We review Myphone’s my35!

As we found out in our my36 review a few weeks ago, local brand MyPhone has had a change of heart late last year. The company has decided to go back to its roots, back to the things that earned them legions of fans when they first started all those years ago. The result is their new, unified my series of smartphones, headlined by both the my36 and the my35. Today we’re reviewing the company’s my35, which promises to bring hi-fidelity sound to the masses.

MyPhone my35 specs:

• 1.3GHz 64-bit octa-core processor
• 3GB of RAM
• 5-inch HD IPS display, 1280 x 720 resolution
• 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD
• 13-megapixel rear camera, Samsung sensor, phase detection AF, LED flash
• 5-megapixel front camera
• Dual-SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, Hi-fi audio
• Android 5.1 Lollipop
• 3140mAh battery

Another good looking smartphone with a removable back

MyPhone managed to score big in the design department with the my36, and they’re continuing that streak with the my35. The phone sports gentler curves and a gloss plastic back instead of a faux leather one found on the my36. The frame of the phone uses a pearlescent grey plastic finish.

The front of the my35 is dominated by the 5-inch IPS display, downgraded to HD from full HD in the my36. In truth the resolution isn’t that big of a deal, considering the 5-inch screen size of the phone which mitigates the effects of a lower resolution display. Right below the display is the big round physical home button, with the back and recent apps button lighting up whenever you press it and disappearing a few seconds after.

The power button is on the right side while the volume rocker is on the left. The 3.5mm jack and USB port is on the top of the phone.

Moving onto the back of the my35, you’ll see the gloss back cover that’s dominated by the Philippine map. Like with the my36, the sight of our country’s image might not entice buyers to the phone but if it offends you so much you can just buy a jelly case and cover it up. Truth be told, it looks perfectly fine to us.

Like we said the back is removable, and once you take it off you reveal the non-removable battery, two SIM and microSD card slot. On the upper left side of the phone is the 13-megapixel camera which uses a Samsung sensor, phase detection AF and is paired with an LED flash.

The 5-inch HD display does a good job, and is more accurate in displaying colors compared to the my36. The my36’s display has a reddish tinge, while the my35 has a more neutral (if less vibrant) display. Like we said earlier the smaller size of the display makes the HD resolution downgrade from the my36 less apparent. The display has good viewing angles all around.

Hardware won’t surprise you, but it’s good enough for most people

Like the my36, the my35 uses MediaTek’s MT6753 octa-core processor, paired with 3GB of RAM. As far as benchmarks go, there’s no surprises here – the phone can handle most games and apps without any problems, though more graphically intense games will stutter here and there.

One thing that we like about the my35 is that it doesn’t use a custom UI overlay, unlike the my36. The interface may not look it, but the my35 uses an almost standard Android UI layout, utilizing an app drawer.

The biggest appeal of the my35 over the my36, on paper at least, is its Hi-Fi capability. Now MyPhone did not specify what hi-fi chip is in the my35, so we’re not exactly sure what powers the hi-fi capability of the phone.

Does it work? Well, kind of – we did notice slightly cleaner audio while playing Lil’ Dicky’s Save Dat Money though we were a little disappointed with the volume output. Using our Bose desktop speakers, we didn’t hear a big difference in the audio quality between the two phones – in fact, we noticed that the my36 has a higher volume output compared to the my35 without too much difference in quality.

Call quality with the phone was good and we didn’t experience any dropped calls while we were reviewing the device.

Good camera quality all around

The my35 has a 13-megapixel rear camera with phase detection AF and and LED flash. Photos taken with the camera are clear with good definition, and truth be told they’re good enough to be uploaded to your social network of choice.

 

While the my35 does have a number of shooting modes to choose from, it lacks the manual shooting mode that the my36 has.

Better battery life than the my36

The my35 has a 3140mAh battery which is slightly higher than its bigger brother. Coupled with a more power-efficient HD display, the my35 scored a PCMark battery benchmark run time of around 7 hours and 45 minutes. That translates to roughly around a day of full use with heavy and moderate usage. You can probably stretch that out a little more if you keep an eye on what you’re doing the entire day.

Verdict: A nicer looking phone than the my36, but our bet is on its bigger brother

The my35 is a nice little phone on its own. It’s small, compact and relatively powerful, and has the legs to keep on going for one whole day without being charged. That being said, we think that you’d be better served if you bought the my36, since the vaunted hi-fi feature of the my35 is a little lacking. Since both phones are priced pretty closely with just Php 100 seperating them (the my35 is Php 6,888 and the my36 is Php 6,999) the my36 is a better deal in almost all regards.