In the past, phones with TV functionality was a hit for some of our fellow Pinoys. Star Mobile looks to bring that fad back with the Astra. Catch the full review after the break.
Star Mobile has been making its mark on the local scene with their affordable products. But not only do their products are inexpensive; it also has a pretty decent build and performance which makes it a choice for most budget-conscious consumers. From the looks of it, the Astra seems to be just that: affordable and feature-packed.
Design and Construction
At first sight, the phone actually looks like an HTC Desire/Sensation with its curved edges painted in metallic brown with a small silver accent on the earpiece part. So if you’re a fan of Sensation’s design, you’re most likely to dig the Astra too.
The phone has a pretty straightforward layout. It has the Power button at the top in between the micro-USB and audio port and a pair of volume rocker on the right side.
Over the back is where the 8MP camera is located along with a pair of LED lights for flash. Still on the back side, towards the bottom part of the handset is a vent for the speaker and phones retractable antenna for the TV functionality.
Lift its plastic back plate and you’ll be greeted with its 1500mAh battery, two SIM card slots and a micro-SD card slot.
Multimedia
As mentioned on our first impression, the Star Mobile Astra has a 4.3-inch IPS display with WVGA resolution. It should be enough to give users a pleasant viewing experience and wide viewing angle thanks to its IPS display.
The sound output was also pretty good. It’s a tad hissy for the most part, but still good enough to get your basic aural needs covered. Its loudspeaker is loud enough for the sound to be audible even when you’re 3-4 feet away from the phone.
There’s no denying that this phone’s main selling point is its Mobile TV app which lets user watch local channels using the handset. As mentioned on our first impression, the TV Tuner is only analog which explains the sub-standard quality, but it should be watchable especially if you have a good reception in your area.
Performance and Usability
Knowing your way around the phone’s settings and options will just be a breeze as the Star Mobile Astra makes use of a stock Android ICS. The same can be said for the default keyboard which also stock Android.
The keys are well-spaced and provides good feedback when pressed but it’s too laggy for my liking which makes it a little bit difficult (and irritating at times) to compose messages.
The phone doesn’t break any new grounds in terms of speed, but its dual-core processor should deliver a decent enough performance to handle your basic smartphone needs without breaking a sweat. I did, however, encounter a number of apps crashing, random restarts and lags that we didn’t experience with the recent dual-SIM, dual-core smartphones we’ve reviewed. In short, the performance was OK, but is a bit lagging when pitted against other smartphones of the same category.
We’ve also experienced a handful of dropped calls and reception-related issues while using the Astra. Of course, network coverage can factor in on the dropped calls, but since we’re using the handset on the same location and using the same network as the other units in the past, we’re inclined to think that it’s the phone that’s causing this.
Camera and Video
Having an 8MP camera w/ flash is a rare feature for dual-SIM handsets in the market. In fact, we only know two devices which are equipped with such snapper; the Star Mobile Astra and the MyPhone A919 Duo. But after taking a handful of pictures using the Astra, I have to say the slight bump in the megapixel count didn’t have a significant difference from those dual-SIM handsets with 5MP camera.
[fancygallery ID= “Astra”]
The videos recorded using the Astra are usable for the most part, but don’t expect stunning quality out of it. The highest quality that this handset can go is 720p, but you’d have to manually set it on the camera settings because the default is 640 x 480.
Battery
Having two SIM cards is too much to handle for the Astra’s 1500mAh battery pack as it struggles to even last a day with light-to-moderate usage which includes SNS running on the background with feeds set to every 5 minutes, an hour’s worth of browsing over cellular data, 15-20 SMS, 10-15 minutes of calls, and an hour’s worth of playing Fruit Ninja.
Note that we didn’t even touch the Mobile TV functionality on that test. When we did use it, the phone only lasted 5 hours which includes two documentaries (Reel Time and Reporter’s Notebook), SNS running on the background with feeds set to every 5 minutes, an hour’s worth of browsing over cellular data and an hour’s worth of gaming.
