SKK Mobile Platinum Initial Review: 5-inch HD Quad-core with 16GB expandable storage

SKK Mobile Platinum Initial Review: 5-inch HD Quad-core with 16GB expandable storage

Time to unbox the flagship of SKK Mobile!
Time to unbox the flagship of SKK Mobile!

Bang for your buck 5.0-inch Smartphone?

Competitively priced at just Php9,999, the SKK Mobile Platinum delivers a lot of the specifications and features that we saw with the flagships of other local brands that are priced beyond Php11,000. The price play is crucial for SKK Mobile since they’re entering a local brand market dominated already by established brands like Cherry Mobile, MyPhone, and quite recently Star Mobile. We were able to get a review unit and we’ve been playing with it for the last few days and it’s a pretty good device considering the price tag.

Here’s the full spec sheet:

SKK Mobile Platinum Spec Sheet

  • 1.2GHz quad-core MT6589 processor
  • PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU
  • 1GB RAM
  • 16GB internal memory, expandable via microSD card
  • 5-inch HD (1280×720) Capacitive display, 294 pixels per inch
  • 13.0-megapixel main autofocus camera
  • 8.0-megapixel front camera
  • 3G, HSPA+. WiFi, WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
  • Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
  • Dual-SIM, Dual Standby
  • 1800mAh Li-Ion Battery

As you can see the winning combination here includes the quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 13-8MP camera set-up, and the 16GB internal storage that you can expand even more with a microSD card. However the biggest drawback based on this sheet is the 1,800mAh battery. We’ll put that to the test in our full review. For now we’d like to share with you guys our unboxing and initial impressions! As usual we asked some help from our friends. Joining us are Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. 😛

Packaging: The Big Blue

It's so pretty Poison Ivy wants it all for herself! Hehe
It’s so pretty Poison Ivy wants it all for herself! Hehe

The SKK Mobile Platinum came in a big blue solid carton box. We saw the usual product hero shot up front with violators talking up the main features. At the back we found the technical specifications. The light blue packaging was actually refreshing for us since we’ve seen a non-stop surge of white, black, and violet boxes in the last few months. Never thought that a light blue box would be so light in the eyes when it comes to gadgets, hehe.

Unboxing was straightforward as usual. We removed the tape at the bottom, popped open the top lid, and the SKK Mobile Platinum wrapped in plastic greeted us in all of it’s glory.

Poison Ivy: Wow. Pretty.
Poison Ivy: Wow. Pretty.

We picked up the phone and peeled off the dual plastic protectors. Out of all the local branded phones we’ve seen, this is probably among the top 5 in the “best looks” department. We loved the red accent which we found on the receiver, camera ring, and the capacitive buttons. The aesthetics and the build actually reminded us a lot of HTC.

Other than the phone we also found the usual peripherals inside including the earphones, screen protector, manuals, wall charger, USB to micro USB, and certificates. An added treat though was a pink case which even had protector plugs for the micro USB and audio ports.

Poison Ivy can sit there all day and marvel at the SKK Mobile Platinum...
Poison Ivy can sit there all day and marvel at the SKK Mobile Platinum…
But Harley wants it more! Rawr! Baseball bat FTW
But Harley wants it more! Rawr! Baseball bat FTW

Software and Hardware: Initial Impressions

There’s one painfully obvious thing you’ll notice with the SKK Mobile Platinum. It has a lot of similarities to the custom UI of Samsung, TouchWiz. It begins with the lock screen. They used the same “Life Companion” tagline and the same sun rays effect (with sounds) when swiping to unlock. The icons also look a whole lot like the default Samsung icons.

Very Samsung
Very Samsung

In our initial tests the software ran quite well. We barely encountered any lags or delays even if we switched to a live wallpaper and started putting in a bunch of active widgets on the home screen. Apps still loaded quickly and we were able to multi-task and switch in between apps with no real problem.

What the back looks like
What the back looks like

On the hardware side we have no real issues with the plastic build and chassis. It’s nice that they included a case but the pink and white color scheme might be more for the ladies. Men won’t probably use it unless they like pink. We ended up having it on the phone though as while we were playing around with it the phone slipped from our hand and feel to the concrete floor. Fortunately we had the case on and we prevented any serious damage to the unit, hehe.

Harley tests how durable the case really is.
Harley tests how durable the case really is.

We’ll do the usual tests once we start working on the full review so watch out for that one!

Initial Verdict: Lots of Potential, Will Watch Out for Battery Life

Harley gets knocked out by... Harley! Whut
Harley gets knocked out by… Harley! Whut

As far as initial impressions go we’re very satisfied with the performance and build of the SKK Mobile Platinum. We’re just really wary about the battery life since it just has 1,800mAh. We’ll put this to the test this week though as we use it as one of our daily drivers. Hopefully it will last at least 7 hours average with moderate-heavy use. That will make it “recommendable”.

If you wanna know more about SKK Mobile, check out their Facebook Page here.

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