This Android phone with a massive battery and an auto-focus projector made me a fan instantly

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There’s no doubt the smartphone is the most successful convergence of technology in modern times. This one gadget has combined the functions of multiple, previously separate devices, from cameras to music players to calculators. Even keys and wallets aren’t safe from being assimilated into this slab we all seemingly have in reach 24/7.

And it isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, with companies adding things to the smartphone that I would have once thought both crazy and impossible. 

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Take the Doogee V Max Play 5G, which is adding an entire home entertainment system to the smartphone. 

On the surface, the V Max Play 5G is, well, massive. It’s a literal brick, measuring 7.2 x 3.4 x 1.2 inches and weighing 1.51 pounds. This is a phone that’s not happy in a pocket and needs its own form of transportation.

It houses a 6.78 inch, 1,080 x 2,460 pixel IPS LCD screen with a refresh rate of 120Hz, which, when combined with the almost 400 pixel-per-inch screen density, results in a display that’s easy on the eyes under most viewing conditions. 

The handset is constructed to the sort of durability I expect from Doogee, built to IP68/IP69K standards for water and dust resistance (completely dustproof, and able to handle high pressure water jets and immersion in up to five feet for 30 min). 

It’s also MIL-STD-810H compliant, meaning it can handle drops of five feet, as well as extreme temperature swings, shock, vibration, humidity, and sudden altitude changes. It’s one tough handset for sure.

Powering the unit is the capable mid-range four nanometer Mediatek Dimensity 7300 chipset, featuring a 2.6 GHz octa-core processor and Mali-G615 MC2 GPU. This is backed up by 16GB of physical RAM, 20GB of virtual RAM, and 512GB of storage (and if this is not enough, the microSDXC card slot can accept cards up to 2TB). 

This hardware will effortlessly run Android 15 along with pretty much any app you want to throw at it, including the built-in Gemini AI tools. In my testing, the V Max Play 5G had no problems when it came to multitasking, photo and video editing, or the ultimate challenge for many smartphones: gaming. 

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The handset is festooned with the usual selection of cameras. On the back is a 200-megapixel main camera, a 20-megapixel night vision camera, and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide/macro camera, while the front has a 32-megapixel camera for taking selfies or hopping onto video calls. 

All the cameras capture quality photographs and videos, ideal for social media or whatever else you’d expect from a smartphone camera of this caliber.

Powering the show is a huge 20,500 mAh battery. And that is huge: enough for a day and a half of web browsing, almost two days of video playback, a week of phone calls (for those who still do such things), and an insane two weeks of music playback. 

Even a heavy user like myself was able to go four days between recharges, which was quite a strange experience. And recharging is fast, thanks to the 45W fast charging support. The handset also supports 10W reverse charging, so you can take pity on your friends with iPhones.  

But the V Max Play 5G doesn’t end there. There’s a dual CoB (Chip on Board) LED matrix camping light on the back that can pump out a maximum of 1,200 lumens, paired with a set of RGB ambient lights. On the top is an infrared emitter that can be used as a remote control for your TV or AC unit.

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But the star of the show as far as Doogee is concerned is the 480P HD projector with autofocus, complete with its own IceWing cooling system. And since a projector is nothing without sound, Doogee has kitted out the V Max Play 5G with 3W, 130dB Smart PA loudspeakers. 

I’ve reviewed a few handsets with built-in projectors, and this is one of the best at handling the autofocus, while also being one of the brightest I’ve come across. I used it to project the video I’d captured using my drone onto the side of a farm building, and I was impressed by how clear and bright the image was. 

If I have one complaint about the V Max Play 5G, it is that Doogee put a button to turn on the projector on the side of the handset, and it took me a while to stop pressing this by accident when holding the phone. Personally, I don’t see a need for a physical button. 

ZDNET’s buying advice

The Doogee V Max Play 5G is physically massive, and comes with a pretty big price tag. $650 is a lot, but if you want the tech equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife that incorporates a powerful phone, huge battery, brilliant spotlight, and let’s not forget the projector, you’re going to need deep pockets (figuratively and literally). 

It’s also a powerful handset. The chipset is definitely more powerful that you usually find in these sorts of rugged smartphones, and that allows it to handle heavy workloads. I had no problem using it to edit some drone footage, a task it handled effortlessly.

One thing that I can say with certainty is that if you’re in the market for a smartphone with a projector, this one is definitely worth the money.