SKK Mobile Cyclops II Review: All The Basics

Anjie lou delos Reyes
5
SKK Mobile Cyclops II
SKK Mobile Cyclops II

The Cyclops II is one of the tablets with phone functionality from SKK Mobile, it offers dual SIM dual standby capabilities and supports dual 3G. Not only that, it can be your companion in watching your favorite series because it is also an Analog TV.

This phone-tablet sports a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display with WSVGA resolution powered by a 1.3GHz dual core processor, Mali-400 GPU with 512MB of RAM. This CPU-GPU-RAM combination is proven to be efficient and powerful on a low-mid range devices, but is it good enough for a tablet? It is for you to find out in our comprehensive review.

For UNBOXING, please kindly see it HERE.

For HARDWARE, DISPLAY and BENCHMARKS, please kindly click it HERE.


INTERFACE:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Lockscreen
Lockscreen

The Cyclops 2 uses a stock Android interface, the lockscreen has a padlock icon inside a circle wherein you can drag into any location in order to unlock the device.

The lockscreen widget is also supported, aside from the digital clock you see above, you can put four more namely calendar, email, Gmail and messaging.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Homescreen
Homescreen

The homescreen has 5 pages, there is nothing you can do to reduce or increase it. There are 5 shortcuts on the lower part but, you can increase it up to 7, the middle always opens the app drawer.

The tablet has no capacitive buttons, it uses the reserve space on the lower part of the screen for the back, menu and recent apps keys.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Default Apps
Default Apps
SKK Mobile Cyclops II Default Widgets
Default Widgets

The apps are arranged in 5 rows by 6 columns while the widgets have a 2x3 layout, the Play Store shortcut icon is always available on the upper right corner. If you want to add app or widget to the homescreen, simply press and hold it, then place it to your desired location.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Notification Area & Quick Settings
Notification Area & Quick Settings

The notification area can be accessed by swiping the top-left portion of the screen. It supports collapsible notification, which means you can directly interact with it, example, a missed call notification gives you the option to call back or send a message.

On the other hand, you can access the quick toggle setting by swiping the top-right portion of the screen. Here you can easily turn on/off the most commonly used settings like WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS with just a single press while pressing and holding them will bring up their complete respective settings.


DUAL SIM FUNCTIONALITY:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II SIM Management
SIM Management

As mentioned, it has dual SIM slots and supports dual standby, to manage them simply go to Settings>SIM Management. Here, you have the option to enable/disable the SIM cards and choose which one will be your default for voice call, video call and messaging.


TELEPHONY:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Telephony
Telephony

The dial pad accepts number or name input, using the latter will display matching contacts to your screen even if the letters you entered are somewhere in between while using the former will only display those that match the beginning numbers of your contacts.

If you have an incoming call, a handset inside a circle will appear as well as the picture of the person calling (if you have one saved on your phonebook). You have 3 options in what you can do with the icon, either cancel it (swiping left), answer it (swiping right) or reject it with a message (swiping up).

There is no proximity sensor, but it is programmed to turn the screen off while on call. The call quality is good enough, you can hear the other line loud and clear without any dropped signal. The tablet is not that wide, in my case, I can still hold it in one hand comfortably which means you can answer a call even without a headset or using the loudspeaker.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Call Logs
Call Logs

To check your call history simply select the second icon on the telephony section which corresponds to the call logs. You can filter the records by missed, incoming or outgoing calls, you can also choose which resources (SIM1, SIM2 or both) you want to be displayed by selecting the icon just above the back key.


PHONEBOOK:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Contacts
Contacts
SKK Mobile Cyclops II Groups
Groups

The phonebook can be synchronized to your online accounts such as Google. The contacts and groups are saved properly as it should be after synchronizing them. If you are going to create a new contact or group, you can choose in which resources you want it to be saved.


