Starmobile Bright Initial Review: Light, Compact, Affordable, Gingerbread

Starmobile Bright Initial Review: Light, Compact, Affordable, Gingerbread

King Pig with the Starmobile Bright
King Pig with the Starmobile Bright

Initial Impressions of the Starmobile Bright

The Starmobile Bright is the “bunso” of the Android smartphone offerings of Starmobile. Priced at Php4,700, Starmobile positioned the Bright as their entry-level smartphone device. When you compare the specifications to the entry level models offered by international brands, the Bright is a runaway winner. Our only major misgiving really with this phone is that it still runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. Anyway, we were able to play around with the phone for a couple of hours over the weekend so we’ll give you a quick hands-on as well as our initial impressions. Before that though let’s do a rundown on what’s under the hood of the Starmobile Bright.

Starmobile Bright Spec Sheet

  • 1GHz Processor, Adreno 200 GPU
  • 4GB Internal Storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD Card
  • 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen, 320×480 resolution
  • 3-megapixel rear-facing camera
  • VGA front-facing camera
  • Dual SIM, Dual-Standby
  • Bluetooth/WiFi/3G
  • 1,500mAh battery
  • Android 2.3 Gingerbread
  • Price: Php4,700

SEE ALSO: Starmobile Astra Review – One of the Best Android Smartphones Under 10k
 

Looks like an Astra Jr.

When we first held the Bright in our hands it immediately reminded us of its older brother, the Starmobile Astra. Both devices have almost the same make as well as feel. You get the smooth and sleek back plate and the mostly glass treatment for the front. The Starmobile logo is also located at the back of the device (same with the Astra). The only difference, other than the specs, is the smaller screen. However don’t think for a second that this has a tiny display like what other entry-level phones offer like the Galaxy Y. The 3.5-inch screen of the Bright is almost the same size as that of an iPhone 4/4S.

starmobile bright review

starmobile bright reviews

starmobile bright unboxing

All the standard Android buttons and ports are there: volume rocker, headphone jack, microUSB port, and sleep/wake/power. The 3-megapixel camera is at the back but also note that the Starmobile Bright, unlike a lot of other entry level phones, also has a front-facing camera. It may note take the most amazing pics but it will get the job done if you want to do some Skype video calls.

Over-all the Starmobile Bright has the pleasant design aesthetics of the Astra which we liked so there’s nothing really bad to say about the hardware side of things.

Why Gingerbread? Huhuhu!

As mentioned earlier, our only major gripe is really the software. Starmobile went with Android 2.3 Gingerbread which is actually understandable since this is an entry level device. However everything changed due to the entry of another entry level device by one of their competitors that has a dual-core processor and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. That’s for another discussion though.

So what’s our main issue with Gingerbread? Well if you’re not going to run a lot of apps and you’re not going to use live wallpapers, then it’s perfect for your needs. However doing stuff more than Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, SMS, calls, and light casual games will slow/bog down the device. For an optimal user experience with the Bright we recommend that you guys skip the live wallpapers and always manage the memory and apps running in the background.

starmobile bright philippines

Yes? No? Maybe?

If you absolutely need a device asap and you only have around Php5,000, then you might want to get a Starmobile Bright. However if you are in no rush, then we strongly recommend you save up Php2,000 more and go straight for the Starmobile Astra. If you can add Php3,000 then go for the Starmobile Crystal.

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