We go hands-on with the Knight X!
Today, Starmobile announced their newest flagship, the Knight X. Judging from the spec sheet of the device, it seems that the company had one goal in mind with the device: offer the fastest, no compromise device they possibly could, and it seems that they’ve succeeded with the Knight X. It’s a smartphone that achieves a lot of firsts for locally branded devices, and today we’ve managed to spend a few minutes with the new flagship.
Starmobile Knight X specs
- MediaTek MT6595M octa-core processor with big.LITTLE technology (2.0GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A17, 1.7GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7)
- PowerVR IMG Rogue G6200 GPU
- 3GB of RAM
- 5.5-inch full HD IPS display panel, scratch resistant glass, 1920 x 1080 resolution
- 32GB of storage
- 13-megapixel rear Sony Exmor RS IMX135 camera, AF, F2.2 aperture
- 5-megapixel fixed focus front camera
- Dual SIM (micro and nano SIM),
- 3G, Dual LTE switching
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC, USB OTG, IR Blaster
- Android 4.4 KitKat
- 3350mAh battery
- 152 x 77.7 x 8.9mm
Initial impressions: the fastest smartphone offered by a local brand
Before we start this hands-on, there’s a few things that we’ll have to disclose. The device that we handled was an early engineering unit, with an early version of Starmobile’s software in it. The company says that they’ll continue optimizing the device until it officially hits stores (more on this soon), so there’s a big possibility that it’ll still go up one it goes retail.
The Knight X is one of Starmobile’s more serious looking flagships to date. The front is dominated by the device’s large 5.5-inch full HD display, surrounded by rather thin-ish bezels. The back of the device is molded in hard, grey plastic that has a textured finish to give you a better grip. The sides of the smartphone is lined with a strip of silver plastic to add a bit of visual flair to an otherwise serious-looking device. From a distance, the Knight X kind of reminds us of the THL 5000, though the Knight X is certainly sleeker than THL’s offering. The physical controls are right where you’d expect, with the volume rocker on the left side and the power button on the right.
Like most of Starmobile’s other smarphones the Knight X is a dual-SIM deal, though that’s where the similarities between its other product offerings end. The Knight X is a dual LTE device, which is a first for the local smartphone space. It’s a nice addition, and it means that you can have both SIMs of the two telcos inside the Knight X (although one will have to be nano and the other micro) and switch to the fastest depending on your location.
The Knight X is equipped with MediaTek’s latest octa-core processor, the MT6595M. usually, having one of the most powerful octa-core processors around would be enough to color us impressed, but the Knight X doesn’t stop there. It’s also equipped with 3GB of RAM, as well as NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, IR Blaster, Miracast and Chromecast support, as well as USB OTG.
Starmobile’s thrown everything except the kitchen sink inside the Knight X, which makes it one of the most advanced smartphones ever offered by a local brand.
The Knight X has pretty impressive AnTuTu benchmarks, and as expected it managed to break through the 40K barrier coming in at 43154 points. When we initially saw the Knight X, it scored a paltry 33K points, so it seems that Starmobile’s software optimizations are raising the performance of the device, as far as benchmarks are concerned. We were also able to play Reckless Racing 3 which was already pre-loaded into the device. The game ran without any hiccups, which isn’t surprising considering the SoC. Navigating through the Knight X is a real pleasure with no lag whatsoever. Everything felt fluid and fast.
Starmobile did not disclose the price for the Knight X yet, only going as far as saying that it’ll retail for under 20K. The last time the company came out with a fully loaded flagship was the Octa, and that was priced at around Php 16,990. We won’t be surprised if the Knight X is priced at the same price point, and if it is, it’s going to be another polarizing device for sure. Then again, the 32GB version of the Meizu MX4 is priced the same. To recap, the Meizu MX4 has a slightly smaller display, no dual-SIM capability and a slightly smaller battery, so if ever Starmobile went that route, their pricing would be somewhat justified. Hopefully it retails for far lower than the Octa when it comes out.
