With the announcement, Starmobile joins other local smartphone brands like Cherry Mobile, CloudFone, and Firefly Mobile that are making the once-premium feature available to the masses. Of course, they are not alone; many other industry players, particularly those based in China, are arming their mobile devices with fingerprinting technology, and more.
But most of them don’t sell for less than $100 (approximately P4,800), and fewer have the aesthetic touch that reminds us a bit of the newer iPhones when viewed from the front. The back of the Starmobile UP Sense is more Huawei than Apple, with an 8-megapixel camera on the upper-middle part of the panel. The phone features a 5-inch, curved-edge screen; a quad-core MediaTek system-on-a-chip with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage; a 2-megapixel selfie camera; a 2,500mAh battery; and Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
None of those specs stand out, but the price may just be low enough to give the UP Sense leverage over the competition. The phone will go for P4,290 when it hits shelves — in gray, gold, and rose gold — next week.
Another look at the Starmobile UP Sense
Specs of the Starmobile UP Sense (Price: P4,290):
- 5-inch, 720p IPS display with 2.5D glass
- 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6580 CPU
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB internal storage
- microSD card slot (up to 32GB)
- 8-megapixel rear camera with flash
- 2-megapixel front camera
- Fingerprint sensor
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
MY TAKE: The Starmobile UP Sense is kind of a tough sell considering faster phones like the midrange-specced Flash Plus 2 can be had for P2,000 more. Ask yourself whether you really need a phone with fingerprint ID; if the answer is no, it’s time to reassess your options. But if you really want a sub-$100 phone with added security, then at least you’re not paying a lot for the UP Sense.
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