Gizbeat is back in the saddle and what better way to start the streak off than with the Doogee V9, a brand new phone fresh off the presses and mostly kept under wraps until now.
Doogee V9 review LCD
The Doogee V9 will have an IPS OGS 5.0″@1080p LCD, which equates to a ppi of 440. This is excellent resolution on a 5.0″ phone. It is an interesting choice and along with a couple of other specs I’ll go over below, the V9 is clearly aimed at being a flagship phone for Doogee.
There are upsides and downsides to the choice of resolution. The upside is that the display will have a super high pixel density giving it an easily retina experience. The downsides can be battery life and performance.
Doogee V9 review design
The official spec sheet shows Doogee V9 as being 143 x 72.6 x 7.1mm. Assuming the 7.1mm spec is the phone at its thickest point, it makes the Doogee V9 super slim.
We can see that there are a couple of interesting aspects to the design that really add to the uniqueness of the phone. The front and back are offset in color and in placement compared to the sides, tops and bottoms; the sides are rounded and there are some very interesting lines flowing around the camera. These easily achieved design elements all serve to add a subtle, yet decidedly cool factor and boutiqueness to the phone.
Based on the leaked images here, I am truly loving the design of the V9. It is a beautiful phone, but the real beauty here is that Doogee has come up with a unique and excellent design, and are pushing the envelope in terms of what’s expected from our China phones and indeed even the big brands.
Doogee V9 review SoC
No surprise here given the 1080p display. The SoC is [email protected]. In regards to GPU power, to go with anything less than Mali-450 would have been a bad choice and so MT6592 it is.
Doogee V9 review connectivity
The Doogee V9 will be a dual-SIM phone. One micro and one standard sized slot.
The phone will support Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WCDMA 900/2100, GSM 800/900/1800/1900. This is standard fair and in taking a look at the specifications of the V9, it is the one let down that the phone does not support 1900 or 900, which may leave Americans and European disappointed. This was an excellent opportunity for Doogee to push the bar and release “world” compatible 3G.
Doogee V9 review OS
The last month has seen phones from iNew and Doogee coming with 4.4.2 and the OS on the V9 will be KitKat 4.4.2. as well. Great to see these mid-range China brands coming with KitKat when phones such as the relatively new $600 Oppo N1 are still sitting on Jelly Bean.
Doogee V9 review camera
What the V9 lacks in 3G frequencies, it may make up for with it’s camera. While I have not had a chance to give the camera a go, the Doogee V9 will have a true 13mp rear camera interpolated up to 16mp and true 5mp front camera interpolated up to 8mp.
We know that the megapixel count is only partially responsible for image quality, but I have a feeling the V9 will not disappoint in this area.
Doogee V9 review special features
In addition to the standard sensors — Light sensor, proximity sensor and G-Sensor, the phone will also support gesture sensing and will have a rear touch pad as with the iNew V8.
OTG, OTA, wake from sleep by tapping the screen and gesture app opening is also supported.
Doogee V9 review RAM & ROM
On top of the V9’s 1080p LCD and true 13mp camera, the Doogee has gone with 2GB for RAM. I do believe this is the first Doogee with 2GB RAM and I think it is a great decision for this phone. While general use of Android will not see a big difference between 1GB and 2GB, the 2GB allows for more apps and browser tabs to stay open and will give power users a bit more oomph.
ROM is 16GB which is plenty healthy enough and the phone can accept extended SD up to 64GB.
Doogee V9 review battery
Doogee has opted to go with a fairly high capacity battery given that the phone is slim and 5.0″. The Doogee V9 will come with a 2500mA battery. Another great decision by Doogee. Quite a few MT6592 phones in the past have had poor battery life due to the 1080p LCD and to go with anything less than 2500mA would have been a mistake here.
Doogee V9 review specification conclusion
Everything excepting the WCDMA support with the Doogee V9 looks great. The big battery (for a slim 5.0″ phone), 1080p LCD, 2GB RAM and true 13mp camera make this Doogee’s flagship phone. Design wise, Doogee has outdone themselves. However, I’m left with feelings of frustration, as the phone is standard China phone 850/2100.
The issue here is that the phone is great looking and highly specced otherwise and given that the iNew V8 and even Doogee’s own $88 DG310 have 1900, it’s baffling they didn’t take it a step further and give a bit more thought to WCDMA support by including 1900, 900 or what would have been a monumental decision — both 1900 and 900 which would have given it worldwide WCDMA 3G support.
Still, anyone looking for a hi-spec phone and is in an area that’s covered by 850 or 2100, the Doogee V9 can be placed at the top of your shortlist. The Doogee V9 should begin trickling into shops on September 9th.
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