There is quite a range of midrange smartphones in the Philippines. International players like OPPO, VIVO and ASUS have been battling intensively in this category, and based on consumer data, they have been successful in positioning themselves in the said space. Local players like Cherry Mobile and Starmobile tried to snatch a portion of the market but have been struggling to drive sales consistently.
Much has been said about O+ in terms of brand, market positioning and pricing. While they are regarded by many as one of the best brands in the Philippines, there is an equal consumer sentiment that their products are pricey.
Their latest product, O+ Compact Pro, poses to be a mid-range smartphone that takes DSLR-like quality photos. O+’s confidence to out beat DSLRs and midrange smartphone brands in the same category leave consumers feeling untoward to the brand.
Let me give you a drilldown of O+’s latest baby: Compact Pro is powered by an octa-core 1.3GHz processor from MediaTek and 2GB RAM. It also has 13mp rear BSI camera with flash, f/2.0 aperture and dual LED flash. It also has 5mp front facing BSI camera. Its battery capacity is a little buffed as well at 3045mAh.
If you’re crazy about specifics, this device rocks an MT6753 processor. The processor configuration installed on Compact Pro is 1.3GHz, a tad slower than MT6753 hero config – 1.5GHz. It is 64bit, which makes it faster and efficient in handling memory.
Let’s get on to my point here – Compact Pro costs PhP11,395 and its base specifications are almost the same as Cherry Mobile Flare 4’s. If this is the case, what makes this a little pricey: Research and development, importation tax and limited volume. While these may be acceptable reasons to boot, such also post several issues for O+.
Gone are the days when local players can play around with retail prices. International brands – that are fairly more established and known locally and internationally – have entered the Philippines and have been heavily competing in the space. This market trend forcibly repositions local players to stick to less-than PhP10,000 price-point.
In all fairness to O+, they always try to make up to the consumers by packaging their products with premium items like high capacity micro SD card and headphones. Compact Pro, for instance, has bundled 64gb Sandisk MicroSD card and JBL Purebass T300A. Combined (these items cost around PhP3,000).
You get 2 freebies when you buy an O+ Compact Pro: 64gb MMC and JBL Purebass T300A.
Allow me to hold my horse, and wait until I’ve fully experienced this device fully. I’ve got a whole range of midrange devices that I can pit against the Compact Pro, and see if this can satisfy me. Obviously, since O+ claims that this provides “professional camera performance”, I will take photos using similarly-priced smartphones like OPPO F1s, ASUS Zenfone 3, ASUS Zenfone 3 Max and VIVO V5.
I know you’ve got questions about this device. Most of you expressed your opinions on our Facebook page, but we’d love to hear your thoughts again by posting your comments below. If you’re reading this via Facebook Instant Articles, share this and share your thoughts to your friends.
Unboxing Video:
O+ Compact Pro Specifications:
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- Dual SIM, Dual Standby
- 5.5-inch Full HD IPS Display, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution
- 1.3GHz MT6753 octa-core processor
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage w/ FREE 64GB microSD
- Wi-Fi, 4G, LTE, 700MHz support
- 13-megapixel rear camera with BSI and dual-LED flash
- 5-megapixel front camera
- Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
- 3045mAh battery
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.
