DTC Mobile GT15 Astroid Fiesta Review: Phablet Feast

DTC Mobile GT15 Astroid Fiesta

INTRODUCTION:

The mobile phones today are not so "mobile" or shall I say not pocketable anymore, most flagship phones from either local and global brands have great emphasis on screen size, which translate to a bigger device, a device which we commonly know as phablet.

I am not saying that it is bad, actually there is a huge market on that segment, that is why company's like DTC Mobile are venturing on it. Meet the GT15 Astroid Fiesta, a 6-inch beast powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 1GB or RAM.

The Astroid Fiesta is the largest phone so far from the company, it is also the one sitting on top of their line-up and the most expensive one.

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INTERFACE:

Lockscreen

The lockscreen by default display the date and time at the upper portion while the network providers of the two SIM cards are displayed just below the padlock icon. This icon can be swiped anywhere in order to unlock the device. If you have a missed call or new message, simply drag it to the lock icon so that you can see its content.

Lockscreen Widget

There is also a lockscreen widget which you can access by swiping the lockscreen from either left or right edge going in the opposite direction. The left part is vacant, which you can fill with either calendar, email, messaging or search while the right always opens the camera interface.

Homescreen

The homescreen shows an HTC look-alike digital clock care of the Fancy Widget. There are five favorite shortcuts at the lower part, the middle is for the app drawer while the icons on its left and right can be changed depending on your needs.

Default Apps

Default Widgets

The default apps are arranged in four rows by five columns, none of them can be uninstalled without the root access and some of them needs to be updated first before you can use like the Google Talk (to be updated to Hangouts). Whether you are in the apps or widgets tab, the Play Store icon is always available on upper right corner.

Notification Area & Quick Toggle Settings

The notification area and quick toggle setting can be accessed by one and two-finger swipe from the top of the screen respectively. The former holds not just the notification, but also how you can respond to it, example, a captured screenshot gives you the option to share it. The latter gives you the most commonly used settings, which you can easily change with a single tap.


DUAL SIM FUNCTIONALITY:

SIM Management

The GT15 supports dual SIM dual standby, you can customize which SIM card is for a specific function by going to Settings>SIM Management.


TELEPHONY:

Dial Pad

The dial pad has a smart dialing, it searches for both name and number inputs. There is also a speed dial wherein you can assign up to 8 numbers which you can easily call by simply dialing a one-digit number.

Calls

When you make an outgoing call, it will ask you which SIM card you want to use (unless otherwise you already chose a default SIM for calling in the SIM Management section or if you have only one SIM).

Any incoming calls give you the option to cancel it, cancel with SMS or answer it. The call quality is loud and clear. The screen automatically turns off once you hold your phone near to your ear.

Call Logs

The call logs keep all your call history, you can filter them by SIM card used or the type of calls. Selecting a specific log will give you more detail info.


PHONEBOOK:

Contacts

Groups

The phonebook contacts and groups can be created or saved either on the phone or via online accounts. In the same manner you can filter from which account you want to be displayed on your phonebook. Each contact can contain multiple information such as name, numbers, email, address and even their photo, you can also merge contacts from several accounts so that you won't see any duplicated entries.


MESSAGING:

Messaging

The messaging display your SMS or MMS based on the latest time stamped, on a specific conversation your message appears on the right while his/her message is on the left. Since the GT15 is a dual SIM phone, the message also shows which SIM you used on each SMS you sent.

You can attach almost any file on the message and if you did, the messaging editor will convert it to MMS. When sending a message, it does not ask you which SIM to use, instead there is a double key which corresponds to each SIM card inserted in your phone.


EMAIL:

Email

The DTC Fiesta supports both generic email app and Gmail app, both are very useful in accessing your emails on the go, both are easy to set-up and can contain multiple accounts.


MULTIMEDIA:

Gallery:

Gallery

The gallery houses both your pictures and videos, you can view them in filmstrip mode (one picture at a time) or grid mode (displays your photos in thumbnails). You also have the option to filter them based on Albums, Times or their Locations.

Gallery Options

Any items in the gallery can be shared locally via Bluetooth or online via emails or social accounts.

Photo Editor

The pictures can be edited using the Photo Editor which you can access by pressing the 3 overlapping circles or via the edit option.

Video Trim

Movie Studio

There is also a simple video clipping tool in the gallery called Trim, which you can access by selecting edit to any of your video under the gallery. If you want to do more on your videos, you can opt to use the Movie Studio which you can find in your app drawer.

Video Player:

Video Player

The video player list all files associated to a video, if a thumbnail is displayed, that gives you a hint that the file is playable. The stock player has a good video codec support, it can play the usual .avi, .3gp, .mp4 and even .flv and mkv, sadly it can only decode up to 720p video, 1080p is a no go.

Music Player:

Music Player

The music player list all audio files in your device, they can be viewed by either Artist, Albums, Songs or Playlist. Those with album art will be displayed accordingly when played. There is no problem even if you minimize the player, the musics will continue to play and can be controlled via the notification area.

FM Radio:

FM Radio

The FM radio needs an antenna to work, the interface is very simple, the lower part is for channel navigation while the upper part is where you can access the options such as record the broadcast or play it through the loudspeaker.

