The USA-based R&D and phone manufacturing company, O+, just recently launched their latest phablet, the O+ 8.91. This phone is supposedly the follow-up to last year’s O+ 8.9, but a tad cheaper. The new device seemingly exudes the new design philosophy of O+: matte back panel and speaker grills with a modern touch.
Unboxing
The retail box of O+ 8.91 contains the following:
- O+ 8.91, 5″ Capacitive Multi-touch screen
- Charger
- Charging Cable
- MicroUSB Cable
- Free Sandisk 8gb MicroSD card
- 3.5mm Stereo Headphones
- Manual
Check out some unboxing pictures I took.
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O+ 8.91 is packed with a dual core 1.2 Ghz processor, likely a Mediatek 6577 chip. It doesn’t say on its retail box but it looks like this one has a 512mb RAM. Based on its core hardware specifications, it’s like the smaller version of the O+ Fab 3G sans the tablet UI.
It has a 5-inch display – likely with a resolution of 800 x 400. (We haven’t received the official technical specifications as of this writing.) It features Air Shuffle, which allows you to control your media content (music, photo, videos) using hand gestures. It has a 5mp Camera with LED and autofocus, and a 2mp front-facing camera. We still have yet to know if these are BSI cameras.
Of course, it has 3,000 mAh battery. Such phone with plenty of juice can last for more than a day. This is a also a huge jump from 8.9, which has a 2,300 mAh.
The device is pre-installed with Android Jellybean 4.2.2. Project Butter is expected to take effect, which will definitely boost its performance and fluidity of UI experience.
On the ‘looks’ department, the 8.91 stands out because of its size, and not because of its overall design. O+ branding at the back is very well and decently placed. The gray side bezel looks nice but I thought that it would better if on a white variant. Sadly, O+ isn’t going to launch a white version of this device.
The front panel houses the camera, light and the air-shuffle sensors. You will also see 3 capacitive buttons in front. I personally find the ear piece grill elegantly designed.
You can see the volume rockers on the left side of the device. And it’s a good thing for O+ to put the Sleep/Wake button on the phone’s right side. For a phablet with 5-inch and above screens, I personally think that phone manufacturers should really put the sleep/wake button on a place where it can easily be switched. Take a cue from what Samsung and LG did with Note 3 and LG G2 respectively.
The O+ 8.91 will be sold for PhP6,995 only.
O+ 8.91 Specifications:
- Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
- Dual SIM/Dual Standby
- Dual Core 1.2 GHz processor
- Supports Micro SD up to 32GB
- 2G/3G
- Quad Band GSM/Dual Band WCDMA
- 4GB Internal Memory
- Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth
- 5.0” TFT Capacitive
- 3000 mAh Battery
- Dual Camera with 5 Megapixel AF back camera with Flash + 2MP Front Camera
- MP3/MP4 Player
- Air Shuffle Music, Photos, Camera and FM Radio
- Flip to Silent
- Shake to Answer/Hang-Up Call
- Call & Type
- SMS Import/Export
We’re very excited to test this device longer. I know some of you are excited to know how this phone fares compared to competition. As usual, we’ll try to be very objective with our review. If you have any comments, suggestions or requests, please use the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
