Starmobile Crystal, a 4.5″ qHD smartphone under Php8K

We’ve featured a few Starmobile handsets in the past and one of them is the flagship Astra which we reviewed last November. Now Starmobile follows up with a new flagship called the Crystal – a 4.5-inch dual-SIM dual-core qHD Android smartphone.

It’s hard to deny that the Starmobile Crystal’s design was inspired by the Samsung Galaxy S3. While some might see the Cyrstal as just some sort of an S3 knockoff, it’s good to know that this new flagship has a good build. Although made entirely of plastic, the Crystal is packed tight meaning there’s no sign of creakiness and feels solid in the hands. At 9.1mm thick and 148g of weight, it is also comfortable to hold and carries a decent amount of heft.

Starmobile boasts that the Crystal has a “stunning screen display” which is actually a 4.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 540 x 960. This equates to a pixel density of 245ppi. Partner that with an IPS screen and you’ll get a display with an above average quality. Having owned smartphones with high-density displays, I can definitely say that the Crystal’s display looks good.

The Crystal also has an 8 megapixel BSI (backside illumination) rear camera with LED flash and a 2 megapixel front. Powering the device is a 1,700mAh battery and runs a stock Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box.

Starmobile Crystal Specs:
4.5″ IPS display @ 960×540 pixels, 245ppi
Mediatek MT6577 1.0GHz dual-core processor
PowerVR SGX531 GPU
512MB RAM
4GB internal storage
microSD up to 32GB
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP
GPS w/ A-GPS
8MP autofocus BSI rear camera w/ LED flash
720p HD video recording
2MP front-facing camera
1,700mAh Li-Pol battery
Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich
136 x 68 x 9.1mm
148g

The Starmobile Crystal has a price tag of Php7,990USD 136INR 11,542EUR 130CNY 992 and comes with a free screen protector and jelly case inside the box. Watch out for our full review in the coming weeks.