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Aptly named, everything about the S200 Max has been turned up to the max. This Android 15, 5G-enabled smartphone features a big 6.72-inch 2,400 x 1,080 pixel (2.4K) display that can hit 120Hz refresh rate.
But this isn’t the only screen — on the back is a 1.3-inch IPS always-on secondary screen that allows you to peek at things like notifications, the time and date, and battery status without having to be distracted by the big display.
Running the show is a 6-nanometer octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 7050 processor, running at up to 2.6GHz and a whopping 16GB of RAM, which can be further augmented by 20GB of virtual RAM (my usual advice is to set the virtual RAM to the max for the best performance, but in this case it’s been done for me), and 512GB of storage. And if that gets a bit tight, you can bump this up with a microSD card.
Performance-wise, the S200 Max felt buttery-smooth no matter what I threw at it. I usually have to wait a bit for a smartphone to complete its housekeeping tasks after first turning it on and setting it up, but this handset was straight to business, and effortlessly handled running a myriad of apps and browsers with dozens of tabs open.
The night vision camera with active infrared floodlight is very effective.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
As is always the case with non-flagship handsets, the cameras are more than adequate for what users want — mostly capturing photos and video for social media. You don’t get the cinematic punch that you get with an iPhone or latest Samsung Galaxy, but even that’s wasted on social media because images and videos are compressed and downscaled to conserve storage space and bandwidth.
Everything is packed into a tough outer that’s rated for IP68/IP69K and MIL-STD-810H, and it can resist immersion in six feet of water for a day, drops from over 3-foot, dirt, dust, humidity, and pretty much anything else Mother Nature can throw at it.
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On the side is one of my favorite Android features — a fingerprint reader to handle all the biometrics.
Last but definitely not least, on the top is a twin-LED flashlight that is, no joke, one of the brightest I’ve seen on a smartphone. I made the mistake of looking into it in broad daylight and I was seeing after-images for several minutes. It’s crazy bright, and it was only later that I discovered it was only at 60% power.
But for those who need durability and performance and battery life that goes on and on and on, this is a handset to consider. At $470, it’s not exactly cheap, but for those who need a combination of rugged, fantastic battery life, and good performance, this is up there as one of the best handsets you can buy.