Doogee BL5000 Review: Underwhelming With Few Redeeming Features

It wasn’t that way back when the Chinese language-owned Spanish model Doogee was a just about unknown title for the worldwide tech media. However not too long ago, the corporate has began doing a little very fascinating issues. With the Doogee Combine, they created a close to bezel-less smartphone that sells for below $200, and by all accounts, it’s a really profitable product for the corporate. We’ve already reviewed that specific system, so now it’s the flip of the following mid-range providing from the corporate, the BL5000, to return below the scanner. Not like the Combine, this one’s not bezel-less by any means, however it does have one other trick up its sleeve – an enormous 5,050mAh battery. So if you happen to’re the type who’s at all times operating low on cost, ought to the Doogee BL5000 be your subsequent smartphone? Let’s discover out!

Doogee BL5000 Specs

Proper off the bat, let’s check out the important thing {hardware} specs of the Doogee BL5000.

Dimensions	155.2 x 75.8 x 10.3mm
Weight	210 grams
Show	5.5″ TFT IPS 1920×1080 (650 nits max Brightness)
SoC CPU GPU	Mediatek MT6750T 64-bit Octa-core Cortax-A53; 4x 1.5GHz, 4x 1.0GHz Mali-T860 MP2 650MHz
RAM	4GB
Storage	64GB (MicroSD card as much as 128GB)
Main Digital camera	Twin 13MP Cameras, f/2.2 with AF and LED Flash
Secondary Digital camera	8MP with LED Flash
Battery	5,050 mAh Li-Po, Non-removable
Working system	Android 7.0 Nougat
Sensors	Gentle sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer
Mobile Connectivity	LTE (B1:2100, B3:1800, B7:2600, B8:900, B20:800MHz), 3G HSPA (900, 2100MHz), 2G GSM (850, 900, 1800 and 1900MHz)
Value	~$150

What’s within the Field

• Doogee BL5000
• Charging adapter
• USB to microUSB cable
• Clear silicone back-cover with textured, micro-dot end.
• SIM ejector software
• Instruction guide, Guarantee card, Plastic screen-protector, Microfiber material

Retail Packaging

The Doogee BL5000 is available in a matte black retail field that’s received a shiny image of the cellphone, whereas the equally shiny ‘BL5000’ market on the backside is accompanied by a tagline that reads, and I qoute, “Be very long time, belong to you”. Say what? Perhaps the corporate was attempting to convey one thing concerning the sturdiness of the product, however it received misplaced in translation for certain. Incomprehensible English however, the field seems pretty cool, however not fairly as premium because the one we noticed on the Doogee Combine, which is stunning, contemplating that the 2 telephones are priced equally.

One other factor value noting is that on the aspect of the field, the corporate has really etched in what seems like two cameras that are supposed to symbolize the dual-cameras on the smartphone.

The contents of the field have already been detailed above, however a number of factors should be famous. The cellphone really got here with the clear silicone back-cover already on by default, which, I felt was fairly cool. The field additionally has Doogee’s basic SIM ejector software that appears and feels method higher than the stuff usually equipped by different distributors.

As for the facility brick, it’s a moderately hefty one which helps as much as 12V / 2A. It calls itself a ‘Quick Charger 3.0’, however it wasn’t instantly clear what that signifies, as a result of the official literature doesn’t specify whether or not MediaTek’s quick charging tech, Pump Specific, is supported by the system or not, nor does Doogee has its personal propitiatory fast charging expertise in contrast to Asus’s BoostMaster, OnePlus’s Sprint Cost or Huawei’s SuperCharge, however extra on the system’s battery credentials a bit later.

Design and {Hardware}

Looking on the cellphone itself, we’ve received the blue model right here, and there’s one thing very fascinating concerning the rear panel. The corporate claims to have created 15 totally different layers to refract the sunshine in all totally different instructions, which is analogous to what we noticed on the Honor 9. Nonetheless, the refraction impact on this one is neither as spectacular nor as excessive as what we noticed on the Honor 9. I made it a degree to spent a little bit of time transferring from totally different lighting situations, attempting to see the impact on the rear of the smartphone, and my preliminary impression is that, is a cool end and, the impact is current, however it’s simply not that important. Additionally, the shiny texture makes it a little bit of a fingerprint magnet, which is yet one more annoyance, if solely a minor one.

