Starmobile Knight Luxe Price is Php 7,690 : Specs, Antutu Benchmark Score, Unboxing, In the Flesh Photos

Last Monday - May 25, 2015, our friends from Starmobile invited me over at Capitol Commons for lunch just to catch up and to give me a glimpse of their freshly released, gorgeous, and affordable midrange handset model.

Priced at Php 7,690, Starmobile Knight Luxe is currently the most budget-friendly handset in the Pinoy company's Knight flagship line. As such, it gives consumers an opportunity to experience some of the high-end qualities of the series without the rather hefty price tag.

As you can see in these images, aesthetics and build are some of the strongest suits of this release.

Its shell is crafted from diamond-cut, CNC-prepared anodized aluminum frame giving the Knight Luxe an air of sophistication while making the unit quite durable. Capable of surviving the knocks and bumps of daily use, this smartphone is also one that you won't be shy to put on the table in corporate, round-table meetings.

Aside from from its construction, Starmobile is also particularly proud of the fact that the Knight Luxe is the first Pinoy smartphone to feature a 13 MegaPixel camera with ISOCELL sensor that's more or less similar to that of flagship Galaxy smartphones. Think of it as a next generation BSI sensor that has great low light performance while delivering more brilliant hues. This main shooter is complemented by a 5 MegaPixel front cam for selfies that performs well, even indoors.

Allowing you to greatly appreciate the photos you take using the dual cameras is the phone's 5-inch AMOLED display, which is also one of the Knight Luxe's main selling points. AMOLED is not only thinner than an IPS panel but is also more energy-efficient and a lot more vibrant.

Although the smartphone is only powered by a 2,050 mAh battery pack, Starmobile Knight Luxe has great uptime, thanks to its display type and processor, which aren't taxing on resources. According to Happy Man, this handset has up to 527 hours of standby and 15.3 hours of talk time.

As for the innards, Starmoile Knight Luxe runs its slightly-customized Android 4.4.4 KitKat operating system with an Octa Core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex A7 and Mali-450 GPU based MediaTek MT6592M processor, has 2 GB of RAM for multitasking and 16GB of expandable storage.

The internal hardware combine to give the Starmobile Knight Luxe an Antutu Benchmark Score of 28,871; Not bad at all for a smartphone in this price echelon. You can certainly run most 3D games on this model without worrying about stuttering or lags.

Let's talk about the packaging. Starmobile Knight Luxe ships with this new box for the company's flagship models. Mr. Elijah Mendoza, Starmobile's Product Manager who was part of the team that designed this case, told me that the laminated 'Luxe' print on the cover was supposed to be 'grey' but the supplier made a mistake in printing the sample box, rendering 'Luxe' white -- which they ended up liking more than the original design. "It's a beautiful accident," I replied.

One thing I love about Starmobile's boxes for their smartphones is that they always have a complete technical specifications table like what I have here in TechPinas. "We know that Pinoy gadget consumers are very smart and they have to see this table," said our friends from the company.

The complete retail package includes the unit itself, the travel charger, earphones, microUSB to USB cable, quick user guide, warranty certificate, two screen protectors, and a free hard plastic case.

Starmobile Knight Luxe is now available at all Starmobile Concept Stores, kiosks, and authorized retailers nationwide. Again, it sells for only Php 7,690 - making it the most affordable handset in the Knight series currently - and it's out in two colors, namely, Gold and Grey.