Doogee N20
The smartphone industry has been booming for many years. Every year new models are introduced on the market. Each new reference has its own characteristics, but what is interesting is to see how the technology evolves. There are more and more smartphone manufacturers on the market, which is both positive and negative. The advantage is that all people can be satisfied, regardless of their budgets. There is something for everyone (low end, mid end and high end). On the other hand, now we find ourselves with dozens of references and those in all the ranges. It becomes more difficult to make a choice. Fortunately, our tests are here to help you.
The Doogee brand has not been unknown to us, we have already tested several references on our website. This time the Chinese manufacturer is looking to satisfy small budgets. The Doogee N20 is sold at around 100 dollars. Discover its features and performance in our comprehensive test.
Positive Points
- Display
- Good system optimization
- Daily performance
- Autonomy
- 3.5mm jack
Negative points
- Camera
- Plastic back
- Micro USB port
- No LED notification LEDs
Doogee N20 review
The Doogee N20 phone comes in a black cardboard box. Once opened you get the smartphone, a user manual, the needle to open the SIM card slot, a power adapter and a USB microphone cable. The content of the packaging is classic, however this is quite normal. The manufacturer had to limit the accessories to make the price of the N20 attractive. As a result, you will not have a protective shell or protective film. But it's not the purchase of these accessories that will ruin you. You can easily find them on the internet for a few dollars.
Design
Once in hand we all notice immediately that the Doogee N20 is a low-end model. Its dimensions (159 x 73 x 9.4 mm) and weight (171 grams on the scale) are correct, but the manufacturer used plastic for its coating. At first Doogee had planned to use metal, but he probably wanted to save money. As a result, it is not with this model that you will obtain an attractive design. Contact with your hand will also not be exceptional (due to plastic). The use of a protective shell can improve the experience. On the colour side, the smartphone is available in black, blue or purple.
At the front we face a 6.3 inch screen. There is a discreet drop-shaped notch and the listening loudspeaker is integrated just above it. The black edges surrounding the slab are rather thin, except for the chin. However, there is no LED notification. It is a rather compact and lightweight model, however you will not be able to interact with only one hand. The manufacturer has not specified the type of glass used to protect the IPS slab. In any case, it is strong enough. It was not scratched during our test.
On the back is the photo module that integrates the photo sensors. It is placed in the upper left corner and the flash is positioned just below it. In the centre is the fingerprint sensor. It has always worked properly during our test. Fingerprint detection is quick and easy. On the right side of the smartphone is the power and volume button. On the top is a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is rare nowadays. What we really regret is the micro USB port at the bottom. This port is really obsolete nowadays. All manufacturers of low-end smartphones use USB-C.
Screen
As mentioned earlier, the Doogee N20 features a 6.3-inch IPS slab with a drop-shaped notch. The advantage of this type of notch is that it is discreet, but on the other hand there is only room to integrate a single sensor. The definition is 2280 x 1080 pixels and the pixel density is 428. The image is sharp and the pixels are not visible to the naked eye. Nowadays smartphones have good screens. The contrasts are rich and the colours natural. The stability of the viewing angle and maximum brightness are also satisfactory. You can read the content displayed even in the sun. The N20's touch screen recognizes up to 5 contact points simultaneously. It is sensitive enough to make the interaction fast and accurate.
Performance and System
The Doogee N20 is equipped with the Helio P23 processor. The Mediatek Helio P23 MT6763T is a consumer ARM SoC that was launched in 2017. It is manufactured using a 16 nm FinFET+ process, and is composed of 8 ARM Cortex-A53 physical cores. The cores are divided into two clusters, one for performance and rising to 2.3 GHz and one energy-efficient cluster rising to 1.65 GHz. The processor comes with a Mali-G71 chip and 4 GB of RAM. His Antutu score is 84271 points. Its performance places it between the Cubot X19 and the Umidigi A5 Pro.