Conclusion
The Star Mobile Astra has a desirable design, decent camera and of course Mobile TV. However, you’d have to live with the fact that the battery isn’t at par with its competition and is a bit laggy at times. But after using it as my main handset for a little over two weeks, I have to say that you won’t be disappointed shelling out PhP6,990 for this smartphone.
StarMobile Astra specs:
4.3-inch IPS display @ 800×480 pixels, 240ppi
MediaTek MT6577 1.0GHz dual-core Cortex-A9
PowerVR SGX 531
512MB RAM
4GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD (8GB included)
3G/HSPA, dual-SIM, dual standby
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.0
GPS w/ aGPS support
8MP rear camera w/ dual-LED flash
VGA front-facing camera
TV Tuner (analog)
Li-Ion 1500mAh battery
Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
Dimension: 130.5 x 66.5 x 10.9mm
Weight: 132g
What we liked about the StarMobile Astra:
- Decent hardware specs
- Really affordable price
- Built-in OTA TV tuner
- IPS Display
- Dual-SIM Android ICS phone
What we did not like about it:
- Can be a battery hog
- Can be a bit laggy at times
paano ba iopen gprs ng starmobile astra ?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2247296
Custom Rom for Star Mobile Astra
ang dame kong problema sa phone nato ! ayaw gumana ng internet kahit naka wifi kana , lagi nalang no connection plus nag shushutdown bigla ! Nakakainis !
Here is the Custom rom i.e SENSE based Custom rom released for Star Mobile Astra:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2247296
we buy star mobile astra last dec,ok nman cia.wla kmi ndetect n problem,pro later on,nun mgtransfer aq ng file via bluetooth,it ddn’t work..ndi cia mdetect.ndi dn mkdetect.so we always use usb to transfer data..pano b msosolve 2?wla nman service center ng starmobile d2 s lipa bats.bnalik nmin cia s bnlhan nmin and they told us n reset nlng nmin un unit,gnawa nman nmin and gnun p dn.ok n sna eh,d lng mgfunction ng aus un bluetooth..
hay nako sayang pagbili ko akalako maganda panget pala angganda lang ang name loww bat Battery…..sarap tapon,,,,,,,,,,,,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????????????????????????????
– please can you make a review of Starmobile Energy ? kasi i studied the specs of it and it’s pretty satisfying despite of not a dual core smartphone and not an IPS screen nito . and it’s more affordable kasi it’s only php 5690 w/free screen protector and jelly case . :))
nabalitaan ko din sa friend ko andali daw masira ng ganyan hmmmmmm di pa tlga pede icompette globally ang gawa ng pinoy sa CP kase pati Torque may problema din daw
I’m disappointed. Battery drains fast and it takes about 5 hours to charge but only 2 hours if used. It goes excessively hot as well. Very poor.
actually the battery life depends on how you use astra. in my case astra can last to 1-2 days of life it has the same battery life like samsung galaxy , apple iphone .
reason why astra do not last long:
– having the dual sim can really drain the battery life
– using the tv must not last to 5 min or the phone will not live on a day
–
Ireally want to buy Astra because it is my nname at parang signature na nga to me…Pero bakit ang daming bad news akong nababasa, And paborito ko pa naman ay samsung talaga…Nadidismaya ako…Nagdadalawang isip tuloy ako…Do you think sirain talaga ang astra starmobile
PATAY…AKALA KO CM FLARE LANG YUNG MAY PROBLEM.MAS MALALA PA PALA TONG ASTRA NI VICE…HAHAHA
NEXT STOP. SAMSUNG GALAXY Y DOUS.