On the {hardware} aspect of issues, the Doogee BL5000 comes with fairly respectable specs for the value. The system ships with a MediaTek MT6750T chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in storage that may be expanded by means of a microSD card of as much as 128GB in capability. As for the remainder of the cellphone, the very first thing that strikes you whenever you decide it up for the primary time is its immense heft. Weighing in at a staggering 210 grams, the BL5000 is a heavy cellphone, there’s no getting round that. The system packs a huge 5,050mAh battery and that provides not simply to the its heft, but additionally makes it noticeably thicker than many of the different gadgets at this price-point.

So far as the cellphone’s aesthetics are involved, Doogee has employed one thing known as the ‘8-curve design’. What meaning is that, not solely are the 4 rear corners barely curved to make it a bit extra snug to carry, the identical holds true for the entrance corners as nicely. The fingerprint scanner is built-in into the bodily House button on the entrance, the microUSB port is on the backside together with the speaker and the microphone, whereas the three.5mm AUX port on the high is actually a welcome step. General, the cellphone feels good and well-build, however is a bit too hefty for me, though, it’s nothing that you just cant get used to if you happen to actually worth the additional juice.

Show

The show on the Doogee BL5000 is actually fairly fascinating. It’s a 1080p, 5.5” IPS panel, and it’s received actually deep colours with very nice distinction that belies the system’s super-affordable price-point. The viewing angles aren’t half unhealthy both, though, similarly-priced gadgets just like the Redmi Word 4 simply outshines it on this explicit division. Nonetheless, the place the Doogee BL5000 show actually shines by way of is within the brightness division, the place the 650 nits most is even greater than the 600 nits on the iPhone 7, which is actually remarkable for any cellphone on this phase. In actual life, the loopy stage of brightness really interprets to nice outside visibility, even in vibrant daylight. What’s equally spectacular is the minimal brightness of simply 1 nit, which makes the cellphone eminently usable in whole darkness with out straining your eyes. General, the show is among the many absolute best I’ve seen at this price-point, no questions requested.

Consumer Interface

The cellphone runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box with Doogee’s personal moderately garish wanting pores and skin on high. The UI seems kinda’ cartoonish to me, however one of many main advantages of Android is that, with a little bit of tinkering, you’ll be able to change most elements to fit your personal type and style. So throwing in a free customized launcher and third-party icons will assist you to simply filter out many of the annoyances that include the OEM pores and skin. One fascinating factor to notice right here, is that the OEM launcher does include an ‘All Apps’ button on the middle, which is uncommon with Chinese language gadgets, whose producers are method too enamored with the apps-haphazardly-placed-across-the-home-screen aesthetic of iOS moderately than the clean-cut app-drawer of Android.

A number of the different options of the OEM launcher embrace a information middle that you would be able to entry by swiping from the left-edge on the House display screen, an built-in theming engine that may be accessed by pulling the annoying string that dangles from the highest, and a few gesture and movement controls that work high-quality, however to be completely trustworthy, I haven’t actually used them too actually because they felt extra gimmicky than anything. Certain they might assist you to navigate your cellphone faster if you happen to take the time to study extra about them, however they’re a bit bit hit or miss when it comes to their effectiveness, though, it’s good to have the choices.

The news-center, however, works nice in my expertise. It aggregates tales from respected media homes, akin to NYT, CNN, NBC, BBC and so forth. and I discovered myself catching up on the day’s information by way of that module pretty usually. It’s a good suggestion that’s carried out nicely, so it does its job with out getting in your face and disrupting your workflow. The theming engine works alright as nicely, and gives you some good themes that look cool, however none of them removes that annoying drawstring dangling from the highest, until you put in a third-party launcher.

One other cool function is the fast-capture choice that permits you to file video straight from the standby mode, and I completely liked that function as a result of it’s one thing that I really discovered helpful. Lastly, the truth that the bottom-bar with software program navigation buttons could be hidden is a superb addition to the UI. Simply faucet on the down arrow to cover and swipe up from the underside to convey it up. It’s a implausible concept that offers you the very best of each worlds, and I’ve no concept why not too many mainstream producers implement this function. I completely liked it, and I’m assured that extra individuals will, in the event that they solely used it for a day or two.

Efficiency and Benchmarks

As talked about earlier, the Doogee BL5000 is powered by the MediaTek MT6700 SoC, which constitutes an built-in octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU the place 4 of the cores are clocked at a most frequency of 1.5GHz whereas the opposite 4 are clocked at a measly 1.0GHz. Cortex-A53 could also be energy environment friendly, however what it isn’t is highly effective. Clocking them at a most of 1.5GHz is likely to be retaining in step with the battery-saving ethos of the BL5000, however sadly, it doesn’t make for a good performer.

