When it comes to making phones with prodigious battery life, it’s easy to slap on a humongous battery and call it a day like Energizer did for its dummy thick P18K Pop last year. But for people who don’t like carrying a brick around, there’s now an alternative in the Doogee N100.
While the N100 was officially announced last spring, it was only available in very limited numbers as part of a pre-order campaign until recently. And even though the N100 only has a 10,000 mAh battery (compared to the 20,000 mAh battery in the P18K) that’s still double the battery capacity of what you’d get in a Galaxy S20 Ultra (5,000 mAh).
That’s good enough for a claimed talk time of more than four days, and normal usage of more than two days. However, Doogee’s website says the N100 has a total endurance of 90 days, which is only really believable if the phone was left in standby with screen brightness set to ultra low and the phone was completely untouched for that entire duration. Not really a meaningful figure.
Yet with the Galaxy S20 Ultra lasting 14 hours and 41 minutes on our video rundown test, and the N100 sporting double the battery capacity, a much less power hungry processor, and a smaller screen, I wouldn’t be surprised if the N100 could survive three or four days of regular use before conking out.
On the bright side, unlike the hefty Energizer P18K Pop, the N100 seems svelte. Measuring just 0.31-inches thick and weighing 9.4 ounces, you shouldn’t really have a hard time carrying the N100 around. And perhaps the real cherry on top is that the N100 costs just $US140 ($212).
That said, if you’re looking for speed or up-to-date specs, you won’t really find them here, as the N100 comes pre-installed with Android 9, and features a Mediatek Helio P23 (which was announced back in 2017) and 4GB of RAM. The N100 also has 64GB of storage which is decent, and a 5.99-inch FHD screen, but neither of those components are all that exciting.
When it comes to juicing the N100 back up, Doogee uses 24-watt USB-C fast charging which takes 3.5 hours for a full charge, so not exactly fast. However, you do get support for reverse cable charging, effectively turning the N100 into a spare battery pack if you need it, along with built-in Qi wireless charging as well.
Finally, around back, the N100 sports a 21-MP main camera, an 8-MP wide-angle cam, and a leather back, which is something I’d like to see make a comeback on other phones too.
Personally, the N100 isn’t something I’d really want to use as my daily driver, but priced at just $US140 ($212) and with a battery that big, it might be nice to keep in a bug-out bag (every household should have one) in case of emergency.
Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for Australian pricing and availability.