SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Review; Jack Of All Trades

Anjie lou delos Reyes
0
INTRODUCTION:

The Tab 4 is one of the latest multimedia tablet from SKK Mobile. It packs a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display powered by a 1GHz processor coupled with 512MB of RAM.

SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Review; Jack Of All Trades
SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Review; Jack Of All Trades

It is an entry-level tablet which boasts features like Analog TV, Dual Speakers and Full Phone Functionality.

Key Specs:
  • Dual SIM , Dual Standby
  • 7" capacitive TFT WVGA (800x480) touchscreen display, 5-point multi-touch
  • Android Jelly Bean 4.1
  • 1GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, PowerVR SGX531 GPU MediaTek MT6575 chipset
  • 512MB of RAM
  • 4GB internal, expandable up to 32GB via microSD
  • 2MP fixed focus main camera with dual LED flash
  • VGA secondary camera
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, WiFi Hotspot
  • 3.5 Audio Jack
  • Stereo FM Radio
  • Analog TV
  • MP3/MP4 Player
  • Micro USB 2.0
  • Bluetooth 
  • Sensors: Accelerometer

Main Disadvantages:

  • No 3G connectivity
  • Low Resolution Screen

For UNBOXING please kindly click HERE.


INTERFACE:

Like most of the local phones and tablets, the Phoenix Tab 4 uses a stock Android interface. The lockscreen has a padlock icon inside a circle wherein you can swipe it to the right to unlock the device or drag it to the left to go directly to the camera interface.

SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Interface
Interface

By default, the homescreen has six shortcuts at the lower part of the interface which can be replaced anytime you want. Another shortcut can be found in the upper right hand which is the App drawer.

Selecting the app drawer from the homescreen will reveal the default apps and widgets which are arranged in tabs. The first tab is for the apps that has a 4x6 layout while the second tab is for the widgets which has 2x3 layout. The Play Store shortcut is always present at the upper right corner.

There is a reserve space below the interface, the left portion has the on-screen keys while the right has the notification area. The latter has two functions, one is for the notification itself and the other one is for the quick toggle settings.

The overall interface transition is good, however there are times that you will notice lags even just going from the homescreen to app drawer and vice versa.


DUAL SIM FUNCTIONALITY:

The Tab 4 supports dual SIM dual standby, one slot is for the regular SIM while the other one is for micro SIM. To access or change its options just go to Settings>SIM Management.

You can turn on/off each SIM and assign which one will be your default for voice call, SMS and data connection. Please take note that it does NOT have 3G, therefore mobile data connection will max out with EDGE.


TELEPHONY:

The dial pad supports name and number inputs, if you opt to use the former it will search matching contacts in your phonebook. It also has speed dialing wherein you can use the numbers 2 to 9 to assign your favorite contacts.

The second icon on the upper left corner corresponds to the call logs. It will show all your call history and can be filtered by incoming, missed or outgoing calls. You can also opt to show the history from both SIM or from just one.

If you have an incoming call, a handset icon inside a circle will appear, dragging it right will answer the call while doing the opposite will cancel it. While you are on a call, you can put it on loudspeaker, mute the microphone, place the other line on hold or record the call.

The Tab 4 is a 7-inch tablet, if you have a big hand you can still hold it in one hand during a call otherwise you will need a headset to make yourself more comfortable while taking the call.
The phonebook is divided into two parts, one for your contacts and the other one is for groups. They can be synced without any issue on your online accounts, creating a new one will prompt you to where you want it to be saved.

You can choose which contacts to be displayed, there is also an option to import/export or share them when needed.


MESSAGING:

The messaging app can be used for both SMS and MMS. The messages are listed based on the latest time of arrival, if you have unread message/s, a number will appear on the upper right (which corresponds to the number of your unread message/s).

Under a certain conversation, your message will appear on the right while the left part is for the other person. To convert an SMS to MMS simply attached anything to a message.


EMAIL:

The Tab 4 has a generic email app (no Gmail), it supports IMAP, POP3 and Exchange mails. Setting it up is simple, just input your username and password and you are good to go.


MULTIMEDIA:

Gallery:

SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Gallery
Gallery

The gallery house both pictures and videos on your device. It can be arranged by Albums, Locations, Times, People or Tags. The camera shortcut is always present at the upper right corner just in case you want to add more items in your gallery.

