A plus in the mobile scene
For those of you who are not familiar with
the brand, O+ is a new player in the local mobile device scene. It is based in
the United States and is currently targeting entry-level smartphone users with
its reasonably-priced devices that are packed with decent features and
specifications. O+ joins the tight competition in the Philippines with its
Android-based offerings, such as the 8.7 Android phone.
The
8.7 Android has a pretty straightforward build.
The 8.7 is a dual-SIM and dual-standby
Android smartphone that weighs 150 grams. It sports a capacitive touch display
measuring 3.2 inches. At the bottom of the display are the Search, Home,
Options, and Back buttons. On the top-right is a front-facing camera capable of
1.5x zooming.
Turning it over, the 3.2-megapixel shooter
with 3x zoom is very visible. Right below it is the LED flash which we think is
a thoughtful addition for users. Removing the back cover and popping out the
1400mAh lithium-ion battery reveals the SIM card and microSD slots. This feature
set should prove satisfactory for budget-conscious consumers.
Removing
the back cover and popping out the 1400mAh lithium-ion battery reveals the SIM
card and microSD slots
A glossy plastic finish is what the 8.7’s
body is made of. It has a silver strip running around the entirety of its body
that effectively accentuates the device. Overall, with its compact and sleek
body, handling the smartphone with one hand is simple while the minimalistic
design is easy on the eyes.
A
quick tour around will reveal the Micro-USB port on the left while the Volume
buttons on the other side.
Operating the 8.7 was a satisfying
experience. With its 1GHz processor, the apps that we ran were fast,
responsive, and had minimal lag. This didn’t translate well in our Quadrant
benchmark though, achieving a score of only 1890, which is a notch lower
compared to the competition, albeit expected of a device of this class. On the
bright side, the device is preloaded with a number of popular apps, such as
Picasa and Fruit Ninja. For wireless connectivity, users can employ the 8.7’s
tethering feature and turn it into a Wi-Fi hotspot to share a data connection.
Sound
output out of the loudspeaker is pretty loud. Although not as loud as the
speaker, the audio through a pair of headphones is also pretty decent for the
most part.
In closing, we could say that an O+ 8.7
Android smartphone is a good choice for thrifty consumers wanting good
performance. One thing that we noticed about this device, however, was that the
Back button was sometimes hard to reach due to its position at the lower-right
corner of the screen. We often needed to carefully aim at the button or else it
wouldn’t detect our touch. Other than this, we had no serious problems with the
device.
The O+ 8.7 Android phone running on a 1GHz
processor and Android 2.3 OS is available locally for purchase at $110.
Given
that the handset only has little over 3-inch of real estate, it can be quite
tasking (especially for people like me with fat fingers) to use the on-screen keyboard.
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Specifications
§ 3’2″
QVGA LCD screen @125ppi
§ 1GHz
MT6575 processor
§ PowerVR
SGX 531
§ 256MB
RAM
§ 128MB
internal storage
§ Expandable
up to 32GB via MicroSD
§ HSDPA
14.4Mbps
§ 3.2MP
autofocus camera, LED flash
§ VGA
front-facing camera
§ GPS
w/ aGPS support
§ Bluetooth
2.1
§ Android
2.3.5
§ Dimension:
112 x 60 x 11.6mm
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