MediaTek Octa-core Smartphones: Should You Get One Now?

In the last few weeks we’ve seen two local companies and one Chinese brand come out with MediaTek octa-core powered smartphones in the Philippines. The first to announce (but not yet in the market) was Technology Happy Life, also known as THL, with their new flagship, the THL T100 Monkey King II. Next was Starmobile with their 6.0-inch power-packed phablet, the Starmobile Diamond X1. The most recent announcement was made by local tech powerhouse, Cherry Mobile with the Cosmos Z2. All eyes are actually now set on another Pinoy brand, MyPhone, who has yet to field an octa-core smartphone in the market. The last premium device they shipped was the MyPhone Iceberg Mini. The big question now that we need to answer is if it’s worth upgrading from MediaTek quad-core smartphones to the MediaTek octa-core offerings. While there is merit to trading up, MediaTek’s latest announcement of an impending octa-core LTE chipset is definitely a reason to think twice.

To refresh your memories on the new octa-core smartphones, here are their pictures as well as some excerpts from our reviews.

“The Starmobile Diamond X1 is possibly one of the best phablets you can buy today. It’s amazing performance, coupled with its price (which is pretty competitive, all things considered) and solid camera makes it the phablet to beat for other local brands.” Click here for the full review

“Everything considered, the THL T100 is POTENTIALLY a superb 5.0-inch Full HD smartphone with great camera optics and battery life. As it is a prototype we can’t fault the manufacturer yet for the transition lag so we’re hoping that they completely eliminate it with the commercial unit. If they solve that then we have one bad ass full HD smartphone that can go head-to-head with a lot of flagships that cost Php10,000 more.” – Click here for the full review

“We can’t get over how handsome the Cosmos Z2 is in person. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: photos does not do it justice. The overall build quality and design of the Cosmos Z2 is excellent.” – Click here to read our initial review

More Power and LTE For Those Willing to Wait

Based on what we’ve read so far, the new octa-core MediaTek chipset will not only have LTE capability but it will also have more power and kick to it. Some tech pundits are even saying it’s comparable already to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor (though we’ll never know till we actually see it, lol).

So more power and LTE… how long is the wait? According to MediaTek we will start seeing devices shipping with their new chipset sometime in the second half of the year.

So Should We Just Wait?

If you’re the patient type, there’s no harm in just waiting it out. It will probably be at least 4-6 months away before we see local brands come up with the new LTE MediaTek Octa-core smartphones. If there’s no pressing need to upgrade then you get more bang for your buck (though you might spend more since we expect LTE to be not free anymore later this year).

If you’re not a heavy gamer and you don’t need LTE though then any one of the new line-up of MediaTek octa-core smartphones should be more than enough for your everyday needs.

Local smartphones are definitely becoming more competitive with global brands. What’s critical now is that they invest more in their customer service and support so that people are assured that whatever they buy won’t go to waste if and when their devices break down.