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Hands-on: Starmobile Knight

Yesterday, we finally get to meet Starmobile’s upcoming flagship handset, the Knight, which was the rebranded i-Mobile IQX. And while we’re at it, we thought of giving you guys a tour of this highly-anticipated Android handset.

Right from the get go, we noticed something peculiar about this smartphone; it exudes the same look and feel as the iPhone 5, at least from an arm’s length that is. And no, we’re not talking about the make here, rather the svelte and slightly elongated profile of the Star Mobile Knight that gives it that premium-like feel, not to mention its rather flat front and back panels that are also similar to Apple’s current flagship handset.

knight1

For a 4.7-inch handset, the SM Knight actually feels lighter than other handsets on the same league that we’ve used thus far. Factor in its slim body and you got yourself a sizeable smartphone that’s well built from an ergonomic standpoint and also very easy to navigate using one hand.

Apart from the HD screen, the OEM was able to make room for three capacitive buttons at the bottom portion of the front panel, as well as an 8MP secondary camera mounted at the top with the earpiece and a slew of sensors.

All three buttons, which includes the Power and Volume rocker, are placed on the right side of the handset and are easily accessible through the thumb or index finger. Meanwhile, the micro-USB and audio ports are located at the top most portion of the phone.

sm knight

Flip the phone on its back and you’ll be greeted with a glossy white cover that houses some of the other key components of the Knight such as its 2,000mAh battery and trio of slots for two SIM cards and micro-SD card. Another feature that’s found on the back is the controversial 18MP BSI camera with a pair of LED flashes which is situated at the upper left corner of the phone’s posterior.

During our time with the handset, we were able to snap a handful of pictures using the front and back cameras. Judging from what we saw, we have to say that it’s one of the more decent stills we’ve seen from a dual-SIM Android handset. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to transfer the pictures we took with the Knight as we had some troubles pairing it with our handset through Bluetooth.

star mobile knight

Due to the lack of speedy internet connection and the limited amount of time we spent with this phone, we also weren’t able to do our usual benchmark test with the SM Knight. However, we managed to weave through different areas of the device and try out apps that are already installed on the phone. Of all these basic tasks, we’re glad to report that Starmobile’s new handset was able to give us a decent user experience.

Summary

Though our first encounter was rather brief, we can definitely say that Starmobile got a strong contender in their hands; one that sets the bar a notch higher for its upcoming competitors. But then again, the good traits we saw earlier might just be the tip of the iceberg and what lies beneath may either disappoint or impress us even more. Well, we’ll just gonna have to wait until Starmobile lend us a unit and see if this handset is indeed the real deal.

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Avatar for Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

21 Responses

  1. Avatar for dental nurse dental nurse says:

    Wow, this piece of writing is fastidious, my sister is analyzing these things, therefore I am going to inform her.

  2. Avatar for mikkelb mikkelb says:

    lenovo k860 quadcore cortex-a9 drop price into 14k.. it has better proccesor and its not rebranded.. so dpat mas mura pa toh sa lenovo..

  3. Avatar for eusebio eusebio says:

    yes! i wish more local companies would offer highend specs in a smaller form factor, 4.3-4.7-inch, but whew! the rumour on the pricing is kinda steep. many would feel uncomfortable paying that amount. one can only hope though, right? maybe starmobile will surprise us.

  4. Avatar for Anonimi Anonimi says:

    “Due to the lack of speedy internet connection and the limited amount of time we spent with this phone, we also weren’t able to do our usual benchmark test with the SM Knight. However, we managed to weave through different areas of the device and try out apps that are already installed on the phone. Of all these basic tasks, we’re glad to report that Starmobile’s new handset was able to give us a decent user experience.”

    Basic tasks palang eh decent lang ang feedback?

    • Avatar for speed speed says:

      My very first starmobile is a crystal. I love this crystal so much that i’m keeping it while having another phone. I love everything about starmobile and it’s quality line-up. I’m just disgusted with their marketing strategy.

      1. They’re shy about their prices.
      2. Launching phones but availability is like two calendar pages away.
      3. They may be on stage, and the show hasn’t started yet and audience are starting to get distracted by other models.
      4. Their term “New” is already “Old” in a month.

  5. Avatar for koyang koya koyang koya says:

    aaaaaaaaaaand labasan na ng cherry marketing people. whoopeeeeeeeeeeeeee

    • Avatar for abuzalzal abuzalzal says:

      Nope. you’re DEAD mistaken here

      Price your products FAIRLY and COMPETITIVELY and you will NOT get bashed nor criticized.

      Common sense…Why does Apple get so much HATE?

    • Avatar for Jeremy Lin Jeremy Lin says:

      But still, iphone still manages to sell their products well in the market.

    • Avatar for libby m. libby m. says:

      mas maraming akong nakikita na naka myphone o cherry, hindi pa nga ako nakikita me naka star. lols.

  6. Avatar for consumer consumer says:

    “Knight is shining expensive pricing”
    That’s Starmobile for you.

    Starmobile’s “tubong lugaw” pricing is a necessary evil for us consumers because it will push other brands to make their prices more competitive, just like what Cherry Mobile’s doing with their smartphones lately.

  7. Avatar for brianna brianna says:

    OMG! must have phone… sana affordable sya. price sensitive kase tayong mga pinoy. 10k lang sana *cough *cough *cough. lols

    • Avatar for abuzalzal abuzalzal says:

      My realistic prediction would be Php 11,990

      O ayan…ako nauna…then thank me later kasi nagkatotooo

    • Avatar for hank360 hank360 says:

      ouch! hirap na yan sa 12k. add ka nalang ng konti xperia v o galaxy s3 na.

    • Avatar for Oliver Twist Oliver Twist says:

      Kung less than 12K mura na yan… Yung original na i-Mobile IQ X is 13K+ sa Thailand eh… so comparable pa din ang price with the original..

    • Avatar for wilkentoy wilkentoy says:

      yung ohd na iq6 oem benta sa thailand 12k bat 8k lang benta dito sa cherry? yung diamond naman iq4, 12k rin sa thailand bat 10k benta sa starmobile? lols

  8. Avatar for kekoy two kekoy two says:

    hindi nyo pwede presyohan ang mga rebrand nyong produkto na mala alcatel at lenovo! ampotang ambisyoso!

  9. Avatar for abuzalzal abuzalzal says:

    haha hindi sila maka-imbento ng presyo…siguro they are slowly learning their lessons.

    Here’s a tip SM…walang bibili diyan pag mahal lol

    • Avatar for Jeremy Lin Jeremy Lin says:

      They still manage to sell their products @ 9k above though.

    • Avatar for taikong taikong says:

      lols, they manage to sell some… 1 or 2 units per week probably. can’t blame the idiots over paying. hahaha

  10. Avatar for Jayr Jayr says:

    still no words of its price?

    • Avatar for JayR JayR says:

      calling Cherry Mobile, it seems that a lot of people are clamoring for your company to offer this unit but unfortunately it was starmobile who got the rights for this model… perhaps you may want to consider providing us a better unit instead.. How about 5.0″ 1080, quadcore..be the first local company to offer this phone to us..

      iocean X7

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMo3sciYJgA

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