Camera and Video:

Camera and Video

The camera and video share the same interface, on the left side are the camera modes while on the right side are the thumbnail of the last shot, camera shutter key, video recording button and the settings (arranged from top to bottom).

Camera & Video Settings

The gear icon on the lower left corresponds for the settings, here you can change the picture size and video quality. You can also tweak the camera exposure, white balance, etc and the video video recording format (.3gp or .mp4).

The main camera can shoot up to 13MP high resolution photos and up to 720p videos at 30 fps. You can also take a picture while recording a video. Below is the complete video quality information (audio and video codec are the same for both .3gp and .mp4).

Quality: Fine (1280 x 720)
Audio: mp4a: MPEG-4 AAC LC 24000Hz  96 kb/s tot , stereo (2/0)
Video: mp4v MPEG-4 Video

Quality: High (1280 x 720)
Audio: mp4a: MPEG-4 AAC LC 16000Hz  96 kb/s tot , stereo (2/0)
Video: avc1 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC

Quality: Medium (640 x 480)
Audio: mp4a: MPEG-4 AAC LC 16000Hz  96 kb/s tot , stereo (2/0)
Video: avc1 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC

Quality: Low (176 x 144)
Audio: samr: AMR Narrowband 8000Hz 
Video: avc1 H.264/MPEG-4 AVC

Sample Shots:

Before video recording

While video recording

Afternoon

Night

Day

Inside the mall

Closeup

Panorama

The image quality is just average, although the camera has a 13MP sensor I can say that its quality is just comparable to an 8MP camera.

Browser:

Browser

The stock Android browser can hold up to 16 tabs, pages load quickly, even those with lots of scripts and images. It also supports incognito more for stealth mode web surfing. Mobile version of the web is recommended since you will have a hard time viewing the texts if you are on the desktop version.

Gaming:

Candy Crush Saga

Subway Surfers

Temple Run 2

Dead Trigger

Dungeon Hunter 4

Asphalt 7

The casual and graphics-intensive games I usually used in my reviews are all working fine without any problem, although for the latter the loading time is longer.

Install Location

If there is a micro SD card inserted into the phone, it will become the default storage and you can also set it as your default installation location for your apps and games.


CONNECTIVITY:

3G & Tethering

The GT5 has a two slots for two SIM cards, both of which can be used for your 3G mobile internet connection, just go to Settings>More>Mobile Networks>3G Service>Enable 3G. This high speed mobile internet can be tethered via a wireless hotspot, USB or Bluetooth.

WiFi

The 802.11 b/g/n WiFi can detect a variety of channels and its signal reception is good.

USB Computer Connection

When it is connected to your computer, it will ask what type of connection you want, the options are the same as the above screenshot.

OTG Support

The micro USB port also supports OTG functions, external flash drive and wireless mouse were both detected during the testing. The 3.5mm audio jack and Bluetooth complete the list.


PRODUCTIVITY:

Calculator

Calendar

Clock

File Manager

Notebook

Sound Recorder

To Do

The productivity tools installed are the usual stock Android applications, namely Calculator, Calendar, Clock, To Do, Sound Recorder, File Manager and Notebook. The document editor/viewer is still nowhere to be found, but you can easily download them in the Play Store.


GPS:

GPS

The GPS has A-GPS and EPO assistance, I was able to get satellite lock in under two minutes.


BATTERY:

Battery Stats

I looped a 720p video and the Astroid Fiesta managed to last for about 6 hours before the battery dropped to 15% (left) while playing Asphalt 7 registered 4 hours before the 15% battery warning popped up (right).


OTHERS:

Fancy Widgets

DTC Mobile always includes Fancy Widgets app in their devices and the GT15 is no exception. This app gives you the option to change the default widget to a more eye-candy one.

Flashlight

The Flashlight app uses the LED flash at the back of the phone, no other option than on and off.

Backup & Restore

It is an app to Backup your personal files and installed applications which you can restore when the need for it arises.

Google Apps

The Google applications include YouTube, Now, Search, Local, Map and Navigation.

Facebook, Twitter & WhatsApp

The social networking applications installed are Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp.


CONCLUSION:

The DTC Mobile GT15 Astroid Fiesta is one of the 6-inch smartphone you can find in the local market. It has a solid build quality and nice sets of internals. Performance wise, it can handle most of the tasks you threw at it.

The qHD screen resolution may be a downer for some, but it is not bad at all and it actually helps in terms of interface fluidity. While most of the competitors have scratch-resistant glass protecting the phone's display, the GT15 still resort to an old fashioned screen protector.

Specifications:

• Dual SIM , Dual Standby
• Quad Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Dual Band 3G
• 6" capacitive qHD (960x540) touchscreen display, 5-point multi-touch
• Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
• 1.2GHz Quad Core Cortex-A7 CPU, PowerVR SGX544MP GPU, MediaTek MT6589 chipset
• 1GB of RAM
• 4GB internal, expandable up to 32GB via microSD
• 13MP auto focus main camera with LED flash
• 2MP (5MP in Antutu) secondary camera
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct, WiFi Hotspot
• Bluetooth
• 3.5mm audio jack
• Micro USB 2.0
• GPS with A-GPS and EPO assitance
• Stereo FM Radio
• MP3/MP4 Player
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity, Light
• 2700mAh Li-Po battery
• Price: Php8,888