O+ Imagine Review, Unboxing, Antutu Benchmark Score, Sample Camera Shots, Free Sennheiser Earphones Photos, Verdict

Remember O+ Imagine, TP Friends? The shocking, new flagship handset of the American company in the Philippines? The smartphone that proves that a brand can't have too many flagship releases all in one year?

Well, last Thursday, I had afternoon tea with our friends from O+ and they surprised me with a wonderful Christmas present: The very first complete retail package of the much-anticipated O+ Imagine -- fresh from their factory!

"O+ Imagine is a limited edition flagship release, Mark. We made it really premium with a scratch-resistant glass front and back. The body is made of metal and the screen is the best we could have given a phone as of the moment. We'll only be selling a few of these this Yuletide so I hope the big O+ fans and the 'limited edition collectors' would check it out," they shared.

O+ Imagine comes with packaging similar to that of previous flagship handsets O+ 8.12 and O+ 8.15 -- but it does have that limited edition Gold Badge in front.

At the bottom of the box, you will find the phone's key technical specifications. Except for the exact processor model and handset dimensions, the list pretty much contains almost all information geeky buyers would want to know before making an Android smartphone purchase. Thumbs up for doing this, O+!

As I've mentioned in my initial O+ Imagine post, the flagship phone ships with free Sennheiser earphones made specifically for O+. O+ Fab Elite also comes with the same accessory.

Fresh out of the box, a green sticker covers the face of the handset showing a list of the phone's key features. I find this a bit redundant since the box already shows the specs but I guess we should commend O+ for being this transparent when it comes to letting consumers know exactly what they're getting.

Since that sticker is no good for a screen protector, O+generously added one in the box for free.

And you will also get a free hard plastic case - with holes for the volume rocker, power button, camera module and loud speaker - for extra protection against the knocks and bumps of everyday use.

These earphones are made by Sennheiser exclusively for O+ USA. German brand Sennheiser is one of the world's leading audio companies and is known for creating earphones, headsets, and microphones with top-notch quality.

As expected of a Sennheiser product, these earphones deliver great audio quality, which enhances your music-listening experience.

Simply put, these Sennheiser earphones give you get clear and crisp sound comparable to what you get from Apple Earpods -- only far louder. But if you're too geeky and you want to see numbers, here you go.

Of course, the package comes with the O+ Imagine User Manual, which you can read for fun or when you want to kill time. (Because really, when was the last time you actually bothered reading a user manual?) Gotta love O+ for still giving us the booklet, though.

We have the microUSB SIM card tray opener.

The charger with foldable prongs making it less of a hassle to keep in the pocket -- should you want to always carry it with you.

And finally, we have the microUSB to USB connector cable.

O+ Imagine flaunts an edge-to-edge glass face, which makes it look very elegant and visually arresting. According to O+, they used scratch-resistant and shatter-proof "carbon glass" to make the phone more durable

The back, which also flaunts scratch-resistant glass, quite frankly looks and feels almost like the front with the screen turned off.

Our friends from O+ told me that Imagine features a 5-inch Full HD ultra-thin IPS OGS display. Below the screen, we'll find the Menu, Home, and Back capacitive touch hardware buttons - in that order. O+ replaced the icons for these buttons with a 'light strip', which "breaths" when there are unread notifications. The middle part of the strip - where the Home button is - is brighter than the other parts and double tapping on it turns on or turns off the phone's display -- a feature unique to O+ Imagine!

Looking at the screen, though, (especially the viewing angles) I'm inclined to believe that it's not really IPS. Honestly, I think it could be a display panel better than that. SuperAMOLED, maybe?

At the back, we'll find the Full HD video recorder and the 13 MegaPixel autofocus camera with LED flash and BSI sensor. The module performs well in various lighting conditions (If it gets too dark, just use the flash); colors appear brilliant, details look crisp. Here are a few sample shots that I took using the smartphone's main cam:

I took this one using the phone's 5 MegaPixel front cam with BSI Sensor. Not bad, I think. Oh, and that's my younger brother, Val of BallersPinas.