MESSAGING:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Messaging
Messaging

The message are listed based on the latest time of arrival, if you have unread message/s, a number will appear on the upper right corner that corresponds on how many messages are not yet opened. The conversation is shown in a chat-like manner, your message appears on the right while the other person is on the left.

There are two icons in the upper right corner while you are in the conversation page, the first one opens the contact details of the person on that message or save it if it is not yet on your phonebook. The second one will bring up the telephony with the number of the person as the pre-defined input whenever you decided to just call rather than send an SMS reply.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II New Message
New Message

To create a new message, select the icon on the lower left corner of the messaging landing page. You can use a name or number on the recipient input space or select one or more people from your contact list. You can attach anything on the message, and if you did it will be converted to MMS.


EMAIL:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Email
Email

The email department consists of the generic email app and the Gmail app, both can contain multiple accounts and highly configurable depending on your needs.


MULTIMEDIA:

Gallery:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Gallery
Gallery

The gallery will list all the photos and videos on your device, you can filter them by albums, location or times and view them in filmstrip or grid mode.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Photo and Video Options
Photo and Video Options

The pictures as well as videos can be shared locally via Bluetooth or online via email and social accounts.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Photo Editor
Photo Editor

There is also a photo editor whenever you feel to enhance the picture you took or the photo that is saved on your device.

Video Player:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Video Player
Video Player

The video player will list all the supported files in your tablet showing their thumbnail, title, length and file size. Watching movies or video clips is pleasurable on its 7-inch screen, 1080p playback is working well and it can play .avi, .3gp, .mp4 even .flv and .mkv video files, however, those with AC3 audio will be played without any sound.

Music Player:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Music Player
Music Player

The music player will list all the audio file on the device, you can view them by artists, albums, songs or playlist. The player has an equalizer and also supports album art, while playing, you can shuffle the songs, repeat a certain song or repeat all songs on the playlist. The music will continue to play even if you minimize the player, if you do, there will be a small player accessible through the notification area.

FM Radio:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II FM Radio
FM Radio

Even if there is a built-in antenna (for the analog TV), the FM radio still requires a headset for it to work. The channels can be saved manually or scan them automatically. Like the music player, the broadcast will continue to play even if you minimize it. To navigate between channels, you can use the icon on the left of the recording button or use the icons above the on-screen buttons.

Analog TV:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Analog TV
Analog TV

One additional function of this tablet is the analog TV, you can watch your favorite shows on the go and you even have the option to record in. Navigation and other controls can be found on the right side of the interface.

Camera/Video:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Camera & Video
Camera & Video

The camera and video share the same interface, their shutter key is on top of each other and can be found on the right side below the thumbnail of the last photo/video taken. The box says it is only 2MP but the in the interface it says 5MP. It can also shoot up to 720p video at 20fps.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Camera/Video Settings
Camera/Video Settings

The camera/video settings can be accessed by selecting the gear icon on the lower right corner. Here you can enable GPS tagging, adjust exposure, color effect and some others. You can also adjust the resolution of the picture and the video quality.

Sample Shots:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Sample Shot - Inside the mall
Inside the mall
SKK Mobile Cyclops II Sample Shot - Without flash
Without flash
SKK Mobile Cyclops II Sample Shot - With flash
With flash

The camera is only fixed focus, therefore you need to rely on its focusing mechanism to get a good photo.

Browsers:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Browser
Browser
Opera Mini
Opera Mini

There are two browsers installed on the tablet, the generic one and the Opera Mini, both are working properly. The pages load quickly and you can read the texts, even without zooming.

Gaming:

Fruit Ninja
Fruit Ninja
Asphalt 7
Asphalt 7

The Cyclops 2 can play even the graphic-intensive games like Asphalt 7 which means playing casual games like Fruit Ninja won't be a problem.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Install Location
Install Location

If you insert an SD card to the tablet, it will become its default storage, which gives you the flexibility to install large apps or games. There is also no problem encountered even if you move the apps to the SD card.


