Starmobile Engage 7 TV (Price: P5,290)
What's hot: The Starmobile Engage 7 TV's rear is made of plastic, although it has a metallic surface—something you rarely find on a wallet-friendly product. It has a built-in analog TV antenna and an ISDB-T digital TV tuner, making it the ideal choice for avid watchers of free-to-air channels. What's more, it comes with an app for streaming local TV shows via WiFi. There's 1GB of RAM onboard for handling multiple tasks in the background, plus a generous selection of ports and a front-facing cam for video chat. All told, the device offers good value for its price.
What's not: Despite the hand-friendly design, the hardware itself is bulky and larger than what its screen size suggests. Much of the Engage 7 TV's silicon is underwhelming: single-core CPU, Android Ice Cream Sandwich, 800 x 480 resolution. A slim selection of digital channels (usually just ABS-CBN) and online programming (only two).
Specs:
- 1.2GHz single-core CPU
- 1GB RAM
- 4GB internal storage
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- 7-inch display
- 3-megapixel rear camera
- VGA front camera
- ISDB-T digital TV tuner; analog TV antenna
- 3,000mAh battery
- Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Starmobile Engage 7 3G (Price: P7,490)
What's hot: The Starmobile Engage 7 3G boasts a dual-core Snapdragon chipset and a SIM slot for voice calling and texting, as well as wireless Web surfing over 3G. Its 3G radio is dual-band, so it should work with most carriers. Granted more free-to-air digital channels hit the airwaves soon, the integrated ISDB-T tuner is a potential plus because digital TV broadcasts deliver better picture quality than their analog counterparts. The hardware, with its brushed-metal finish on the rear, is well-designed and feels exquisitely made.
What's not: Android Ice Cream Sandwich and the rest of the tablet's insides: Adreno 203 graphics, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal memory. Given its telephony capabilities, we're not too optimistic about the mileage you'll get out of the 3,000mAh battery.
Specs:
- SIM slot for voice calling, texting, 3G
- Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8225 chipset
- 1GHz dual-core CPU
- Adreno 203 graphics
- 512MB RAM
- 4GB internal storage
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- 7-inch display
- 3-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- VGA front camera
- ISDB-T TV tuner
- 3,000mAh battery
- Android Ice Cream Sandwich
Starmobile Engage 8 (Price: under P8,000)
What's hot: For a sub-P8,000 tab, the Starmobile Engage 8 delivers a solid performance overall. It's equipped with two cameras that have a relatively high megapixel count (8- and 2-megapixel rear and front sensors). It also ticks most of the right boxes specs-wise: dual-core power with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Android Jelly Bean. The 5,000mAh should keep the tablet running for more than a day with normal use. An IR blaster—a "comebacking" hardware—makes an appearance here, allowing the tablet to double as a universal remote for TVs, Blu-ray players, and the like.
What's not: Never mind that it's pretty light; those wide bezels make the Engage 8 appear uncomfortably large. The Apple iPad mini and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 sport comparable screen sizes but they can be handled singlehandedly with ease; however, the Engage 8 is almost impossible to use with one hand.
Specs:
- 1.5GHz dual-core CPU
- Mali-400MP GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB internal storage
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- 8-inch display with scratch-resistant glass
- 8-megapixel rear camera
- 2-megapixel front camera
- Bluetooth; mini-HDMI port
- 5,000mAh battery
- Android Jelly Bean
Starmobile Knight (Price: May be between P12,000-P15,000)
What's hot: The overall design is reminiscent of the iPhone 5's. The Starmobile Knight is probably the thinnest and lightest locally branded quad-core around. It sports the current iteration of Android Jelly Bean (4.2), so that's a plus. With a resolution of 720p and a pixel density of 315ppi, the Knight's 4.7-inch IPS display is incredibly sharp and vivid. Corning Gorilla Glass also shields the screen from bumps and drops. Of course, the kicker here is the phone's 18- and 8-megapixel rear- and front-facing cameras, complete with auto-focus and backside-illumination technology, which aids in low-light performance. The front-facer works really well and brings a noticeable improvement to selfies and video calls.
What's not: The Knight is among a small group of phones that are just asking for a unibody treatment. I's a flagship effort anyway, so why not go all out with the visual flair? At a measly 4GB, internal storage is wanting for the phone's supposed price point.
Specs:
- Dual-SIM
- MediaTek MT6589 chipset
- 1.2GHz quad-core CPU
- PowerVR SGX544 GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 4GB internal storage
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- 4.7-inch IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass (720 x 1,280 resolution; 315ppi)
- 18-megapixel rear camera with BSI technology, auto-focus, dual-LED flash
- 8-megapixel front camera with BSI technology, auto-focus
- 2,000mAh battery
- Android Jelly Bean 4.2
Starmobile Diamond V3 (Price: P9,990)
What's hot: The Starmobile Diamond V3's 5.3-inch IPS display, besides being fronted by scratch-resistant Dragontrail cover glass, provides great viewing angles. The phablet itself is rather light for its size. The dual cameras (12- and 2-megapixel sensors) are backside-illuminated for decent indoor and outdoor performance. Quad-core muscle keeps things running smoothly.
What's not: The panel is not high-def (the resolution is 480 x 854), and the lack of sharpness on this model becomes all the more apparent when you factor in the 5.3-inch real estate. The Snapdragon and Adreno chip combo inside the Diamond V3 suggests that this model is not best suited for high-end games. Given its size, the Diamond V3's screen-to-bezel ratio and battery capacity could have been better.
Specs:
- Dual-SIM
- Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM822Q chipset
- 1.2GHz quad-core CPU
- Adreno 203 GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 4GB internal storage
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- 5.3-inch IPS display with Dragontrail cover glass (480 x 854 resolution; 185ppi)
- 12-megapixel rear camera with BSI technology, dual-LED flash
- 2-megapixel front camera with BSI technology
- 2,100mAh battery
- Android Jelly Bean 4.1
Starmobile Icon (Price: Less than P10,000)
What's hot: Despite lacking the clarity of high-res panels, the Starmobile Icon features a nice display, with wide viewing angles and good saturation and color accuracy. Also, its curved sides, along with the smooth, matte coating on the removable back cover, provide a comfortable grip. The 5-megapixel front camera with auto-focus is a boon for the heaviest of video chatters.
What's not: Again, the Snapdragon and Adreno pairing here is a slight letdown. This phone also needs to slim down. Its protruding rear camera lens isn't doing it any favors.
Specs:
- Dual-SIM
- Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM822Q chipset
- 1.2GHz quad-core CPU
- Adreno 203 GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 4GB internal storage
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- 4.5-inch qHD IPS display with Dragontrail cover glass (540 x 960 resolution; 245ppi)
- 8-megapixel rear camera with BSI technology, auto-focus, LED flash
- 5-megapixel front camera with BSI technology, auto-focus
- 2,100mAh battery
- Android Jelly Bean 4.1
Starmobile Jump (Price: P4,990)
What's hot: All the bells and whistles of last year's mid-range handset, Android Jelly Bean included, for cheap. High-gloss polycarbonate shell that's a lot more appealing to the eyes and hands compared with less glossy casings. The "Iron Man red" (ruby red) variant looks really, really good.
What's not: The 1,400mAh removable battery is underwhelming.
Specs:
- Dual-SIM
- MediaTek MT6577 chipset
- 1GHz dual-core CPU
- PowerVR SGX531 GPU
- 512MB RAM
- 4GB internal storage
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- 4-inch display (480 x 800 resolution; 207ppi)5
- -megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- VGA front camera
- 1,400mAh battery
- Android Jelly Bean 4.1
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