O+ Imagine smoothly runs Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean operating system with stock user interface - albeit with slight alterations on the icon designs and default colors - with its Quad Core 1.5 GHz ARM Cortex A7 CPU and 357 MHz PowerVR SGX GPU based MediaTek MT6589 Turbo chipset and effortlessly handles multitasking with 2 GB of RAM.

The phone's stellar innards combine to give it an Antutu Benchmark Score of 15,387 and 5,579 on Quadrant Standard. Such high scores are reflected in the great gaming and overall touch experience that the handset gives users. O+ Imagine delivers stutter-free Temple Run 2, Sonic Dash, Raging Thunder, Candy Crush Saga, Zombie Tsunami, and Need For Speed Most Wanted game play. And it follows that social networking apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all run flawlessly on the device.

Going back to the design of O+ Imagine, here we can see the metal side plate of the handset -- completing the glass-metal-glass sandwich look reminiscent of Xperia flagship releases. On this side - that is, the right side when you face the display, we have the power button and the microSIM card tray.

And on left panel, we see the volume rocker.

Both ends of the handset have a glossy plastic cap, which I think perfectly complements the predominantly glass-laden body of the device. This is the rear end, which only has the pinhole for the mouthpiece.

O+ Imagine has a non-removable 2,000 mAh Li-Po battery pack that delivers around 8 to 9 hours of mixed usage that includes using social networking apps over WiFi, calling, texting, playing non-specs-intensive games like those I mentioned above, taking a few photos, recording short clips, and browsing the web.

The 3.5 mm audio jack and microUSB port are both located at the top.

Verdict: Just for the whole of December 2013, O+ Imagine has a promo price of Php 16,995 -- that's Php 2,000 less than the regular SRP. For that amount and considering all the key selling points of the device - which include the gorgeous and sleek design, the durable build, the good cameras, the free Sennheiser earphones, the powerhouse innards, the double tap home button unique feature, and O+'s reliable after-sales support - I think it's already a steal. In fact, I'm so confident about the quality of this flagship release that I'm inviting all of you to give one a test run at any O+ Kiosk near you once it becomes available within this week. I'm sure it will win your heart. All things considered, TP Friends, I give O+ Imaging 9.8 out of 10 TP Stars.

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST)
Name	O+ Imagine
Type	Slate Form Factor (Full Touchscreen)
Price Category	High End
Dimensions	142.7 x 67.6 x 7.8mm
Weight	134 grams
Available Colors	Black
Operating System	Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
Display	5" Full HD IPS OGS display capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Processor	Quad Core 1.5 GHz ARM Cortex A7 CPU, 357 MHz PowerVR SGX GPU, MediaTek MT6589 Turbo chipset
RAM	2 GB RAM
Internal Storage	32 GB, non-expandable
Camera	13 MegaPixels w/ AutoFocus and Flash, BSI sensor, Front: 5 MegaPixels front camera, BSI Sensor
Video Capture	Full HD 1080p 30 frames per second for main camera, Full HD for front camera
Audio and Video Playback	MP3, MIDI, AAC,AMR, OGG, 3GPP, MP4, AVI, 3GP, MKV, M4V
Ports	microUSB v2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP, EDR, 3G HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, HSPA+
GPS	Yes, with A-GPS
Sensors	Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Gyroscope, Proximity
Network	2G Network Triband (TBA), 3G Network Dual Band (TBA)
SIM Card Type	microSIM
Battery	Non-removable Li-Po 2,000 mAh battery
Uptime	Around 8 Hours of Mixed Usage
Value-Added Features	Scratch-Resistant Glass Front and Back, Full HD Dislay, MT6589 Turbo Processor, Gorgeous Design, Double Tap Home Button to Lock and Unlock phone, Free Sennheiser Earphones
Announcement	December 10, 2013 via TechPinas
Availability	Third Week of December 2013
Price	Php 16,995 December 2013 Promo Price; comes with free Sennheiser Earphones