MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini Review: MyPhone’s Best Smartphone Yet?

MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini Review: MyPhone’s Best Smartphone Yet?

MyPhone Iceberg Mini h

MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini Full Review

The MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini clearly deserves a different naming convention. The term “mini” usually means that it’s a downgrade from the original model that it was named after. In theory an Iceberg Mini should have had lower specifications but probably with the same build. That’s not the case with the MyPhone Iceberg Mini. This phone is the most specced out device MyPhone has ever released and it sports the same premium and metallic build as the Iceberg. We’ve been using this device for the last three weeks already and if there’s one thing we can definitely say up front it’s that “Mini” does not give justice to this smartphone.

Before we jump into the full review, let’s have a quick refresher on the specifications:

MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini Spec Sheet

  • 1.5GHz Quad-core Processor, Turbo MediaTek Chipset
  • 2GB RAM
  • 16GB Internal Storage, Non Expandable
  • 5.0-inch Full HD IPS Display, OGS Technology
  • Corning Gorilla Glass 2
  • 13.0-megapixels primary camera with autofocus, flash, and BSI
  • 5.0-megapixels secondary camera with BSI
  • WiFi, WiFi Hotspot, 3G, HSPA+, Bluetooth, GPS/aGPS
  • Android Jelly Bean 4.2
  • Dual SIM, Dual Standby
  • 2,000mAh Battery
  • Comes with Free SIM Card Cutter
  • SRP: Php12,888

Everything up there looks good with the exception of the non-expandable storage. Maybe they could have at least made it 32GB if there wasn’t an SD Card slot available. And there you have it folks. Let’s get right into the review.

See Also:
MyPhone Iceberg Mini Unboxing: “Mini” Does Not Do This Justice
MyPhone Vortex Review: Premium and Solid Build
MyPhone Iceberg Review: Did it Live Up to the Hype?

Hardware: Plastic is Out, Metal is Cool

The MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini has two defining hardware features. First we have the all-metallic body. If you’re the type of techie that hates plastic, the MyPhone Iceberg Mini will definitely appeal to you because it does away with that and it uses some sort of aluminum metal for the back and the sides. The unit was had was the dark blue variant and it just looked stunning. We also loved it how the silver MyPhone logo shone subtly when it gets hit by light. This is without a doubt the nicest-looking smartphone MyPhone has ever shipped!

MyPhone Iceberg Mini c

MyPhone Iceberg Mini a

The backplate is not removable. The slots for the SIM cards can be found along the sides and you can open them using the pin key that comes in the box. All the other buttons and ports are found in their usual spots along the sides of the device.

The curved form factor also makes it easier to hold. It naturally rests in one’s palm. It’s not too heavy but it has a comfortable heft to it. It’s also quite thin making it a joy to hold and carry.

Gorgeous display quality
Gorgeous display quality

The second feature that definitely deserves praise is the Full HD 5.0-inch OGS IPS display! Colors are vibrant, warm, and bright! The detail of the icons and images are very crisp and seem like they’re all floating mid-air thanks to the OGS technology. Viewing angles are also superb as made possible by IPS. Having a great display is a, to quote Venus Raj, “major-major” asset. The quality of the display enhances your over-all experience with the smartphone since almost everything you’ll do with it will need to pop-up on the screen.

The sleek, premium, and well-crafted body combined with stunning display quality are the hallmarks of a true-blue flagship smartphone and we get all of that (plus more) with the MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini.

If you want a better feel of the phone, check out our unboxing video below.

Performance: It will NOT Disappoint

The MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini is armed with a MediaTek Turbo Quad-core Processor and 2GB of RAM. We’ve seen this set-up in the past to support full HD displays and the results we’ve seen so far haven’t been encouraging. What’s good to note though is that that Iceberg Mini is quite possibly one of the smoothest and most fluid phones using this set-up. In our tests transition lags were very minimal and forgettable. You’ll definitely still notice it but it’s not too distracting enough to be considered a deal-breaker.

On Antutu, the MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini scored over 15,000 which is standard for a lot of devices running the MediaTek Turbo Quad-core Chipset.

MyPhone Iceberg Mini n

In real world use, this smartphone can handle pretty much everything and anything you can throw at it. On the gaming front we tried our usual graphics intensive titles like Dead Trigger 2 and Zombie Land. Admittedly there was a bit of waiting in the loading time but when the app fired up there was not noticeable lag. As we mentioned earlier, the great display made the over-all gaming experience much better since the graphics, colors, and animations all looked superb! Killing zombies is awesome when you’re in HD (or full HD), hehe.

MyPhone Iceberg Mini f

Suffice to say we had no problems with other apps since the device could handle the more graphics and memory intensive titles already. Usual suspects like Twitter, Facebook, Instragram, FlipBOard, Unbox, Sulit, BPI, Chrome, and YouTube all loaded fast and rarely lagged. We did find ourselves watching a lot of YouTube videos on this phone though thanks to the good sized 5.0-inch screen and the fantastic display quality.

MyPhone Iceberg Mini m

MyPhone Iceberg Mini k

So there you have it. The MyPhone Agua Iceberg Mini is a real trooper. It can deliver competitive performance in an all-metal body with a full HD 5.0-inch display with IPS and OGS. Two thumbs up so far!

Camera: Could Use Improvements

Unfortunately something had to give and in this case it was the camera! It can take decent photos but it definitely suffers the white washout issue which we’ve seen in the MyPhone Iceberg and even the MyPhone Vortex. This is definitely frustrating since it would have been a near-flawless flagship if they were able to nail this properly. It also takes a while before the camera focuses. :/

Here are some sample shots for your reference:

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IMG_20140118_143335

IMG_20140118_143415

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IMG_20140118_143429

Truth be told these pictures are easy to fix using post-production tools. You just have to play around with the colors to make them pop out more and that’s very doable. However it would have been ideal that the color reproduction was already spot on at the get-go.

Respectable Battery Life

We were initially worried that the full HD display and the turbo quad-core processor would burn down the 2,000mAh battery fast. If you manage your usage properly though you can get a decent amount of time with the Iceberg Mini. In our tests we had brightness down to 20%-30% and we only turned on 3G/HSPA+ when we needed it. The result? With heavy usage we got around 7-8 hours. With light-medium we went all the way up to 12-15 hours. Not bad really.

Verdict: Best Smartphone MyPhone Has Shipped So Far

MyPhone Iceberg Mini l

The MyPhone Iceberg Mini is one of the best handsets MyPhone has shipped so far. It completes the tri-fecta together with the Vortex and the Iceberg since all of them have very similar hardware characteristics. Just like the other two we have a classy and elegant form factor combined with a stunning display and even more powerful internals. It’s a solid contender but just be mindful of the two issues we’ve spotted: non-expandable storage and average camera.

Two thumbs up MyPhone!

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