Launched last month, Starmobile Knight Spectra is one of the local brand's flagship device in the market today. It poses itself a mid-range smartphone with its Snapdragon 615 chipset, 3GB of RAM, and 1080p AMOLED display. It also has two rear cameras working together to produce the best possible snapshot. With a price of almost Php 15k, it will be a tough sell but is it worth it? Find out in our review.
Author's note: The first review unit we received had a defective DTV. We have received a fully functioning replacement and have updated the review.
What's in the Box?
Unboxing the Spectra is quite overwhelming. There are a lot included accessories namely, a screen protector, cleaning cloth, hard case (not in photo), DTV cable antenna, adhesive flexible stand, SIM eject tool, micro-USB cable, charger, and earphones with mic.
We tried on the nifty adhesive stand to place the device on a side table to act as a clock, although the adhesive is not that strong to keep in place but little adjustments of the position will do the trick.
As for the earphones, the design is similar to an EarPod but build is on the cheap side. What's not cheap is the audio quality with pretty good levels and bass for casual listening but lacks comfort. You'll probably use your own pair of earphones, it's no big deal.
Design and Construction
At first glance, the Knight Spectra looks well designed. With its sandwiched glass build, it resembles the likes of an Xperia or the late iPhone 4. It may lack originality but a user would be pleased to have a beautiful device. Although, the frame is polycarbonate with a coating that mimics the look of a chamfered steel frame.
Checking out the device, the front has the large 5.5-inch AMOLED display along with the front-facing camera with LED flash, earpiece, and multiple sensors on top. All beneath a slab of a smooth protective glass.
The power/lock button and the volume rocker are on the right side while the combo card tray is located on the left.
On top is the 3.5mm headphone jack and a microphone pinhole. The bottom houses the speaker grille and the micro-USB port.
Going to the back will reveal the dual-camera setup, a 2-megapixel and another 13-megapixel, with a single LED flash in between. Aside from the Starmobile branding and some important numbers imprinted, it’s an all glass back panel. Thanks to the glass panel, the Spectra feels really solid on hand. Keep in mind, that glass tends to crack when dropped but it should hold pretty well as long it is handled with care. An aluminum frame would have been nice though. We just miss the cold touch especially during night time.
Display
It sports a punchy 5.5-inch AMOLED display touting a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels or simply Full HD. With those numbers, we get a crisp 401ppi which is enough to hide those little pixel to the naked eye. Since it is an AMOLED display, contrast is second to none. You'll enjoy deep blacks and vibrant colors on it. Over saturation might be an issue for some and the black clipping issue among AMOLEDs with dark grays appearing pitch black is present on this panel but it's not something critical with everyday usage and most media content.
If you value all the shades of the colors, especially gray, the Spectra doesn't offer options to tinker with unlike Samsung S-AMOLED devices. But for those looking for a rich and bold display that will definitely satisfy your retinas, this is something you'd like. Viewing angle are fine, unless you'd view it in extremes. We've noticed it produce a rainbow glare under direct sunlight. Speaking of sunlight, outdoor visibility is just average at best.
Next Page: OS, Apps, and UI | Camera and Multimedia
OS, Apps, and UI
The Spectra boots Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. We don’t expect it to receive any update to 6.0 anytime soon, but if Starmobile will be kind enough, they can. And like any other local smartphones in the market, this is a near pure Android system. It has a standard launcher with modest pre-installed Google apps and phone management tool to get you started. It also has Starmobile’s own software for imaging, customer support, and OTA updates.
Contrary to an untouched Android, the Spectra has a dark theme all throughout the UI. Our favorite is the settings menu wherein it sorts out as a tabbed interface which makes it easier to dig around. Other than that, there’s nothing more to tell about the UI. Like always, if you don’t like it, you can easily download a launcher through the Play Store and even have a uniform icon pack.
Update: Starmobile gave a new unit since the first one has a faulty DTV antenna. Hence, we take the Knight Spectra another spin on digital broadcast.
जैसा कि स्टॉर्मोबाइल से उम्मीद की जा रही है, जो वर्तमान में मोबाइल डिवाइसों पर डीटीवी होने की दौड़ में अग्रणी है, नाइट स्पेक्ट्रा में आपके लिए एक बिल्ट‑इन ISDB‑T ट्यूनर है जिससे आप चलते‑फिरते अपने पसंदीदा फ्री‑टू‑एयर चैनलों को सबसे स्पष्ट गुणवत्ता में देख सकते हैं। बेहतर रिसेप्शन के लिए, एक शामिल केबल एंटीना है जिसे आप प्लग‑इन कर सकते हैं। आप लाइव टीवी को रिकॉर्ड करके फिर से देख भी सकते हैं।
While only major networks and some are currently broadcasting through digital waves, we expect more to join by next year and we wish for wider coverage. DTV signal is television network dependent. If the channel is not available, most probably they are still not covering your area.
