MyPhone My28s Review by Actual Owner : Php 888 Smart Prepaid Bundle Edition
I've been a tech blogger for eight years now -- and I always say that the biggest reason why I still blog after all these years is because I have readers who don't just check out my site regularly but also send me gadget-related questions or share their thoughts on the tech industry through personal messages.
I really enjoy having a conversation with you guys because it makes me feel that I what I do has innate value and meaning; That my unique tech experiences resonate with people.
And I particularly appreciate it whenever some of you go out of your way to send me quick reviews of your recent gadget purchases that I can then share with my other readers. I guess it's proof that I have followers who also care for our fellow Filipinos.
That said, I want to share this flash review of MyPhone My28s that TP Friend Abner Tan Almazar emailed me last Thursday. Abner is a gadget enthusiast who's been reading TP for many years now. He told me that he hopes many would find this piece useful. Let's check it out:
********
It's finally in my hands. After almost a month of going in and out of various Smart Stores, I finally have Smart and MyPhone's collaborative effort, the new #SmartMy28s.
My unit, which I got from Smart Store Cash and Carry Branch in Makati City, came with this BatmanVSuperman box sleeve that made the package look really cool and interesting. I paid just Php 888 for it plus Php 100 for the BatmanVSuperman Smart Prepaid card to go with the smartphone.
Unboxing
Fresh out of the box, the my28s comes with a pair of earphones with in-ear silicone buds and microphone for calls, a microUSB cable, a removable 1,450 mAh Li-Ion battery pack, user manual, warranty card, Dual-Cut (Mini and Micro) Smart Prepaid SIM, and free screen protector.
For a smartphone with such affordable price tag, I find all of the accessories in the package to be of decent quality. In fact, the included headset even works perfectly with my iPhone 6 with the microphone and radio button supported by the Cupertino company's flagship.
Hardware
My new handset is in Pearl White and like many MyPhone releases in the past, it flaunts a silhouette of the Philippine map at the back. Looking at that graphic makes me feel proud to be an owner of a device crafted by a Pinoy company. Although lock-key is located at the left of the handset along side with the volume rocker, it's no-big deal if your coming from a right-side lock key, few tries and you'll get used to it. Micro-usb and 3.5 mm headphone jack located at the top and microphone is located the bottom right-side of the front of the phone. The camera is also present at the front and the back which is the main camera and good news both actually comes with flash, soft flash in the front and led flash in the main camera.
If you want a very budget-friendly Android smartphone that fits in the pocket perfectly or one that you can navigate and use with just one hand, MyPhone My28s should be great for you.
The device's shell is made entirely of plastic, which is no surprise given that it only costs Php 888. It's not the most luxurious looking phone out there but it is certainly not ugly.
Interestingly, the power button is located on the left panel, above the volume rocker, which is unlike other affordable Android phones that have their on-off button on the right panel. The microUSB port is located at the top beside the 3.5mm audio jack, which is - again - different compared to other phones that have that same port at the bottom. Some might find these rather weird button and port placements problematic but for me, they're alright.
The 4-inch WVGA IPS screen looks very decent and has good viewing angles. If you ask me, the display quality of this model can actually match if not beat the screens of some Php 4k-and-up smartphones in the market today.
Watching an indie film by Brilliante Mendoza on iflix that comes pre-installed with Smart MyPhone My28s made me appreciate the phone's display quality more.
The only time that I experience problems with the screen is when I have to type using the on-screen keyboard. I find the display too small for thumb-typing on portrait mode. The only time I find the keyboard somewhat 'usable' is when I enter Swype mode.
The handset's 1,450 mAh battery pack may seem small but actually it just complements the size of the screen and the modest internal hardware of My28s. So far, I'm getting around 8 to 10 hours of uptime from the phone with regular use. Not the best but not the worse either.
Speaking of internal specs, my phone runs its Android 5.1 Lollipop OS with a Quad Core 1.3 GHz ARM Cortex A7 and Mali 400 based Spreadtrum SC7731 chipset that's complemented with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of expandable storage. (Too bad I missed the first batch of Php 888 My28 Smart Bundle which has 8GB of storage and comes with free wristwatch.) I find that the chipset is already a real treat at this price point because it lets me play 3D games quite smoothly on the device. The 512MB of RAM causes a bottleneck effect in multitasking but for users who don't really use many apps at the same time, it should work. I would advise that you just be stick to two to three open applications at the same time so as not to consume much of your on-board memory. Overall, My28s is just modestly powerful but for a Php 888 smartphone, it gives me more power than what I initially expected.
