Starmobile Crystal: Initial Review and Unboxing

Starmobile Crystal: Initial Review and Unboxing

Review: Starmobile Crystal
Review: Starmobile Crystal

Unboxing and Initial Review of the Starmobile Crystal

The Starmobile Crystal is the newest dual-core, dual-SIM Android ICS smartphone that succeeded the Starmobile Crystal. This new device banners a much better 4.5-inch capacitive touchscreen with QHD resolution (960×540). The bigger surface combined with the better over-all quality of the display results to much better experience with the Crystal (compared to a lot of other smartphones in this price segment). It also helps a lot that getting the Crystal won’t break the bank since it’s very affordable at just Php7,990. We were able to get a unit and we’d like to share with you our initial review and unboxing experience!

Starmobile Crystal Spec Sheet

  • 1GHz Dual-core MTK 6577 Processor
  • PowerVR SGX531 Graphics Card
  • 512MB RAM
  • 4GB Internal Storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD
  • 2G/3G/HSDPA/WiFi/GPS/Bluetooth
  • 8.0-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and backside illumination
  • 2.0-megapixel front-facing camera
  • Dual Sim, Dual Standby
  • 4.5-inch IPS Capacitive Touchscreen, qHD Pixel Resolution (960×540)
  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • 1700mAh Battery

Starmobile Crystal Unboxing Video

Just like our previous unboxing articles we decided to do a quick video of our actual unboxing of the Starmobile Crystal. Watch it below! You’ll get a better feel of the phone as well as find out what stuff is indie the box.

Initial Impressions: Competitive Screen, Android ICS works well, and nice form factor

Definitely one of the best looking local branded smartphones
Definitely one of the best looking local branded smartphones

We’ve seen a lot of locally branded smartphones in the last few months but we can say without a doubt that the Starmobile Crystal is one of the best looking ones among the bunch. It’s not a blatant rip-off of international handsets but it still manages to present a very clean, minimalist, and slim design. When it comes to the materials of the body, the Crystal ditches the matte-like finish of the Astra and goes for plastic. This isn’t really a big issue though since they’ve managed to make it lightweight and sezzy.

All the usual ports and buttons are there: power lock, volume rocker, headphone jack, and the micro USB port. At the front on top of the display is the 2-megapixel front-facing camera. This is an upgrade since most smartphones just have a VGA cam for the front. At the back you’ll find the 8-megapixel shooter and we’ve been told by Starmobile that this is supposed to have better optics than the Astra. We will put this claim to the test in our full review.

Not thick at all! Good job Starmobile!
Not thick at all! Good job Starmobile!

The backplate is removable and you’ll find the 1,700mAh battery there. There are two SIM slots and a micro SD slot as well. Thank God they upgraded the battery a bit. 1,700 is better than 1,500 so yay. 😛

It’s also good to note that Android 4.0 works quite well on the Crystal. Transitions and animations are smooth. Games run okay but we’ve only downloaded casual titles so far. We’ll try NBA and Dead Trigger for the review later on.

Loving the freebies: Silicone Bumper Type Case and Screen Protector

Silicone "bumper" type case
Silicone “bumper” type case

We were pleasantly surprised to find a few freebies in the box when we opened the Starmobile Crystal. Already packed inside is a silicone bumper-type case which you can use to protect the sides of your phone. Starmobile also threw in a free screen protector (yay) so that you don’t have to buy one. This is definitely well appreciated. Pogi points to Starmobile for this! 🙂

Impressed and excited to test!

As far as initial impressions go, the Starmobile Crystal passes with flying colors! We’re excited to put this baby through the paces so we can confirm that this is indeed a great buy. So far though we’re psyched with it so please do watch out for the full review next week.

The Starmobile Crystal is already available in Starmobile kiosks nationwide. SRP is Php7,990.

If you want more information, visit the Starmobile Facebook Page here.

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