Starmobile Diamond X1 Retail Unit Review: Starmobile’s Greatest Phablet Yet

Starmobile Diamond X1 Retail Unit Review: Starmobile’s Greatest Phablet Yet

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Final Review of the Starmobile Diamond X1

We’ve had the engineering sample of the Starmobile Diamond X1 for a while now, and we’ve comprehensively put it through its paces before. Today, we’ll be reviewing the retail sample of the device, the full fledged retail unit that you’ll pick up from stores for Php 13,990.

Starmobile Diamond X1 Spec Sheet

  • 1.7GHz Octa-core MediaTek Processor
  • 2GB RAM
  • 8GB Internal Storage, Expandable up to 64GB via microSD Card
  • 6.0-inches HD IPS Display, Scratch Resistant Glass
  • 18.0-megapixels primary camera with Autofocus, Flash, and BSI
  • 8.0-megapixels secondary camera with BSI
  • Dual 3G SIM, Dual Standby
  • 3G, HSPA+, WiFi, WiFi Hotspot, GPS, aGPS
  • Yamaha Speakers
  • Android Jelly Bean 4.2
  • 2,300mAh Battery

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Premium, classy design wins over doubters

We just can’t get over the looks people give us when we take the Diamond X1 out of our pocket when we tell them it’s from a local company. The device looks and feels premium, and in our opinion can stand toe-to-toe with other international brands when put side-by-side. The retail unit is built solidly, with no creaks or obvious gaps whatsoever anywhere on it. While it’s big, we wouldn’t call it too unwieldy, though the aluminum back is a bit too slippery for our taste, problem that can be solved by putting on a phone case (hopefully Starmobile comes out with Jelly cases for this soon).

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Another thing we really liked is that while it looks like the Starmobile Diamond X1 uses a unibody aluminum back, that’s not the case. The aluminum back slides out (though with great effort) to reveal the SIM slots, battery and expandable memory slot.

The Starmobile Diamond X1 can handle everything from killing zombies in Dead Trigger 2...
The Starmobile Diamond X1 can handle everything from killing zombies in Dead Trigger 2…

Still blazingly fast

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – the Starmobile Diamond X1 is blazingly, stupidly fast.

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The monstrous 1.7Ghz octa-core processor is able to run everything we threw at it without problems. Tons of zombies in Dead Trigger 2? Pssh. Multiple cars and effects in Table Top Racing? Fuggedaboutit. NBA2k14? Please.

 

...to frustrating you to no end with Flappy Bird. Incidentally, we hate this game with a burning passion.
…to frustrating you to no end with Flappy Bird. Incidentally, we hate this game with a burning passion.

The only time we managed to even slow down the Starmobile Diamond X1 was when we opened an ungodly amount of apps at the same time, and even then there was only minimal lag. In tagalog: halimaw talaga to.

Display isn’t full HD, but that’s ok

We were initially concerned that as big as the Starmobile Diamond X1 is, it only sports an HD IPS display, which would invariably decrease pixel density. While that’s true, you do get used to it afer a while. I use Samsung’s Galaxy S4 as a primary phone before switching to the Starmobile Diamond X1, and while it was a bit jarring at first, I did get used to the slightly lower resolution.

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Great camera, both front and back

It’s no secret that Starmobile’s devices usually have great optics, and the Diamond X1 is no exception.

Tactical selfie! lol
Tactical selfie! lol

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Our EIC Carlo Ople showed the Starmobile Diamond X1’s 18-megapixel camera’s prowess in his initial review, and we’re happy to report that its camera holds up even in low-light and artificial light, two places where traditionally a phone’s camera suffers greatly. We took the shots above inside the National Museum in Manila.

Average battery life

Our battery test results mimic those done by Carlo earlier with the Diamond X1. On heavy use (few hours of gaming, internet use, calls and text) the Starmobile Diamond X1 managed to clock in around 8 hours. More conservative use of the phone managed to get us around 9 to 10 hours on a single charge.

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Verdict: one of the best phablets you can buy today

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 to see our prototype review of the Starmobile Diamond X1

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