Imaging Performance
If you are looking for smartphone with great camera, you might want to check out another model altogether. My28s' main camera is a 5 MegaPixel fixed focus shooter with LED flash and I find that even in well-lit conditions, it delivers rather blurry images with washed out colors. I can say the same thing about the 2MP front cam with soft LED flash for selfies. Check out the sample shots below. Let me know what you think about them (because for all I know, maybe I'm just being too hard on the phone.)
Software
MyPhone My28s ships with vanilla version of Android 5.1 Lollipop featuring pre-installed applications from Smart and MyPhone. There's the MyPhone Pinoy Content app that houses audio prayers, novenas, religious songs, soft copy of the Bible, Pinoy trivia, recipes and other content that are relevant to the lives of many Filipinos. I think devout Catholics and students will find that app very useful. Smart has two pre-installed apps - iflix and Spinnr, which I find valuable. I love watching movies on my mobile devices to really appreciate that this smartphone can smoothly run iflix.
Final Verdict
Considering its price, features, and all the freebies from Smart that go with the package (including the Free 100MB mobile data per month for 1 year and Php 30/month of load rebates for 1 year for every accumulated top-up of P100/month), I give MyPhone My28s 4.5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to current featurephone owners who are now thinking about upgrading to their first budget Android smartphone and also for those who already own a high-end handset like an iPhone or Windows Phone and want a nice secondary Android phone for less. I think this model is also great for students who commute as its not that scary to take out of your bag while you're inside the bus or jeepney. Grab your unit now at a Smart Store near you!
About the Contributor: Abner "AB" Almazar was born and raised in Santa Cruz, Laguna. The middle child of 5 beautiful children of Ulysses and Marita Almazar, he was the most bubbly amongst all. During his childhood, AB was known for his energetic and fun personality; In fact, he was the comic relief of his batch when he was in primary and secondary school. A #TechPinasEnthusiast, Ab spends most of his free time reading TP's updates and news about the smartphone releases of local and international electronics companies. For almost four year now, Ab has been the MIS and Planning Analyst of Citi Service Center with headquarters in Makati City.
I really enjoy having a conversation with you guys because it makes me feel that I what I do has innate value and meaning; That my unique tech experiences resonate with people.
And I particularly appreciate it whenever some of you go out of your way to send me quick reviews of your recent gadget purchases that I can then share with my other readers. I guess it's proof that I have followers who also care for our fellow Filipinos.
That said, I want to share this flash review of MyPhone My28s that TP Friend Abner Tan Almazar emailed me last Thursday. Abner is a gadget enthusiast who's been reading TP for many years now. He told me that he hopes many would find this piece useful. Let's check it out:
********
It's finally in my hands. After almost a month of going in and out of various Smart Stores, I finally have Smart and MyPhone's collaborative effort, the new #SmartMy28s.
My unit, which I got from Smart Store Cash and Carry Branch in Makati City, came with this BatmanVSuperman box sleeve that made the package look really cool and interesting. I paid just Php 888 for it plus Php 100 for the BatmanVSuperman Smart Prepaid card to go with the smartphone.
Unboxing
Fresh out of the box, the my28s comes with a pair of earphones with in-ear silicone buds and microphone for calls, a microUSB cable, a removable 1,450 mAh Li-Ion battery pack, user manual, warranty card, Dual-Cut (Mini and Micro) Smart Prepaid SIM, and free screen protector.
For a smartphone with such affordable price tag, I find all of the accessories in the package to be of decent quality. In fact, the included headset even works perfectly with my iPhone 6 with the microphone and radio button supported by the Cupertino company's flagship.
Hardware
My new handset is in Pearl White and like many MyPhone releases in the past, it flaunts a silhouette of the Philippine map at the back. Looking at that graphic makes me feel proud to be an owner of a device crafted by a Pinoy company. Although lock-key is located at the left of the handset along side with the volume rocker, it's no-big deal if your coming from a right-side lock key, few tries and you'll get used to it. Micro-usb and 3.5 mm headphone jack located at the top and microphone is located the bottom right-side of the front of the phone. The camera is also present at the front and the back which is the main camera and good news both actually comes with flash, soft flash in the front and led flash in the main camera.
If you want a very budget-friendly Android smartphone that fits in the pocket perfectly or one that you can navigate and use with just one hand, MyPhone My28s should be great for you.
The device's shell is made entirely of plastic, which is no surprise given that it only costs Php 888. It's not the most luxurious looking phone out there but it is certainly not ugly.