Camera and Multimedia
Equipped with a two rear cameras, the Spectra is definitely a photography centric device. The dual-camera setup includes a main 13-megapixel shooter and a secondary 2-megapixel camera. As mentioned during its launching, the two cameras work together in sync to deliver the best possible image from the bigger sensor. The 2-megapixel camera acts as companion for the re-focus feature, and also helps in overall performance.
Camera UI of the Starcam is pretty straightforward. It's a familiar layout from other camera apps with accessible shortcuts and toggles on the left, and the shooting mode, shutter key, and gallery preview are on the right.
With all the technicalities Starmobile has put into the Spectra, image quality is nothing stellar. Daytime shots are clear with relatively fast autofocus. Color saturation is a bit high, and viewing on the AMOLED display definitely makes everything punchy but not true to life. Sharpening is also exaggerated even at bright environments. Low-light shots are passable with enough details but the lack of OIS leads to blurry shots.
Let's not forget the 8-megapixel front-facing camera with its own LED flash. For a selfie camera, it's really good. Indoor shots are brighter than most front cameras in the market. And since it has a megapixel count of 8, facial details are above average for social media posting. Low-light selfies are also in check here.
The re-focus and background deco feature of the dual-camera works okay if the photo is well-lit and patiently taken. For you to refocus a photo, you have to set the camera mode and edit it through the gallery. From here, you can either re-focus an image and virtually set an aperture effect. You can also manipulate the background depending on the focus level. While it may seem advance, it's actually more of a gimmick rather than a feature you'd actually use since it doesn't work well in most scenarios.
Video is maxed at 1080p with the same vibrancy of the stills but details are lacking and the audio quality needs vast improvement. The autofocus is a bit aggressive yet the exposure compensation is fine. Check out the sample below:
Next Page: Performance and Benchmarks | Connectivity and Call Quality | Battery Life
Performance and Benchmarks
Powering the Knight Spectra is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset with an Adreno 405 paired with 3GB of RAM. With that configuration, we should expect the device to perform pretty well in most tasks. In-app performance is good, also with graphic intensive games, but general performance is a bit slow. Even with 3GB of RAM, the Spectra can't handle Facebook Messenger and text messaging at the time. Besides that, multitasking is relatively okay.
Benchmark numbers are at par with most midrange devices sporting the same specs with a 1080p display. Check out for yourself:
- Antutu Benchmark v5.7 -- 36434
- Quadrant Standard -- 21926
- Vellamo -- 2242 (Chrome), 1781 (Browser), 1576 (Multicore), 1164 (Metal)
- Nenamark 2 -- 59.2fps
- PCMark Work Performance -- 3936
Performance-wise, it's disappointing to see the Spectra under-perform when it comes to some basic tasks. Perhaps it is a software issue and a patch can sort this out in the future. We hope Starmobile will do its part in keeping their smartphones, especially their top-of-the-line Androids, in good shape.
Connectivity and Call Quality
For a smartphone that will cost you almost 15k bucks, you’d expect it have a complete suite of radios. Well, it has 4G LTE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi 802.11. It’s missing NFC, yet the usage of NFC with smartphones in the country is somewhat limited at the moment.
We’ve notice occasional signal drops during our everyday usage. Reception can be a little tricky at time but the Spectra seems to be slacking off in keeping those signal bars.
Nevertheless, we get good speeds whenever we have a healthy LTE connection around Metro Manila. Call quality is good with clear voices on both ends but the earpiece is on the soft side in terms of volume.
Battery Life
With it's generous 3500mAh battery, the Spectra can go the distance. Believe it or not, we were able to get almost 20 hours of video playback using a 1080p movie with 50% brightness, airplane mode and zero volume. That's the AMOLED showing its efficiency. But with regular use, we were able to get a whole day of use with cellular data enabled. The PCMark battery test was able to squeeze out 7 hours and 37 mins.
Conclusion
With its polished build and vibrant display, it’s easy to appreciate the Starmobile Knight Spectra. Once you spend time with it, it begins to show a slowdown despite its capable internals. And, an asking price of Php14,990 is a bit steep among the local competition. If you’re in for the design of the Spectra, it’s still a good buy.
Starmobile Knight Spectra specifications:
5.5-inch Full HD AMOLED (1920 × 1080 pixels) display, 401ppi
1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Octa-core 64-bit chipset
Adreno 405
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
microSD card support
13MP + 2MP dual-lens rear camera w/ LED flash, f/2.0 aperture
8-megapixel front camera w/ flash
Dual SIM / Dual Stand-by
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS, A-GPS
DTV Support
3,500mAh battery
Android 5.1 Lollipop
What we liked about:
- Good build
- Vibrant AMOLED display
- Great camera performance
What we didn't:
- Performance issues
- Asking price is a bit steep
- Occasional signal drops
Cherry Mobile Flare S Play ka na lang at 1/3 of the price