Doogee Mix Specs, Price in the Philippines, Initial Review, Aurora Blue Version In The Flesh

Bezel-less smartphones are the fad these days. In fact, the biggest handset makers are clearly focusing their efforts on coming up with such devices that can capture the fancy of consumers. For instance, the Samsung Galaxy S8 has an Infinity Display, which stretches across its face, making this release one of the best-looking phones to ever hit store shelves. Of course, there's also the LG G6, which is likewise visually arresting. Even Apple is rumored to give it the screen of its 2017 iPhone model - already being called the Apple iPhone 8 by fans of the brand - extremely thin bezels.

Handsets with seemingly bezel-free displays are cool and all but currently, there's one problem with them: They are very expensive. The truth is, most of them are in the flagship or ultra-high-end category, putting them away from the reach of budget-conscious consumers.

Good thing we now have Doogee Mix, a near bezel-less Android smartphone with a fairly affordable price tag. This model has just been released in the Philippines with an official suggested retail price of Php 9,990, which is less than half of how much other phones with the same key feature go for.

Doogee is pronounced as "DU-ji"

Looks-wise, Doogee Mix flaunts a hodge-podge of qualities found on other devices that are now available in the market. The face is reminiscent of the Xiaomi Mi Mix; The glass-metal-glass sandwich construction and square footprint is like that of an Xperia while the Dual Camera module design is similar to that of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus.

The highlight of this model is obviously its 5.5-inch HD SuperAMOLED display panel, which is placed snugly near the top panel leaving no room for the front-facing camera and little space for the earpiece. This is the one interesting physical characteristic of Doogee Mix that makes it unique from so many other handsets in its price bracket.

I've taken my unit out for a spin and I've proven it to be a true head-turner. The unusual placement of the display - despite not being entirely bezel-less - clearly make the phone an eye-magnet.

In terms of build, Doogee Mix could very well be one of the best crafted handsets in the sub-Php 10K category right now.

The mid-frame is made of anodized aluminum with a rounded sides that make the unit a joy to hold. This design element along with the two 2.5D glass panels that sandwich it give the phone an air of durability and corporation elegance.

The phone's volume rocker and power button are found on the right panel while the SIM card tray that can be ejected using a pen is located on the left.

The loud speaker - marked by a series of holes - and microUSB 2.0 port are placed at the rear.

You'll find the 3.5mm combo jack at the top panel along with the rather inconspicuous short antenna bands.

To sum up, Doogee Mix - especially the Aurora Blue version that I have here - looks and feel very premium. If great aesthetics is a primary consideration for  you when purchasing a smartphone, you won't be disappointed in this release.

Another key selling point of this model is its Dual Rear Camera module comprised of a 16 MegaPixels main shooter with f/2.0 aperture, Samsung ISOCELL sensor, and phase detection autofocus plus a secondary 8 MegaPixels optic. These two lenses work together to allow the handset to deliver shots with interesting bokeh or depth of field effects that beautifully blur the background the further highlight the subject. Doogee is expected to release a software upgrade anytime soon to improve this particular feature of the Dual Camera Module.

The phone's 5 MegaPixel front-facing wide-angle camera benefits from that built-in Beautification Mode that evens our the user's skin tone and slightly enhances facial features to deliver selfies that are ready for sharing on Facebook or Instagram.

Since there's little space on the top panel of the phone's face for the selfie-cam, the manufacturer placed the shooter below the display, on the right of the Fingerprint Scanner. This means that you'd have to rotate the handset when snapping self-portraits.

Stay tuned for our sample photos, videos, and selfies taken using the Doogee Mix.

Another department where this model truly shines is in terms of internal hardware.

In fact, Doogee Mix is currently the most affordable smartphone in the Philippines that has a whopping 6GB of RAM for ultra-smooth or stutter-free multitasking experience. If you're the type of user who enjoys jumping from one app or game to another and opening multiple tabs on your mobile web browser, you'll surely appreciate this feature.

The handset also comes with a very generous amount of internal storage that can even be augmented using the hybrid secondary nanoSIM slot that supports microSD card memory expansion. The 64GB of ROM provides a sizable space for photos, videos, and other heavy content.

On top of all that, Doogee is also one of the first handsets to be released in the Philippines that runs on MediaTek's new 64-Bit Helio P25 processor. This chipset incorporates four ARM Cortex A53 cores clocked at 2.5 GHz, another four ARM Cortex A53 CPU that run at 1.6GHz, and a Mali T880 GPU that's good enough to deliver smooth Asphalt 8 Airborne and Dead Trigger 2 gaming experience.

Powered by non-removable 3,380 mAh Li-Ion Battery pack that delivers a whole day (around 10 hours) of uptime with regular use, 4G-LTE-enabled Doogee Mix currently sells for a discounted price of Php 9,995 in the Philippines through major online channels. I believe it's out now in two colors, namely, Black and Aurora Blue. According to Lucky Huarong Technology Inc., the official distributor of Doogee Smartphones in our country, the first 500 people who will purchase this handset online will get a TG06 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for free.

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST)Name : Doogee Mix
Type : Slate Form Factor (Full Touchscreen)
Price Category : Midrange (Flagship Level)
Dimensions : 144 x 76.2 x 7.95 mm
Weight : 193 grams (TBC)
Available Colors : Black, Aurora Blue
Operating System : Android 7.0 Nougat with DoogeeOS V2.0.0 Interface
Display : 5.5 inches, 1280 x 720 pixels, SuperAMOLED Display, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Processor : 64-Bit Octa Core (1.6 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 x 4, 2.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 x 4)  Mali-T880 MP2 GPU, MediaTek Helio P25 Octa chipset
RAM :6GB RAM
Internal Storage :64GB ROM, expandable via hybrid secondary nanoSIM slot that supports microSD card memory expansion up to 256GB
Camera : Back: Dual Camera Set-up ~ 16 MegaPixels, f/2.0 aperture, Samsung ISOCELL sensor, phase detection autofocus (PDAF), LED flash + 8 MegaPixels
Front: 5 MegaPixels, 86-degrees wide-angle
Video Capture : Back: 4K 30fps, EIS
Front: Full HD 30fps, EIS
Audio and Video Playback : MP3, WAV, eAAC+, FLAC, MP4, H.264
Ports : microUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go, 3.5 mm audio jack
Connectivity : Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1 with A2DP, LE, EDR, 3G HSPA+; 4G LTE
GPS : A-GPS, GLONASS
FM Radio : Yes
Sensors : Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Proximity, Digital Gyroscope, Fingerprint Scanner
Network : 2G bands GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 and SIM 2,
3G HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
4G LTE band TBD
SIM Card Type : Dual nanoSIM
Battery : Non-removable 3,380 mAh Li-Ion battery
Uptime : TBD
Value-Added Features :Premium Design and Build, Near-Bezel-less Display, 6GB RAM, 64GB of internal storage
Announcement : July 2017
Availability : Philippines - July 15, 2017
Price : Official SRP - Php 9,995 (Promo)