Interestingly, the power button is located on the left panel, above the volume rocker, which is unlike other affordable Android phones that have their on-off button on the right panel. The microUSB port is located at the top beside the 3.5mm audio jack, which is - again - different compared to other phones that have that same port at the bottom. Some might find these rather weird button and port placements problematic but for me, they're alright.
The 4-inch WVGA IPS screen looks very decent and has good viewing angles. If you ask me, the display quality of this model can actually match if not beat the screens of some Php 4k-and-up smartphones in the market today.
Watching an indie film by Brilliante Mendoza on iflix that comes pre-installed with Smart MyPhone My28s made me appreciate the phone's display quality more.
The only time that I experience problems with the screen is when I have to type using the on-screen keyboard. I find the display too small for thumb-typing on portrait mode. The only time I find the keyboard somewhat 'usable' is when I enter Swype mode.
The handset's 1,450 mAh battery pack may seem small but actually it just complements the size of the screen and the modest internal hardware of My28s. So far, I'm getting around 8 to 10 hours of uptime from the phone with regular use. Not the best but not the worse either.
Speaking of internal specs, my phone runs its Android 5.1 Lollipop OS with a Quad Core 1.3 GHz ARM Cortex A7 and Mali 400 based Spreadtrum SC7731 chipset that's complemented with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of expandable storage. (Too bad I missed the first batch of Php 888 My28 Smart Bundle which has 8GB of storage and comes with free wristwatch.) I find that the chipset is already a real treat at this price point because it lets me play 3D games quite smoothly on the device. The 512MB of RAM causes a bottleneck effect in multitasking but for users who don't really use many apps at the same time, it should work. I would advise that you just be stick to two to three open applications at the same time so as not to consume much of your on-board memory. Overall, My28s is just modestly powerful but for a Php 888 smartphone, it gives me more power than what I initially expected.
MyPhone My28s runs non-specs-intensive social networking apps Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for Android without much hiccups. When you use this phone with the 100MB of free monthly mobile data allowance from Smart, you will surely have an enjoyable social media experience on the go.
MyPhone My28s gets an Antutu Benchmark Score in the range of 15,000 to 18,000. Here, the phone got a mark of 15,574. Again, raw power is not one of the strengths of this model but it's definitely capable of delivering a relatively smooth mobile experience when you run non-specs-intensive apps.
Imaging Performance
If you are looking for smartphone with great camera, you might want to check out another model altogether. My28s' main camera is a 5 MegaPixel fixed focus shooter with LED flash and I find that even in well-lit conditions, it delivers rather blurry images with washed out colors. I can say the same thing about the 2MP front cam with soft LED flash for selfies. Check out the sample shots below. Let me know what you think about them (because for all I know, maybe I'm just being too hard on the phone.)
Abner's outdoor selfie taken using the 2MP front cam without flash.
Abner's indoor selfie taken using the 2MP front cam with flash
Outdoor shot with no flash
Indoor shot with flash
Software
MyPhone My28s ships with vanilla version of Android 5.1 Lollipop featuring pre-installed applications from Smart and MyPhone. There's the MyPhone Pinoy Content app that houses audio prayers, novenas, religious songs, soft copy of the Bible, Pinoy trivia, recipes and other content that are relevant to the lives of many Filipinos. I think devout Catholics and students will find that app very useful. Smart has two pre-installed apps - iflix and Spinnr, which I find valuable. I love watching movies on my mobile devices to really appreciate that this smartphone can smoothly run iflix.
Final Verdict
Considering its price, features, and all the freebies from Smart that go with the package (including the Free 100MB mobile data per month for 1 year and Php 30/month of load rebates for 1 year for every accumulated top-up of P100/month), I give MyPhone My28s 4.5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to current featurephone owners who are now thinking about upgrading to their first budget Android smartphone and also for those who already own a high-end handset like an iPhone or Windows Phone and want a nice secondary Android phone for less. I think this model is also great for students who commute as its not that scary to take out of your bag while you're inside the bus or jeepney. Grab your unit now at a Smart Store near you!
About the Contributor: Abner "AB" Almazar was born and raised in Santa Cruz, Laguna. The middle child of 5 beautiful children of Ulysses and Marita Almazar, he was the most bubbly amongst all. During his childhood, AB was known for his energetic and fun personality; In fact, he was the comic relief of his batch when he was in primary and secondary school. A #TechPinasEnthusiast, Ab spends most of his free time reading TP's updates and news about the smartphone releases of local and international electronics companies. For almost four year now, Ab has been the MIS and Planning Analyst of Citi Service Center with headquarters in Makati City.
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