Hi, huwag kayo magtiwala sa starmobile astra. last January 2013, first week, bumili ako ng unit sa ADI, L/F ng SM cubao, nirecommend ng OIC ng store. maganda daw, etc. within 1 week nagkaroon ng dead pixel. pinalitan ng new unit, then before mag 1 month nag automatic shotdown, every 10 minutes and so often. ibinalik ko ng last week ng February, until now wala pang action ang starmobile company, kahit nagtatrabaho pa yung anak ng taga starmobile sa ADI…. buisit sila…. napakabagal umaksyon at ewan kung papalitan pa nila….. nasayang yung PhP 6,900.00 ko….. Kahapon, March 15, bumalik ako sa store…. wala pa daw balita…..
march 16, 2013 ibinalik sa ADI LGF sa SM Cubao yung starmobile astra unit, ayun, magandang balita, nag automatic shutdown pa rin. magandang halimbawa ng made in the Philippines…
Same here, nagtapon lng ako ng pera…1 week lng may sariling buhay n yung screen…pumipindot mag isa…i suggest wag mag padala sa itsura and price…bumili nlng ng subok na.
hi ask kulang po san po ba nakakabili ng star mobile astra ?
can you play youtube on it?
Yes, it is pro. May youtube player sya and aside from the meron syang Flash Player na installed sa phone na toh.
Hi i have an Astra, but Im not sure I’ve got a 4GB Internal Storage. It says on my Storage that Internal Storage is almost 1GB and Phone Storage has the same almost 1GB, so paranng 2GB lang? Wala namang kaso sakin yun pero do you think I should go their Service Center? Thanks [sorry ha, i’m a complete noobz talaga pag dating sa gadgets lols]
Gustong gusto ko talaga bumili nitong ASTRA n to since December pa pero nung nbsa ko mga comments nyo nagdadalawang isip n me hehehe! i’m using starmobile Q50i ryt now and more dan a year n xa sakin! Sa unang linggo ko n pagbili OK xa pero d next week nagha-hang n din xa at nagloloko battery. Dumating p sa point n di ko n mabuksan. Siguro naka 2 beses nangyari un den pinaayos ko sa Megamall kng san ako bumili den my sinundot lng ung battery nung gumagawa den after nun IT’S WORKING AND FUNCTIONING VERY WELL NA!!! Hanggang ngaon very operational p xa despite of heavy usage! Naka ilang hulog n din xa to d point n nagkalas kalas xa paglaglag pero gumagana padin xa nabasa ko n din ung pon ko pero ok padin xa! So i guess my disalignment lng tlg sa battery but the apps and specs r ol good! Gus2 ko pa din tong ASTRA pero reviewhin ko muna ung CM FLARE hehehe!
Ano mas ok at sulit bilhin astra o titan? At bakit?
I just bought one 2 days ago and honestly, I was hesitant buying it at first coz I thought it’s just one of those low quality phones coz it’s so affordable. Good thing, I have decided to buy it and now I’m amazed with it’s features and so far, I havent experienced any problems with this phone. Just having a bit of a problem with the battery though but that’s okay since I’m not really a heavy phone user. I only use it mainly for music..I would say that this is a worthy phone to buy plus it’s super affordable..
I bought astra last week (Jan.19,2013 to be specified)…today is the 7th day which means hindi na pwedeng palitan ng tindahang binilhan ko nito. Hindi ko alam anong nangyayari sa nabili ko nag ooperate mag-isa,,,in short sira…hindi naman sya nahulog or something..pagkatapos ko lang syang i charge hindi na nagpa function ng tama..plss..whoever is concern…tell me what to do.
ganyan din nangyari sa astra ko. after 6 days talaga nawala. Di mo maintindihan ano ginagawa nung phone. parang may sailing mundo. di na rin pwedeng palitan kasi 5 days lng yung replacement.
Wag kau bibili nito lahat ng kakilala ko pati ako na daya according to the box and description dito.. 4gb internal memory pero kung iche2ck niyo mabuti ung phone 1gb lang tas ung ibibigay na memory card sa inyo 8gb.
d ka naman cgurong tanga no? 4gb nga yan kaso ang iba dyan reserve for the memory of the phone and for OS purposes\.