Don’t get me incorrect, it isn’t a sluggish, laggy system in contrast to a budget Androids from a number of years again, however it’s a fairly middling cellphone, scoring solely round 43,000 on AnTuTu. Whereas artificial benchmarks not often ever inform the total story, the outcomes on this case does inform you that we’re not precisely coping with a efficiency beast by any means, even accounting for its price range positioning. The Redmi Word 4, in distinction, scores round 84,000 with the Helio X20 and over 62,000 with the Snapdragon 625. I’m not going into 3DMark, Vellamo, Geekbench, Basemark or any of the opposite fashionable benchmarking instruments merely for one cause. This cellphone was by no means meant to be a performance-oriented machine anyhow, with battery-life being just about the only real focus.

The inclusion of 4GB of RAM, fortunately, makes the BL5000 a snappy multi-tasker, so that you gained’t really feel any actual lag even with a number of apps operating side-by-side. I used to be actually shocked at how simply I used to be with the ability to swap from Uber to VLC to Firefox and the Dialer app with none of them having to reload even as soon as. Thoughts you, there have been different apps operating within the background the entire time, together with the calculator, calendar, gallery, and so forth. What it means is that, total, you’re unlikely to have any actual issues with the system in day-to-day utilization.

As for the fingerprint scanner, it really works, however nearly. Reality be instructed, it’s as sluggish as it’s inaccurate, which was a shock, given how the Doogee Combine’s fingerprint scanner performs. It’s going to get the job executed and also you’ll not even know the distinction if you happen to haven’t used a tool with a fingerprint scanner earlier than, however when you’ve got, this one will really feel method on the slower aspect. Nonetheless, it’s not likely sluggish sufficient to be a deal-breaker for my part, simply one other minor irritant that takes away a bit from the user-experience.

All mentioned and executed, the one factor that stood out for me was that the cellphone remained quick and responsive even after putting in plenty of apps that often run within the background. Even with many processor and RAM-intensive apps operating within the background concurrently, I by no means had any points with calling, messaging and even streaming YouTube. I don’t understand how a lot of this responsiveness shall be retained because the system ages and extra apps and media are added to the combination, however for now, there’s not likely an entire lot to complain.

Gaming

So far as gaming is worried, the cellphone does a good job for probably the most half, though, there are some fairly vital caveats to that assertion. The Mali-860MP2 GPU discovered on the MT6750T is nicely previous it’s sell-by date, so regardless that it’s clocked at 650MHz on this explicit chip as an alternative of the 520MHz on the fundamental MT6750, it merely struggles to render advanced graphics with the identical efficacy and precision anticipated from gadgets on this phase as of late. I attempted graphics intensive video games akin to Aspalt 8, 3D shooters like Fashionable Fight 5, in addition to relatively-more resource-friendly video games, akin to Subway Surfer and Useless Set off, and all of them labored all proper, though, there have been some particular skipped frames with the primary two.

Whereas Asphalt 8 was nonetheless playable at highest settings even with the skipped frames, I needed to cut back the settings to medium on Fashionable Fight 5 to get a playable frame-rate for a smoother gameplay expertise, and even then, the skipped frames have been eminently noticeable. The cellphone additionally tends to warmth up a bit when you play graphics-intensive video games for too lengthy, and it’s then that issues begin falling aside a bit, and the lag begins changing into a hindrance.

Though the opposite video games I performed labored nearly completely, I wouldn’t say this can be a gaming cellphone by any stretch. Certain, it will play kind of something you wished to, however at this phase of the market, there are gadgets with sooner GPUs just like the Adreno 506 within the Snapdragon 625. Additionally, growing your price range by a bit will get you higher choices just like the Mali-880 MP10 within the Exynos 8890 and even the PowerVR 7XTP within the Helio X30, each of which will certainly make for a greater gaming expertise total. Whereas this isn’t a horrible cellphone to sport on by any means, if there was one place I’d enhance this system, I feel this is able to be it.

Cameras

Whilst price range smartphones have grow to be more and more extra succesful over the previous few years, the one space that continues to distinguish top-tier gadgets from their cheaper counterparts is imaging. As is the case with most gadgets on this price-segment, the picture high quality on the BL5000 is respectable, however with enormous scope for enchancment. The twin 13MP cameras on the again sit utterly flush with the physique and don’t protrude out, which is an efficient factor, though, the position is fairly totally different from how most different producers do it.

