We unbox Starmobile’s Up!

Starmobile’s newest smartphone, the Up, has finally arrived in the Unbox HQ, and today we’ll be unboxing it for you guys. It’s kind of obvious that Starmobile released the Up to go up against MyPhone’s Rio and Cherry Mobile’s Omega Spectrum, though the Up may have a bit of an uphill struggle since its main rivals in the sub 5K, quad-core segment has been in market for a while now (in the case of the Rio, it has been enjoying brisk sales for 4 months).

Starmobile Up specs

• 1.3Ghz quad-core MediaTek MT6582M processor
• Mali 400MP- 2 GPU
• 1GB of RAM
• 5-inch scratch resistant FWVGA IPS display, 854×480 resolution
• 4GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 32GB
• 8-megapixel BSI rear camera with flash and AF
• 2-megapixel front camera with BSI
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, OTG
• Dual-SIM
• 3G, HSPA+
• 2000mAh battery
• Android 4.4 KitKat
• 146 x 73 x 9.99mm
• Php 4,990

Packaging and contents

We were surprised to find out that the Up ships in a box that had brown accents unlike a previous Starmobile smartphone that we recently unboxed, the Quest, which had green accents. Since Starmobile likes to keep the boxes of their products more or less uniform, it may be their way of letting consumers know what OS the smartphones ship with (green for Android 4.3, brown for Android 4.4) though we’re only guessing at this point.

Aside from the phone and regular stuff like the charger, nice looking in-ear headphones and USB cable, Starmobile has actually included freebies in the box: a nice, solid looking flip cover as well as a USB OTG cable. The flip cover is actually pretty decent, and has a little window on the front that allows you to check the time without opening your phone. Good job there Starmobile.

Initial Impressions: feels like an up-sized Play

When we first saw the device, one thought immediately went through our heads: “that looks like an oversized Play”.

The Up shares a lot of design similarities with their sub 3K Play, including the pattern on the plastic back and the metallic accents on the side. At around 9.9mm thick, the Up is quite substantial, though it doesn’t really feel too big or chunky.

The pattern on the back of the Up  make the device quite grippy, and make the device easier to hold.

Button layout is a bit of a departure from other 5-inch smartphones, with the power button located on the left side while the volume rocker is located on the right. The 3.5mm jack and the USB port are where you’d expect them to be (top and bottom respectively).

The placement of the power button on the left side make it harder (but not impossible) for you to press it with the flip cover on as it covers it entirely. The 8-megapixel camera with BSI is located on the back, near the top with the LED flash right below it.

The Up uses capacitive Android navigation keys located at the bottom of the bezel that light up when you use them.

The display of the Up is a little disappointing, especially when compared to the competition. It’s a 5-inch, FWVGA IPS display, with a resolution of only 854×480. It’s quite a downgrade, especially compared to the HD displays of its competitors.

We understand that Starmobile needed to sacrifice a few things to get the price down to less than 5K, but they could have gone down to qHD instead of FWVGA. The good news is that it has a scratch resistant display, though it’s not Asahi Dragon Trail glass.

One possible upside to the less than stellar resolution is that the 1.3Ghz quad-core MediaTek MT6582M processor isn’t taxed as much compared to a higher resolution display. Compared to the Rio, the Up scores roughly 2,000 points more in AnTuTu, which is quite a gap all things considered.

The Up is also equipped with KitKat, which puts it above the two devices of its competitors (the Rio and Omega Spectrum are both Android 4.2, though the Spectrum can be updated manually to Android 4.4).

The advertised double-tap to wake feature of the Up (ala LG G2) also works like a charm.

That’s it for this unboxing! Watch out for the review of the Up later on.