Unboxing the Starmobile Engage 7-inch Android Tablet

Unboxing the Starmobile Engage 7-inch Android Tablet

Meet the Starmobile Engage!

Unboxed: Starmobile Engage

Starmobile, a relatively new mobile device manufacturer here in the Philippines, stepped up their game by offering Android-powered devices. Their first offering, the Starmobile Engage, is a 7-inch Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Tablet packed with a 1.2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. The specs aren’t what you usually find in tablets that sell for less than Php6,000 right?

Starmobile sent us a review unit to play around with and we plan to put this through the paces this weekend and hopefully come out with a full review early next week. For now we’d like to share our initial impressions as well as the unboxing experience.

Starmobile Engage Spec Sheet

  • 1.2GHz A10 Cortex A8 CPU
  • 1GB RAM
  • 5GB Internal Memory, Expandable via microSD to 32GB
  • 7-inch Capacitive Multi Touch Display, 800×480 pixel resolution
  • 3-megapixel rear facing camera
  • 0.3-megapixel front facing camera
  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • Supports 3.5G USB Modem (has a USB slot)
  • 3000mAh Battery

Best packaging in its category?

The Starmobile Engage comes in a simple printed carton box but the manufacturers (or marketers) definitely knew what to highlight especially since this device is more for late adaptors of tablet technology. They prominently displayed the social networking icons and even the main character from Temple Run to make it appeal to a wider market base. The features are clearly illustrated via icons at the bottom of the box and the rest of the product information is the back. When it comes to the packaging, the Engage definitely trumps the current budget-friendly tablet champ, the Haipad.

Hello there sezzy!

When you open the box the first thing that will greet you is the tablet wrapped in plastic. The Engage definitely looks amazing! The back is smooth to touch thanks to the black matte finish. The Starmobile logo is proudly displayed just below the screen at the front (on the bezel). All of the ports can be found neatly at the bottom. You can also do video conferencing with it since it has a front-facing camera and a 3.0-megapixel rear-facing camera for taking pictures on the go (not really good quality though but hey this is a budget-friendly device).

My only complaint with the design is how the back tapers upwards which results to the corners being a bit sharp. It felt uncomfortable holding it in landscape after a while. See the photo above and notice that the back curves upwards starting from the center moving up to the front of the tablet.

The earphones, micro-USB to USB cable, and wall charger are stored in a compartment in the lower part of the box.

So how good is it?

Initially it was frustrating because the screen felt non-responsive. However I eventually realized (lol) that there was some sort of plastic covering the screen. I took it out and it became much better. It still lags every now and then especially when you have a lot of widgets working while you have a live wallpaper on. For the most part though it delivers all the core functions well: social networking, browsing, media player, e-mail, and casual games.

We’ll have more information and reports once we do the full review.

Pricing and Availability

I’m not sure exactly where this is available but the SRP is just Php5,990, making it ideal for students and people who just want to try out Android tablets for the first time.

If you have questions you might want to visit the Starmobile Facebook Page. The admin usually responds within 24 hours.

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