Daylight pictures is respectable, though, colour copy may very well be higher and dynamic vary adjustment is kinda’ common. What I did like, nonetheless, is that Doogee didn’t attempt to make the photographs extra ‘vibrant’ by over-saturating the colours and making them look synthetic.

The telephoto lens does its job as nicely, which implies zooming in on a topic works high-quality even in relative low-light with none noticeable discount in particulars, as could be seen within the pictures under.

It’s additionally received a superb shutter time, which implies that in good lighting, you just about don’t want to fret about blur on the images. Colours look pure as nicely, however as we begin turning the lights off, you’ll must be extra cautious about blur, as a result of the longer publicity wanted to seize the additional particulars does usually end in blurry and unusable images until you’re utilizing a tripod. As anticipated, noise ranges begin going as much as alarming ranges if you happen to attempt to bump up the ISO to something above 400 to seize extra particulars at night time, so regardless that the ‘Professional’ mode gives as much as 1600 ISO, that’s just about a no-go proper from the outset.

The HDR mode – and I’ve to say this in no unsure phrases – is totally garbage and makes actually no distinction to the final word image. Whereas capturing a scene with excessive distinction, the lighted areas stay washed out and the darker areas stay just about invisible regardless of whether or not you utilize the mode or not, so Doogee may as nicely had not bothered with it in any respect.

What’s much more atrocious is the best way the bokeh mode is used. The portarit-mode pictures taken with the system could (or could not) look cool on Instagram, however it’s extra of a software program trick moderately than high quality dual-camera implementation. As could be seen from the photographs under, the results look comical, and to be trustworthy, extra like a type of terrible filter apps out there for obtain on the Play Retailer moderately than any high quality technological wizardry.

Coming to the video high quality, I have to admit that I didn’t get plenty of time to check each side the Doogee BL5000’s video recording skills, however from what I noticed, 1080p movies look surprisingly good for a price range cellphone, however solely in vibrant daylight. The one night-time video I shot seemed fairly terrible, which is completely retaining in step with what I used to be anticipating, given it’s less-than-impressive imaging prowess.

As for the selfies, the BL5000 has a cool function up its sleeve. A front-facing selfie-flash. And whereas in concept I really like the thought of it, the implementation right here leaves quite a bit to be desired. With out the flash on, the pictures taken with the front-facing 8MP cam lack plenty of particulars, however whenever you flip the flash on, all it does is make the picture look washed out (see picture under), which utterly takes the purpose away.

The front-cam can file movies at 480p (max), and even in vibrant daylight, the standard is kind of unhealthy. The identical may also be mentioned concerning the audio recording high quality, so all of that taken collectively means the Doogee BL5000 actually isn’t your pal if you happen to’re in search of a high quality digital camera cellphone on a budget.

Word: All the photographs (selfies included) have been shot with the default 3.5mm focal size.

Telephony & Audio

I couldn’t take a look at the Doogee BL5000’s 4G connectivity as a result of the system doesn’t appear to help LTE networks in India. Whereas Jio and Vodafone’s 4G networks have been being detected by the system, it might solely connect with Vodafone’s 3G community, whereas Jio by no means labored. On Vodafone’s 3G community, voice name readability was akin to different smartphones in the identical price-range, however I couldn’t verify 3G knowledge as a result of I don’t even have knowledge enabled on my secondary BSNL SIM.

Whereas the dearth of help for Indian LTE networks is a large letdown for would-be consumers in India, one other disappointing side of the cellphone is its speaker. Even whenever you crank up the amount to the fullest, you’ll nonetheless must be in the identical room to listen to the cellphone ring, regardless of which ringtone you select. And if you happen to’re in a crowded, chaotic surroundings, may as nicely be ready to overlook plenty of calls.

YouTube movies are barely audible, and also you’ll wrestle to listen to something even when you could have the cellphone in your hand, barely a foot or two away out of your face.  The speaker additionally lacks depth and readability, sounding fairly terrible at excessive volumes, regardless that the amount doesn’t get excessive in any respect within the first place. The scenario improves fairly a bit each when it comes to quantity and high quality when utilizing my Sennheiser headphones, so that you’ll probably must plug the system into exterior audio system if you happen to’re seeking to take heed to any music out loud.

