Yesterday we finally received a Starmobile Knight Elite for review. Needless to say, we rolled up our sleeves and immediately unboxed it to share with you guys our initial impression of this classy mid-range smartphone.
What’s in the box?
The Starmobile Knight Elite comes in a well-thought out package that appealed to us very much. Instead of an ordinary flip box that we’re used to seeing, this one is more of an inception box (a box within a box). One needs to pull out the box that actually houses all the goodies out from the cover box which has a lengthy literature about the smartphone.
Along with the mandatory set of pre-bundled accessories, which include a wall charger, microUSB cable, and a headset, the Starmobile Knight Elite came with a pair of silicone cases which should be a welcome addition if you’re in to these kind of things.
Design and Build
Once we took the Knight Elite out of its fancy box, we were quickly captivated by its Xperia Z-inspired looks. We’ve always been a fan of how Sony designs their smartphones, and it’s a treat for us to see a similar implementation on a competitively-priced handset like the Knight Elite.
Although our fingerprints were already all over the place in just a short period of time that we held the handset, it didn’t take away any of the allure of taking a glass-laden smartphone (both at the front and on the back) out for a quick spin.
An off-colored faux metal rim runs along the edges of the handset where a trio of physical buttons, a pair of ports, and the handset’s loudspeaker are situated. We think it’s a nice touch that complements the whole theme of the Knight Elite’s design, and it breaks what would otherwise be a handset with a monotonous dark blue paintjob.
For the most part, the placement of the external components follows the typical layout with the audio jack at the top, the microUSB and loudspeaker at the bottom, the pop-out SIM card tray on the right side, and the rear camera located near the top-left corner of the Knight Elite’s back panel.
The only exception to this is the location of the power button and volume rockers. Instead of its typical location on the right side of the device, it was moved to the left which could take some getting used to since most users, particularly the right-handed ones, are already accustomed to using their thumb when adjusting the volume and waking the phone up from sleep.
Speaking of the placement of these buttons, it’s also worth noting that these physical keys aren’t exactly in the most ideal of locations. Being right-hand users ourselves, we find it almost impossible to comfortably reach every single key, particular the volume up button, without having to readjust the way we hold the handset. If you are, however, a lefty or have a fairly lengthy set of digits, we think that you won’t have any troubles with the location of the Knight Elite’s buttons.
Initial Verdict
Smartphones with a really outstanding design is somewhat a rare commodity in the sub-Php10K price point. Part of the reason why this is the case is because most brands focus more on the specs, leaving them little to no room to come up with an eye-candy design for their devices.
This is why it’s refreshing to see a handset like the Starmobile Knight Elite which caters to consumers who equally values the appearance of their handset with its computing prowess. The handset is definitely something that one wouldn’t be shy to take out of their pockets and can even pass up as high-end smartphone from an international brand, from a distance at least.
So as far as design is concerned, the Knight Elite already got a thumb’s up from us. The only question now is if it has other things to bring to the table apart from good looks. We’ll find that out on our full review which should be up in a few days, so stay tuned.
Starmobile Knight Elite specs:
OS | Android 5.0 Lollipop |
Processor | 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor |
Memory | 2GB RAM |
Display | 5-inch JDI FHD display, 1920 x 1080 |
Storage | Expandable 16GB on-board storage |
Camera | 13-megapixel rear camera with flash + 5-megapixel front camera |
SIM | Dual-SIM, 4G/LTE ready |
Battery | 2,600mAh |
Weight | 125g |
Dimensions | 142 x 70.5 x 6.85mm |
Others | Bluetooth 4.0, GLONASS |
The Starmobile Knight Elite is available in all Starmobile concept stores and kiosks for Php9,990.