Both pictures and videos can be shared locally or online through supported applications like email or Facebook.

Part of the Android Jelly is the Photo Editor, it allows you to modify a specific picture and it will be saved as a different object than the original.

Video Player:

The 2160p icon that you see on the homescreen and in the app drawer is actually the video player. It will list all supported video files with information such as thumbnail, title, length and file size.

SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Video Player
SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Video Player

Selecting a specific video will you a pop-up window asking you where you want it to be played - MX Player Pro or the Video Player.

The default video player has a good codecs support, it can play all the files I threw at it, .avi, .3gp, .mp4 and even .mkv as long they have just 720p resolution or below.

The MX Player has more options during playback and one important option is to show the subtitle. Although it still only plays 720p video. I tried to set the video decoding to S/W and it can play 1080p video, but the stuttering and lags are very noticeable therefore you will end up going back to 720p.

Music Player:

The music player will list all your songs in your device, they can be viewed by Artist, Albums, Songs or Playlists. If there is an album art associated with a song it will be displayed accordingly. The music will keep on playing even you minimize the music app, a mini player will appear in the notification panel to quickly access it back.

FM Radio:

The tablet has a built-in antenna therefore you will not need a wired headset when you want to listen to your favorite broadcast station. The channels can be set manually or search automatically. Like the music player, the RM radio will keep working even if you minimize the app. It will run in the background and can be accessed again through the notification area.

Analog TV:

The first time you run the Analog TV application, it will tell you that the channel list is empty. You need to select your region first and scan all the available channels in your area.

SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Analog TV
Analog TV

Watching your favorite TV shows are enjoyable on this 7-inch tablet, however, there are times that the signals are weak, giving you a not so clear images (this could be area dependent since in my place Analog TV signals really sucks).

Camera/Video:

The camera and video share the same interface, there are 3 small icons in the bottom right which corresponds to camera, video and panorama.

The blue shutter key reminds that you are in the camera mode, red for the video mode and green for panorama mode.

The Phoenix Tab 4 is equipped with a 2MP main camera, it is not high for any kind of standard but at least it has one.

Sample Shots:

SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Camera Sample - Far Subject
Far Subject
SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Camera Sample - Night with Flash
Night with Flash
SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Camera Sample - Night without Flash
Night without Flash

As what we can see in the above camera sample shot (night - far subject) it captured almost no image at all (the subject is a lighted swimming pool). On the next two samples, you barely notice any difference between them (flash on/flash off).

Browser:

The stock Android browser supports up to 16 tabs, pages load fairly fast even those with lots of  scripts and images. Even though it only has WVGA resolution, viewing web pages in desktop mode is still welcome.


If you want a different browser, the Opera Mini comes pre-installed.

Gaming:

There are two games factory installed in the Tab 4, the Angry Bird Space and Fruit Ninja. Both games are working pretty well without any issues or hiccups.

SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 Gaming Sample - Fruit Ninja
Fruit Ninja

If you love installing games or application be mindful to check your storage because you cannot move them to SD card only to the phone storage. The micro SD card can only be used for storing photos, videos and other files.


CONNECTIVITY:

The tablet has WiFi connectivity and the signal reception are just OK, it can detect even my neighbor's wireless signal. It can also connect to mobile data connection however, it would be painfully slow since it does not supports 3G.

The micro USB port supports OTG functions, it can detect a 32GB external flash drive without any problem. I also tested connecting a wireless mouse and it just worked fine.

The Bluetooth and 3.5mm audio jack complete the connectivity list.


PRODUCTIVITY:

The productivity tools include the calendar, file manager, calculator, sound recorder and clock. There are no note taking app and document viewer/editor pre-installed but you can simply download your favorite stuff in the Play Store.


BATTERY:

I left the Analog TV with volume set to medium running for about two hours and the battery percentage drops from 100% to just 27%.


CONCLUSION:

The SKK Mobile Phoenix Tab 4 is an all-rounder device, aside from being a tablet it has phone functionality too not to mention it supports dual SIM cards. There is also a  dual speakers which is quite nice for listening to musics, watching videos and your favorite TV shows on the go.

We all know that everything that is cheap comes with a price, first the screen resolution is just WVGA which is low for a tablet. Second it does not come with 3G connectivity and lastly the chipset used has just a single core CPU.

Overall, it is still a good and capable tablet in the budget category.

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