Sensors and Connectivity

Sensors are one space the place most producers, together with trade leaders Samsung, usually reduce corners of their lower-end gadgets, and Doogee isn’t totally different. The BL5000 comes with simply an accelerometer, a light-weight sensor and a proximity sensor, and that’s about it. Examine it to the similarly-priced Redmi Word 4, and also you’ll instantly understand what you’re lacking out on. The BL5000 doesn’t have a magnetometer, gyroscope, and an entire host of different sensors that will in any other case improve your Android expertise.

Sadly, the dearth of a gyroscope on this system implies that you’ll be able to’t use it with any VR headset any time quickly, and to my thoughts, this was a fairly large blunder from Doogee, given how everyone appears to be leaping on to the VR bandwagon as of late, because of the prevalence of ultra-cheap VR headsets primarily based on Google Cardboard. There’s additionally no notification LED, which is an actual downside as a result of you must hold checking the cellphone manually for messages or calls that you just might need missed when you have been away.

The cellphone helps twin Nano SIMs, with the second SIM slot doubling up as a microSD slot. Connectivity choices embrace LTE Cat.6 with VoLTE help on Bands 1/3/7/8/20 (B1:2100, B3:1800, B7:2600, B8:900, B20:800MHz). The cellphone additionally helps 3G HSPA on the 900MHz and 2100MHz bands, in addition to 2G GSM on 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz and 1900MHz. The cellphone help Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, however the precise specs aren’t specified on both the literature supplied with the system or on the corporate’s official web site.

Battery and Charging

The huge 5,050mAh battery isn’t solely the primary promoting level of the BL5000, it’s really the place the system derives its title from. The battery is huge, however it additionally expenses quick, as a result of inside about 10 minutes of plugging it in, you could be on 40% cost, which is not any small quantity when you think about the general capability of the battery. Nonetheless, unusually sufficient, regardless that the MT6750T is suitable with MediaTek’s Pump Specific 2.0, there’s no point out of that within the literature out there with the cellphone, neither is there any phrase on the corporate’s web site. By my reckoning, the cellphone takes about two hours to go from 0 – 100 with the equipped charger, though, the corporate guarantees 1.5 hours below customary situations. Both method, these are spectacular numbers, however count on them to alter for the more severe with time.

By way of battery life, the Doogee BL5000 is simply laborious to beat. I’ve performed round with Gionee’s extremely spectacular big-battery ‘Marathon’ collection gadgets earlier than, and the BL5000 competes with them on even phrases. I’ve been getting round ~9 hours of screen-on time with fairly intensive gaming, browsing and streaming, however most basic customers will very probably get even higher SoT, provided that, in contrast to me, you’ll most likely not actively attempt to kill your battery for the sake of science. General, the stamina that the BL5000 battery reveals will even put the Energizer bunny to disgrace, however whether or not that alone shall be sufficient to persuade consumers to purchase this system is one thing that continues to be to be seen.

The Remaining Phrase: Purchase Provided that Battery Life Takes Priority Over All Else

The Doogee BL5000 is a pleasant wanting cellphone that has a pointy show, respectable specs, nice battery life, and respectable total efficiency, however it’s let down by lackluster cameras, the absence of crucial sensors just like the gyroscope and the magnetometer, a horrible, horrible speaker, sub-par gaming efficiency, and plenty of different little niggles that make it an unimpressive system total. Priced at $185.99 on Amazon.com as of October 14th, the system will get robust competitors from the likes of the Redmi Word 4, Honor 6X and, if you happen to elevate your price range a bit additional, the Mi A1, all of that are miles forward of this system. The 4,050mAh battery on the Redmi Word 4, particularly, is a stellar performer, is way the higher selection on the ~$150 worth level.

SEE ALSO: Doogee Combine Overview: Model Over Substance

Doogee BL5000 Overview: All That Glitters Ain’t Gold

The Doogee BL5000 is an fascinating cellphone. It’s received an awesome show and a fully killer battery, however they alone can’t rescue what is basically a sub-par cellphone within the total scheme of issues. It doesn’t have something horrible about it and it actually gained’t go away a nasty style within the mouth when you’ve used it for some time, however there are simply too many minor annoyances to advantage a advice from us. The software program, to be trustworthy, didn’t appear half unhealthy as soon as I changed the unique launcher with Nova, however until battery is your sole space of concern, we’ll advocate giving this a miss.

Design and Construct High quality 7