[Review] Star S1 -The Beast that tries to unleash,powered by MTK6577

Two years ago,we are looking on android clone since introducing of the MT6515 devices with Android 2.2 which is crappy and honestly i don't really see the point on having on of those.
By the year of 2013,Star Mobile Group Malaysia trying to give a new opportunity to all to own a smartphone that everyone could actually afford with the latest and greatest design with the performance up-to-date.

We reported news about the Star S1 weeks ago and we get our hands on the unboxing and first look video as well.
I have been using it for around 3 days with different test and undergoes real life usage as my primary device and this is the result :)

Specs (Via Official Website)

Basic
Model	Star S1
Material	Plastic with metalic feel side rim
Band	2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G: WCDMA 850/2100MHz
SIM Lock	Unlocked
SIM Card	Dual Sim Card Dual Standby
Color	White
System
CPU	MTK6577 Cortex A9 Dual Core 1GHz
GPU	SGX531
OS	Android 4.1
RAM	1GB
ROM	16GB (providing by TF card)
Display
Size	5.3 inch
Resolution	960 x 540 pixels
Type	QHD, 5 points Capacitive Touch
Colors	1600k colors
Connectivity
Bluetooth	V2.0
USB	mini USB
WiFi	yes
Earphone	3.5mm
FM radio	yes, earphone needed
Storage	TF card, up to 32GB
Supported Format
Ringtones	Polyphonic / MP3
Audio	MP3 / WAV / AMR / AWB
Videos	3GP / MP4
Images	JPG / BMP / GIF / PNG /
e-Book	TXT / DOC / HTML / CHM
Features
Camera	Front 0.3Mpx  Rear 5Mpx AF  support 720p video recording
GPS	yes
Gravity Sensor	yes
Multi Touch	5 points
Language	English, Deutch, Espanol, French, Portuguess, Svenska, Turkish, Russian, Hebrew, Simplified/Traditional Chinese, Malay
Phone Book	up to 500
Input	Handwritting / Virtual Keyboard
Diamentions	78 x 148 x 9.7mm
Weight (with battery)	199g
Standby Time	up to 330 hours
Battery	2800mAh
Others	WiFi hot spot
Package
Size	215 x 97 x 42mm
Weight	505g
Accessories	2 x 2800mAh batteries  1 x charger 1 earphone 1 x USB cable 1 x leather cover

Hardware

Looks and Feel :

(Make sure you have check on our unboxing and first look video for clearer view :)

 Front Look

The Battery Cover

 

It grips well on my medium asian palm and i manage to use it with only one handed

The size wasn't too big and it feel premium as well.

Buttons and the touch capacitive are responsive.

The screen screen quality are astonishing well with good viewing angle as well the qHD Resolution
makes the color vivid and clear.Video playback on HD/FullHD are clear and smooth.
Star Mobile did a great job over here even by keeping the cost low but still keeping the qHD as a
choice of display to make display the best all rounder on the price point

 Camera

The Star S1 Features a Rear Camera (5MP) with flash but it's capable to capture up to 8mp picture and 720p as well as 0.3mp front camera which's useful for video calling

The biggest problem on all this budget devices is the company are trying to reduce the cost and

turning the camera into those crappy camera which's completely useless.Yet Star Mobile

didn't take that move as the Star S1 Camera capture acceptable and moderate quality images from

the rear camera.A sample of untouched image are shown on below ;

The Star S1 Camera App support continuous shot,HDR and Panorama As Basic(+ ETC settings)

I do also recommend to download Camera ICS as an option to stock camera app 

Software & User Interface

 

Star S1 as mention powered by the latest 4.1.1 Jellybean with overlay of TouchWiz on top the UI

Which provide the latest compability to the latest apps and games as well to the latest android features that offer on the Android Jellybean OS.There's something that i really like is the shortcut on the notification bar which i can turn on/off those setting without needing to navigate to the settings.

Just a simple touch and TA-DA done.

 Most of the device powered by Android OS these day will come with Google Play/Play Store but some of the china powered phone doesn't have Google Play installed instead of third party installation needed.Star S1 comes with Google Play as standard.It's also having full access to all the apps without region lock that apply on some non-certified android devices.
Dialer are also direct and user friend on a dual sim.The virtual buttons are big and clear.

Benchmark

MediaTek powered isn't the underdog anymore.With the latest Cortex A9 they developed the MT6577 to be as powerful as other competitor such as Qualcomm and ST-Ericsson to name some.

On the benchmark,i have used both of the most common benchmarking tools Quadrant and Antutu
Quadrant : S1 beats all the dual core devices on their list.
Antutu : S1 score a decent score on a dual core device which it's not bad considering performance that it manage to offer with the price of the device itself.
Most of the MTK6577 Devices is powered with 512mb which isn't that great by today standard however the Star S1 keep the competitor down with 1gb ram on board making the phone user interface and gaming fluid and smooth without noticeable lags/delays.

Gaming

If you're looking for decent budget gaming phone with a large display.You are on the right track.The MTK6577 is coupled with PowerVR SGX531 which perform well on rendering 2d&3d.I have been testing the Dead Trigger which play flawlessly and without lag or slowdown.Test on other games such as the Nova 3,Pudding Monster,Temple Run & Etc also show nothing to hold this beast to slow down thanks to the combination of powerful CPU,GPU and 1gb ram.

 

  

  Verdict : ?

If you're are looking for a budget device that has the looks of the latest Samsung Device and packed with lots of goodies underneath the case.This is one of the choice you should look on.

The Star S1 has the looks of the Galaxy Note II on the relatively smaller size 5.3" Galaxy Note theoretically fits better on your palm and with the qHD resolution keeps the details on the screen clear without pixelating.The MT6577 with SGX531 keeps all the intensive games as well apps under control and lag free with 1gb ram to back the system up.Dual Sim management are also easy to use by either keeping 1 sim on standby or keeping two available.Star Mobile are also providing 1 year warranty to all buyers from Malaysia and 16gb MicroSD Class 6.

What I Like :

• The Design & Samsung UI
• The Size isn't too big and fits well
• qHD Display 
• 2x 2800mAh Included
• Powerful combination of hardware
• Apps support via google play 
• Gaming quality are great
• Battery Life are not bad as well
• Latest Android Operating System : Jellybean 4.1.1
• Dual Sim Dual Standby

What I Don't Like :

•  Front Camera are not clear at low lighting places.

Do make sure to check our unboxing video and subscribe to gizmoasia youtube channel today

How to purchase Star S1 ? :http://www.starmobilegroup.com/checkingout.php

 Star Mobile Group Facebook Page : https://www.facebook.com/starmobilegroup