Local smartphone brand Firefly Mobile (not related to the company making light bulbs) made headlines last month for importing the Ulefone Be Pro from China and renaming it to be the Intense 64 LTE, obviously a 64-bit smartphone touted to have monster specs and LTE connectivity at a sub-Php8k price. We happened to spot a demo unit on one of their mobile kiosks in the metro, and here’s our take on first look.
The Intensity 64 LTE is a 5.5-inch device sporting a 2800mAh battery, and its size and weight evidently shows in its iteration. It’s huge to hold in one hand, and a small amount of heft can be easily noticed. To give you an idea of where’s which, the front camera, call speaker, and capacitive buttons are placed at the front. The keys do not have backlight, apparently, so it might be hard for some to use it in dark environments.
Both the MicroUSB port and 3.5mm audio port lay atop the device, while the volume rockers and power/lock button are on opposite sides of the device on the left and right, respectively. The phone’s edges are emblazoned on an aluminum accent, and it is a nice touch to look at on a rather monotonous-looking device, giving it a classic look and feel.
At the back of the phone are the 13MP rear shooter placed in the top-middle part, with the LED Flash situated underneath. The speaker is on the nearest low-end part. The back plate, done in a black matte finish, looks really good, and the logo is not seen to be an eyesore and rather complements the overall aesthetic. The back plate, however, is susceptible to fingerprints and smudges, as seen in the photo. We also have to note that the camera is quite protruding out of the overall phone borders, and may be affected once placed on an evenly-flat surface.
The display, to say the least, was okay. The Intense 64 LTE comes with a 5.5-inch IPS OGS panel, which unfortunately has an HD resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. The screen resolution isn’t bad but it’s quite evident for a device with a screen size this huge. Nevertheless, the device manages to produce high brightness levels, which can be seen as an indicator that it’ll be legible to use outdoors. The contrast is good, but could have been better. Colors may end up as being too weak for some, but is generally good in this aspect.
We also have to note that the Firefly Mobile handset that we saw sports Android KitKat, compared to its Chinese counterpart that comes with Android Lollipop right out of the box. That being said, we might see an upgrade from the local brand soon.
Firefly Mobile Intense 64 LTE specs
- 5.5-inch IPS HD display, 1280 x 720, 267ppi
- One-Glass Solution with Asahi Dragontrail Glass
- 64-bit 1.5GHz Mediatek MTK6732 quad-core chip
- ARM Mali-T760 GPU
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage
- Expandable via MicroSD up to 64GB
- 13MP BSI, AF rear camera w/ LED flash
- 8MP BSI front camera
- Dual-SIM (Standard + Micro), Dual Standby
- 4G LTE FDD, 3G HSPA+
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
- USB OTG
- Android 4.4 KitKat, upgradeable to 5.0 Lollipop
- 2800mAh removable battery
Is this a bang-for-the-buck smartphone that’s not to be taken for granted? The Firefly Mobile Intense 64 LTE retails for Php 7,999 and comes with an additional back cover, a smartphone case, two screen protectors, and an additional basic phone.