During our test the N20 did not disappoint us in terms of performance. The simple tasks are perfectly done (web browsing, application launch, photo/video, etc.) There were no bugs or particular problems. It is only when there are several Apps in the background that there can be small slowdowns (this is normal given its components). This smartphone is not a power monster, but it remains powerful enough for everyday use. You can also play 3D games, however the graphics can never be high. You have 64 GB of memory to store your data. The read speed is 190 MB/s and the write speed is 200 MB/s. You can increase the memory by inserting a micro SD card. On the other hand, you will do without the dual SIM function.
On the system side, the Doogee N20 runs on Android 9, but overall the manufacturer has made very few changes to Google's system. We end up with a user experience close to what Android Stock offers. Doogee just made some changes to the icon design and added some options. For example, you can change the layout of the navigation keys in the settings. The system has always remained stable during our test phase. The least we can say is that Doogee has optimized the system well. All Google services are pre-installed (Play Store, Gmail, Google Maps, etc.)
Photo
The N20 would not be a Chinese smartphone equipped with many cameras. The main sensor is 16 megapixels with an aperture f 2.0. The second is an 8 megapixel wide angle at 130 degrees and the third is an 8 megapixel sensor that manages background blur for portraits. At the front, the water drop-shaped notch incorporates an 8 megapixel photo sensor. We can confirm that all the sensors on the Doogee N20 are real, none are fictitious.
The main sensor provides correct results in broad daylight. The colours are clean and the contrast is rich enough, so you get a natural result. After that, you shouldn't expect a super detailed rendering either. That's just enough to post them on social networks. Photos taken with the wide-angle lens are always colourless and covered with a grey veil. As for the portrait mode, it is very imprecise, the faces are not well diverted. As a result, the bokeh effect is unusable. We also observed problems with autofocus. Sometimes we had to press the screen manually for the focus to be correctly adjusted. The manufacturer will probably fix this problem with an update.
Photos taken with the front sensor look pale, but the selfies still remain sharp enough to be used. On the other hand, the portrait mode is just as defective. As you will have understood, only the main 16 megapixel sensor and the front 8 megapixel sensor can be used in broad daylight.
If it is dark or dark, you can leave the Doogee N20 in your pocket. Because in these conditions the photos are too noisy. This result can be seen on most low-end smartphones. Moreover, it is one of the characteristics that makes it possible to differentiate them from other smartphone models. The N20 is capable of taking 1080p to 30 IPS videos. The rendering is not stabilized, but the videos still have good colors and contrasts. It will be enough to capture a few moments of immortality.
Connectivity and Sound
Supported frequencies:
- 2G: B2 (1900) B3 (1800) B5 (850) B8 (900)
- 3G: B1 (2100) B8 (900)
- 4G: B1 (2100) B20 (800) B3 (1800) B7 (2600)
The Doogee N20 is compatible with 4G frequencies. You can insert two SIMs or one SIM and a micro SD card to expand the memory capacity. The network was always picked up during our test.
The N20 is also compatible with Wifi (802.11 a/b/g/n) and Bluetooth technology in version 4.1. The GPS worked well. Your position is quickly geolocated. However, it does not include an electronic compass, so it is more difficult to navigate on foot. On the sensor side, it's standard: light, acceleration and proximity.
Autonomy
The Doogee N20 includes a 4350 mAh battery. Our autonomy test with PCMark shows just under 10 hours. This is a correct performance for a smartphone sold in this price range. It is as durable as the Xiaomi Redmi 7A. It will last two days in normal use. It will take 3 hours to get 100% battery with the AC adapter supplied in the box. We really regret that Doogee is integrated with a micro USB port.
Conclusion
Doogee has released the N20 to satisfy small budgets and is doing a great job. Its performance is sufficient for everyday use. On the other hand, you can't expect anything extraordinary in the photo. Otherwise, we get value for our money. The Doogee N20 has a fluid, stable system and can support you on a daily basis thanks to its good autonomy.
Doogee N20 Smartphone
