Kingcom released a new seven-inch phablet dubbed as the Pi Phone Venus last month, and it surely piqued our interest. Our unboxing and first impressions come right after the break.
The box is pretty unsecured for the package that it holds inside. The only thing that holds everything together is a paper folded onto the insides of the box, and it’s rather loose.
Inside are contents you would normally find and some additional treats: USB and USB-OTG cables, a bulky charger adapter, a pair of in-ear headphones, a screen protector, the usual manuals and warranties, and the phablet itself.
The device itself is pretty sleek, and you might mistake it as a premium-priced phablet based on its appearance. The metal trims on the sides give a classic feel along the gold back finish and trims. The white bezels on the front might feel a little bit out of place with all the gold and metal finishes, though.
It’s good to hold with one hand, and it doesn’t feel too heavy for its size. It exudes a premium feel considering some parts are made from polycarbonate, something we found out while fiddling around the phone to look for the SIM and microSD card trays.
As for where the common controls and ports are placed, the 3.5mm headphone jack is at the top of the phablet, while the microUSB port and the microphone are down at the bottom. On the right side are three similarly-sized and evenly-spaced buttons. You might confuse them at some point but the power/lock button is at the topmost, followed by the volume rockers below it.
Flip the device over, and we have the 5-megapixel rear camera along with the speaker grills at the bottom. The battery is not removable, and KingCom has put the trays at the top through a covered section. I find it odd that the NTC stickers are placed outside, and it affects the overall aesthetics of the phone. It can also be susceptible to possible wear and tear, given this is a huge phablet and people are likely to hold this from the center to bottom sides.
Kingcom left the loaded Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS mostly untouched but installed a few preloaded apps. Upon the first run, the device feels snappy and fluid. Here are the initial benchmark scores we ran with the device:
Antutu – 38,540 (unverified)
Quadrant Standard – 13,466
Vellamo – 2,072 (Browser), 1,470 (Multicore), 978 (Metal)
KingCom Pi Phone Venus specs:
7-inch Full HD WUXGA IPS display, 1920×1200, 324dpi
1.7GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6592
Mali 450-MP
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
expandable up to 32GB via microSD
5MP rear AF camera with LED flash
2MP front camera
Dual-SIM (Mini + Micro), Dual-Standby
3G HSPA+
Bluetooth 4.0
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Android 4.4.2 KitKat
3,000mAh non-removable Li-Po battery
Dimensions: 184.5mm x 106.2mm x 8.2mm
Weight: 460g
The Pi Phone Venus has a price tag of Php7,998 and is available exclusively at e-commerce website Lazada. Does the golden beauty run skin deep? We’ll find out in a few days as we take the phablet for a spin, and a full review.
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hi, have you experienced poor signal or even none at all? badtrip yung nabili q, hnd ko tuloy magamit png call or text.. walang signal, weather2 lng kung magkaron.
I bought the Venus yesterday, napansin ko sobrang bilis ma lowbat..i installed cpu z from google play and i found out that the battery capacity is 1000mah instead of 3000mah they advertizing…well alll in all its great phone tablet great movie to watch..just use powerbank like i did.
Thank you Dondie for bringing this up. I bought my unit from Lazada and filed a verbal complaint on them for false advertising.
ok ba pag may greenify?
Ayos to ha! Installan lang ng greenify to at astig na to pang gaming para tipid sa battery at sa RAM Space
Nakabili ako nito, overall maganda talaga sya, very powerful…. worried lang kasi ako, sobrang bilis ma drain ng battery, kapag di ko ginagamit naka sleep lang, continuous ang pag bawas ng b battery percentage nya, tsaka kapag nag lalaro lang ako ng COC sobrang bilis umiinit ng likod nya ay grabe ang init talaga…. di ko lama kung manghihinayang ako, wala na naman ako magagawa… meron ba sa inyo dyan ang may tricks o may way kung pano maiwasan ang mabilis na pag drain ng battery?…. salamat
Ano OEM nito??
For me everything is good in this phone BUT Battery seems not enough for FHD and 7″ Phablet. Agree???
Advise ko for those who are looking for a Phablet, please wait for Meizu M1 Note. Maybe next month it is available in the market. Please research muna before buying para di sayang pera.
March na araw na lang ang hinihintay ko … Hataw ang specs !!!
Specs of the Meizu m1 Note (Price in the Philippines: P7,990; Availability: Most likely March 2015):
* Dual SIM
* LTE
* 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6752 CPU
* Mali-T760 GPU
* 2GB RAM
* 16GB internal storage
* 5.5-inch IGZO display (1,080 x 1,920 resolution)
* 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone flash
* 5-megapixel front camera
* 3,140mAh battery
* Android KitKat 4.4.4
Nice, not bad for the price. Perfect for reading e-books etc. Will just wait for the full review of this.
Not much is being said about this phone from tech sites which is too bad. Got this phone today to replace my 1 year old Cherry Mobile Omega XL. I’m a fan of phones with large display and I have to say this phone rocks and at the price is really a steal. I have to say best bang for the money.
ano ba yan, first impressions tapos walang photo ng likod. Badtrip naman.
Sorry about that. We’ve updated the post with the pic of the back of the device. :)
wow. Sino kalevel ng KingCom? SM/MyPhone or Cherry?