It’s been almost a month since electronics company Happy Man Philippines launched their flagship phone the Starmobile Octa, as well as several cool tablets, at the Satin Room of Seda Hotel at The Fort in Taguig City.
And from all the comments I’ve read from all the credible tech websites it seems that the company has generated quite a buzz for its latest smartphone, so kudos to the marketing team.
It was first time I’ve attended a StarMobile event, and to tell you the truth, I wasn’t too interested with their products although I’ve been hearing a lot of good stuff about it simply because I’m not much of a fan of their endorser Vice Ganda. Yeah, I know it’s quite petty and biased, but I just think the brand deserves a lot better.
But that’s another topic.
Now, I haven’t gotten the chance to test out the Octa, except for a few minutes during the launch event, but I’d say it’s a pretty impressive smartphone that is definitely worth considering if you’re planning to get a new phone.
The demo unit we played around with was the red one, and Mr. Elijah Mendoza, Starmobile’s Product Manager, said they chose Red over the normal Black/White variants because it represented the power packed features of the OCTA.
The color alone made me an instant fan 🙂 but that isn’t the only thing that makes the OCTA immediately stand out. It flaunts a very svelte and elegant design highlighted by an aluminium front plate that encases its 5-inch Full HD One Glass Solution (OGS) IPS display underneath the scratch resistant Asahi Dragontrail glass.
The Octa reminded us of the gorgeous HTC One and that alone says a lot about the design choice of this very competitive young local company.
According to Starmobile CEO Joey Uy, they really wanted to show Pinoy consumers that a local company can come up with products that can compete with that of international giants in terms of looks, features, and internal specifications.
He adds that the Octa’s front aluminium frame was crafted using the very precise CNC technology.
Beyond its cool exterior the Octa packs even cooler specs, powered by an Octa Core 1.7 GHz ARM Cortex A7 CPU and 700 MHz Mali 450 MP4 GPU based MediaTek MT6592 chipset and 2 GB of RAM for efficient multitasking.
It runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system with a large 32 GB (non-expandable) internal storage.
Starmobile has gotten a good reputation for its phone cameras and that proves true with the Octa’s 18 MegaPixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash and BSI sensor for improved low light performance and for those who love taking selfies you’ll be more than happy with its 8 Megapixel front cam with wide angle lens, BSI sensor, and LED flash. Yup a front cam with Flash!(just like the Starmobile Muse)
It has a non-removable Li-Ion 2,300 mAh battery pack that’s said to deliver around 10 hours of TalkTime and 10 days of Standby.
For connectivity, the Octa supports WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G HSPA+, NFC, Miracast, USB-On-The-Go, and MHL. You can also connect the Octa to a larger TV display via a Mobile High-Definition Link or MHL cable.:
Finally it boasts of two more premium features: NFC and wireless charging. NFC allows you to connect to other NFC enabled devices such as speakers, tablets, and other smartphones just by touching or tapping the device together. It is a feature you can only find on premium smart phones.
The Octa also supports wireless charging so all you need to do is simply put it on top of the charging plate to get some juice back, again it is a feature found only on high-end smartphones.
The Octa is now available at all Starmobile Concept Stores and Kiosks for Php 16,990 and includes a free battery charger with Bluetooth speaker, valued at around Php 3,000.
Now this is where much of the debates come in. Is the Octa worth PhP 16,990?
Some have been questioning the brand itself as the Octa is its highest priced phone to date, while there are those who claim that it is too expensive for its target market.
We Filipinos have this thinking that premium quality has its price, unfortunately we also seem to have a bias that only foreign companies can put a high price tag on its items. So while the Octa comes with specs and top of the line features, there are those who feel that just because Starmobile is a local company it couldn’t put a tag price that rivals those of other mobile companies.
Question is, if StarMobile had priced the OCTA relatively lower, wouldn’t these same critics question its quality and durability because of its cheaper price?
I suggest you head of to the StarMobile store nearest you and try the OCTA for yourself, and I’m pretty sure this phone will be among your choices for your next phone purchase.
Also check out these other gadgets from Starmobile:
