(UPDATE, June 19: According to Cherry Mobile, the Cosmos S2 is now available in Cherry Mobile kiosks and stores.) As if you didn’t know already, things are heating up in the local mobile space in 2015, largely because of competition from Chinese brands like Lenovo, Honor, and Oppo that are making a strong push in the mid-range market. Homegrown players MyPhone and Starmobile have already responded to this year’s wave of low-cost, high-performance smartphones from the Far East by releasing their own iterations of bargain blowers running the Android operating system. The Cherry Mobile Cosmos S2 checks many of the same …
LG G4 is official in PH, price starts at P31,990
Just a month after LG hosted multiple launch events to make its biggest tech announcement of the year, LG Philippines has taken the wraps off its flagship-phone contender for 2015. Say hello (again) to the LG G4. It’s a memorable device — and I mean that in the best way possible. Perhaps memorable enough to give its fiercest Korean rival (read: the Samsung Galaxy S6) a run for its money. If you haven’t read our primer about the G4, here’s what to expect from LG’s most advanced smartphone to date: a choice between plastic and leather back covers that can …
Starmobile Knight Luxe: A looker of a phone for P7,690
It appears MyPhone isn’t the only local brand with a budget phone that features an emphasis on design. Starmobile has also shown an eye for beauty, as manifested in the Knight Luxe and its 6.85mm-thick, all-metal frame with chamfered edges reminiscent of Samsung’s series of Galaxy A phones. Under the hood, you’re looking at an octa-core MediaTek processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage underneath a removable and textured back cover made of plastic. Other specs include 13- and 5-megapixel rear and selfie cameras, a 2,050mAh battery, and Android KitKat 4.4. The Starmobile Knight Luxe comes in a …
SKK Mobile says ‘size matters,’ outs 5.5-inch Aura
SKK Mobile is out to prove that size matters with its latest entry-level handset. The SKK Mobile Aura is an Android KitKat phone with a big, 5.5-inch IPS display and an even bigger appetite for pleasing design purists, no thanks in large part to a polycarbonate body that could easily be mistaken for a metal construction. The Aura’s resolution maxes out at 540 x 960 pixels, which is no surprise given its price point. The phone runs on a quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz and armed with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage that can be bolstered up to …
MyPhone refreshes Infinity phone line for 2015
Homegrown tech company MyPhone has refreshed its line of Infinity smartphones, dropping three new Android KitKat models with decent specs and affordable price tags. Leading the way is the MyPhone Infinity 2, a mid-ranger that bears premium design elements, such as a metal back that curves softly around the sides, to go with an octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. At the lower end of the spectrum are the MyPhone Infinity 2 Lite and Infinity LTE, which take aim at bargain hunters who want some of the features of the higher-end Infinity but don’t want to pay its full price. The …
Faceoff: ASUS Zenfone 2, Alcatel Flash Plus, Lenovo A7000, Meizu M1 Note, Honor 4x
Now that ASUS has at last revealed the local pricing for the Zenfone 2, it’s time to step back and take a deliberate look at the top phones in the value-for-money rankings. And what better way to do that than to lay out all the details around the Zenfone 2 and its competition in chart format. Here’s how the devices stack up against one another. (A quick side note: The phones listed here have all been announced in the Philippines and are either already available in stores or on track for release this month.) [frame src=”https://www.revu.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ASUS-Zenfone-2-Honor-4X-Lenovo-A7000-comparison-chart.jpg” target=”_self” width=”620″ height=”412″ alt=”Premium …
Review: Lenovo A7000
The mobile business is a ruthless one, known for leaving giants on their knees, desperate and willing to bend their principles to avoid the possibility of extinction. Just ask Nokia, BlackBerry, Sony, and HTC. And it has only grown more cutthroat with time. It’s no surprise, then, that more and more phone makers are thinking outside the box on how to market their products, often turning to e-commerce platforms to increase their profit margins and lower operating costs.
Lenovo A7000 to go on sale on Lazada PH May 21
Hands up if you’ve heard of the ASUS Zenfone 2, a strong candidate for smartphone of the year if value for money is of utmost importance? Yes, well, it’s about to face some serious challenge from a most likely source in the Far East. Meet the Lenovo A7000, a low-cost challenger in the mold of the Zenfone sequel, with its large HD display and rather beefy specifications, which includes LTE and a rear-mounted speaker that makes use of Dolby Atmos audio settings. The latter is a world first, according to Lenovo. Not that those settings make much of a difference …
Honor 6+, 4X, 4C now official in PH
Honor 6+ Perhaps inspired by Xiaomi’s success in some parts of the world, Huawei has turned its attention to online selling and has formed a sub-brand to tap into the e-commerce boom. And so here we are, talking about the Honor sub-brand, which debuted in the Philippines yesterday alongside a trio of Android smartphones aimed at the cash-strapped crowd. The Honor 4C, 4X, and 6+ all feature above-average specifications for their price points, echoing a trend we’ve seen across the mobile industry. The Honor 4C and 4X list mostly the same specs and functions, though the latter offers a bigger …
Oppo PH outs 3 new phones, hints at R7, R7 Plus
Chinese manufacturer Oppo is, understandably, taking aim at the low- to mid-end segments and has launched three new smartphones in the Philippines, bannered by the R1x, which has a distinctive design under a sapphire-glass rear panel. The 4.5-inch Neo 5 is a low-cost Android phone backed by a quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM, while the 4-inch Joy Plus offers milder specs for less money. But back to the Oppo R1x: As we’ve mentioned in a previous post, it fits a lot of power into a thin-and-light package, running Android KitKat 4.4 on an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor paired …
Low-cost LG Leon, Magna now available in stores
LG has quietly released two new low-cost smartphones in the Philippines that ship with an up-to-date version of Android (in this case, Lollipop) out of the box. Announced back in March, the LG Leon and Magna retail for P5,990 and P10,990, respectively, and represent the South Korean company’s latest attempt at winning the (price) war against domestic brands and Chinese tech startups. Both devices are powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor backed by 1GB of RAM, though the cheaper Leon has fewer attractions, not to mention a smaller, 4.5-inch touch display with fewer pixels. By contrast, the Magna offers 5 inches …
ASUS Zenfone 2 to debut May 16th in PH
Here’s a small dose of good news in the aftermath of the #PacquiaoMayweather non-fight: ASUS Philippines has revealed on its Facebook page the launch date of the widely anticipated Zenfone 2 in the Philippines. The date to remember is May 16, just a week and a half from today. And as we previously reported, the Zenfone sequel’s local debut will coincide with its pricing announcement and release, meaning you can buy it off the shelf on the said date, or a day after. At this point, all that remains in question is how much money you’d have to fork out …
Oppo R1x now official in PH, costs P15,990
Image via Gizmo China Oppo has announced a new mid-range smartphone for the Philippine market, featuring a metal frame and a striking diamond-style pattern on the rear panel underneath a sheet of glass. The Oppo R1x, which retails for P15,990 locally, also crams many high-performance specs in a thin-and-light package. In many ways, it’s similar to the more expensive R5, formerly the thinnest smartphone money can buy, except it’s got more thickness (6.9mm) but less heft (130 grams). Powering the R1x is, coincidentally, the same chip inside the R5: a 64-bit, LTE-ready Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor backed by 2GB of …
Starmobile has an Android Lollipop phone for cheap
Android Lollipop is making its way to more phones and tablets, becoming the operating system of choice among 2015 releases. And right on cue, enter the Starmobile Jump Neo. The affordable, 5-inch smartphone is powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor and has the latest version of Android on tap, plus on-screen navigation keys that’s commonplace for Lollipop-based devices. Also on deck are dual-SIM slots (dual 3G), 5- and 2-megapixel rear and selfie cameras, and a removable battery rated at 2,400mAh. The handset is priced at P4,490, making it cheaper than the MyPhone Rio 2 and Rio 2 Lite. It’s available in …
Review: Xiaomi Redmi 2
A year after the sale of the Redmi 1S, Chinese hardware and software company Xiaomi has released another supposed value-for-money smartphone in the Redmi 2 exclusively through Lazada Philippines. Right now, you can still get it for a mere P5,999 unlocked. In our review of the Redmi 1S on Yahoo, we noted that it’s among the fastest and most capable budget handsets around, though we wouldn’t happily recommend it over discount octa-core Androids that cost the same. It didn’t help that the Redmi incumbent suffered from software-related problems that left us stumped and concerned. And while it has received generally …
LG takes the wraps off the G4
(UPDATE, May 28: The LG G4 is now official in PH. Price starts at P31,990; ships beginning June 3.) After weeks of teasing and countless leaks leading to its launch, it’s finally official: The LG G4, the company’s new deluxe smartphone for 2015, has been announced today here in Singapore and in other parts of the world. Earlier leaks have suggested a big-screen phone that has more in common with the G Flex 2 than the G3, but we didn’t expect to see a slightly curved display, which LG claims improves one-handed usage and screen durability. The rear-facing buttons, as …
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL now official in PH
Microsoft today launched its latest smartphone for the Philippine market — the Lumia 640 XL — a real handful of a device that toes the line between phone and tablet, flaunting a 5.7-inch, 720p IPS screen fronted by Gorilla Glass 3. It’s the company’s most recent attempt at bringing a deluxe smartphone experience to the mid-range market, something we’ve been hearing a lot from phone makers these days. To do that, the Lumia 640 XL relies on a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor running at 1.2GHz, coupled with 1GB of RAM and 13- and 5-megapixel main and secondary cameras. The operating system …
P4,999 Cherry Mobile S3 Octa now available, but…
(UPDATE: We just received a text from Cherry Mobile indicating the correct price of the Flare S3 Octa. It should retail for P4,499, as originally intended. The company has since taken down its erroneous Facebook post.) Cherry Mobile today announced on its Facebook page that its latest octa-core device, the imaginatively named Flare S3 Octa, is already available nationwide for P4,999 P4,499. What the local tech company failed to communicate to us is that the 5-inch Android KitKat phone has already been listed on Lazada Philippines for P500 less than its suggested retail price — with free shipping to boot. As for the hardware itself, the …
Firefly Mobile has a Zenfone 2 challenger for less
There’s a new low-cost, high-performance smartphone in town. Not that the Philippines is short of compelling choices in the sub-P10,000 price point. Meet the Firefly Mobile Intense 64 LTE (Ulefone Be Pro in other regions), a 5.5-inch Android KitKat phone built around MediaTek’s new MT6732 processor that supports 64-bit applications and 4G LTE connections, if your carrier allows it. A self-explanatory name if we ever saw one. (We get it, Firefly Mobile.) The quad-core device is priced at P7,999, squaring it against the ASUS Zenfone 2 and Meizu M1 Note, though the two should easily come out on top in terms …
Xiaomi Mi 4i now official, will retail for P9,000
Image via Android Authority Xiaomi just unveiled the Mi 4i — a discount Mi 4, if you will — in New Delhi, India, where the Chinese tech juggernaut has recently made its products available to leading electronics retailers in an effort to reach more consumers and drive sales. And what better way to announce to the rest of the world that it has embraced the traditional (read: offline) retail model than to launch a new phone to coincide with its backpedaling. A cheaper and watered-down version of the Mi 4, the Mi 4i will retail for 12,999 INR or about P9,000 …