CONNECTIVITY:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II 3G & Tethering
3G & Tethering

The Cyclops 2 supports dual 3G, which mean you can designate which SIM will have that capability. The high speed internet connection can be shared or tethered via a WLAN hotspot, USB or Bluetooth.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II WiFi
WiFi

It also has WiFi with b/g/n channels which means it can detect a wide array of signals. The signal reception is good, even when you are in a closed room.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II OTG Support
OTG Support

The micro USB port supports OTG, both wireless mouse and flash drive work flawlessly. The 3.5mm audio jack and the Bluetooth complete the connectivity list.


PRODUCTIVITY:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Calendar
Calendar
SKK Mobile Cyclops II File Manager
File Manager
SKK Mobile Cyclops II Calculator
Calculator
SKK Mobile Cyclops II Sound Recorder
Sound Recorder
SKK Mobile Cyclops II Clock
Clock
SKK Mobile Cyclops II To Do
To Do

The productivity and organizing tool include the calendar, calculator, clock, to do, sound recorder and file manager. There is no document viewer/editor, but you can simply download one like KingSoft Office in the Play Store.


GPS:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II GPS
GPS

Using GPS test and Google Navigation, I was able to get a satellite lock in just under 30 seconds (A-GPS and EPO assistance on).


BATTERY:

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Battery Stats
Battery Stats

The tablet able to last 3 hours 36 minutes before it dropped to 15% when playing Asphalt 8 (volume and brightness are set halfway). I do not know the battery capacity, but this result is quite good.


OTHERS:

Facebook, Twitter & Viber
Facebook, Twitter & Viber

The Facebook, Twitter and Viber are all pre-installed on the tablet, there is no means to uninstall them so better utilize them.

SKK Mobile Cyclops II Search
Search

The search is an application to help you look something you need, the engine can be set to Google, Yahoo, Bing or unify them.


CONCLUSION:

The SKK Mobile Cyclops 2 is an all-in-one device, it is a tablet, a phone with 3G support and dual SIM capabilities plus Analog TV, all of that for only Php3,799. This device proved that it is a very versatile gadget, all the basics are well covered, it can play 1080p videos, watch your favorite TV shows, graphics-intensive game works fine, 3G connection is good and can be used to call and text.

There is not much to complain about this tablet given the fact that it is quite cheap. The hardware, design and performance are all OK. Only one thing falls short of my expectation, the camera for having a fixed focus sensor.

Specifications:

  • Dual SIM , Dual Standby
  • 7" capacitive TFT WSVGA (1024x600) touchscreen display, 5-point multi-touch
  • Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
  • 1.3GHz Dual Core Cortex-A7 CPU, Mali-400 GPU MediaTek MT6582 chipset
  • 512MB of RAM
  • 4GB internal, expandable up to 32GB via microSD
  • 5MP main camera with dual LED flash
  • 1.5MP secondary camera
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, WiFi Hotspot
  • GPS with A-GPS
  • 3.5 Audio Jack
  • Stereo FM Radio
  • Analog TV
  • MP3/MP4 Player
  • Micro USB 2.0 with OTG Support
  • Bluetooth v4.0
  • Sensors: Accelerometer
  • Price: Php3,799

This is the end of the review and I hope this has been helpful and informative. Thanks for reading, CHEERS!

Post a Comment

5Comments

  1. sm sta. mesa 'yung mall pic?...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello!

    We received your blog registration. However, we cannot seem find our link in your blog. Kindly let us know thru the CONTACT US page once you have added our link so that we may already post your blog to our listings.

    Thank you,

    BNP

    blogsngpinoy.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. kaya pala familiar 'yung pic hehehe...

    ReplyDelete
  4. nakacompress ung analog tv screen interface 4:5'. Dapat i-screen fit sa cyclops2. buying a 7in" tab pero parng im

    using a 5in. phone na gamit sa pag watch ng tv.

    ReplyDelete
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