It's impressive how far Starmobile has
gotten with its Engage series of tablets. We remember reviewing the original
7-inch Engage back in 2012, which didn't impress us too much due to its
sluggish performance and less-than-stellar build quality. After that, we
experienced the Engage 8 Quad and its remarkable handling with a
budget-friendly price; and now, we have the latest Starmobile slate in our
hands, the Engage 9i.
Starmobile
Engage 9i Review
You can't truly appreciate how well this
Starmobile tablet is built until you play around with it for yourself. The pairing
of the glass finish on the back and the aluminum trim on the sides makes the
Engage 9i one of the most premium-like local tablets out there. The device
does, admittedly, feel a bit heavy in the hands, but if this is what we have to
give up to get the first-rate physique, then we'll gladly carry the extra
weight.
Another highlight of the Engage 9i is its
1920 x 1200-pixel display on an almost 9-inch real estate. The screen is
amazingly sharp and alive with
color – it definitely felt like we were using a much more expensive tablet.
8.9-inch
IPS LCD (1920×1200 WUXGA), ~254ppi
Starmobile markets the Engage 9i as the
first and only 9-inch tablet from a local brand to have the Intel Atom Z2580
chipset. Considering the recent advances Intel has made with its SoC technology
and the occasional letdown from MediaTek’s own processors, this is actually
something Starmobile can truly brag about. For the unfamiliar, the Z2580 is a
2.0GHz dual-core chip with Hyper-Threading technology, effectively able to
churn out multitasking performance akin to a quad-core processor.
We put the Engage 9i to the test using
Quadrant Standard and AnTuTu. For the former, the tablet scored a respectable
7318 points, and for the latter, we got a score of 20517. This places the
device well-above the entry-level Androids we’re used to seeing from local
brands, and slightly below the flagship smartphones we saw from international
models last year – not bad at all. And the good news doesn’t end there; actual
usage was really smooth during our time with the tablet.
5-megapixel
main camera, with autofocus
The only knock against the Engage 9i
performance-wise would be its battery life. The Full HD display obviously takes
a large chunk of the stored energy, giving us a maximum video time of just five
hours with Wi-Fi turned on.
The Engage 9i is a stunning piece of
technology for its price. For only USD 224.87, we have so much praise for the
tablet and barely anything to complain about. This is one local tablet we can
wholeheartedly recommend, even above some of the foreign brands.
At a glance ·
Processor: Intel Atom Z2580 (Dual-core, 2GHz) ·
Camera: 5MP (Main), 2MP (Front) ·
Display: 8.9" IPS (1920 X 1200) ·
Operating system: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean ·
Price: USD 224.87 Specifications ·
Memory: 2GB RAM ·
Storage: 16GB internal storage, expandable up
to 32GB via microSD ·
Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth
3.0, GPS ·
Battery: 6500mAh ·
Dimensions: 235.5 x 150 x 8.6mm ·
Weight: 441.7g Verdict: 8.5 ·
Physique: 9.0 ·
Features: 8.0 ·
User-friendliness: 8.5 ·
Performance: 8.0 ·
Value: 9.0
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