Starmobile Knight Spectra Review

Launched last month, Starmobile 19 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.

Table of Contents

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.

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