700+ backers contributing more than $260K in funding.

If you pre-order, you can expect the handset to be shipped in February 2019. But do keep in mind that this, being a rugged phone, it is rather chunky and has quite some heft. It weighs double of a regular smartphone, at a grand 300g (15.58 oz), to be precise. Keep going for a summary of the specifications. There’s a pitch video after the table too, if you are interested.

DOOGEE S90 Smartphone Key Specifications

All images courtesy of DOOGEE.