SKK Mobile Glimpse 2 Review: Catch Of Sight

SKK Mobile Glimpse 2 Review: Catch Of Sight

INTRODUCTION:

Smartphone under 2000 pesos these days are very common offerings from several local mobile brands, what separates one from the other is their specifications and capabilities.

SKK Mobile has several phones that belong to this price category, they have the Neo, Neo 2, Charm, Glimpse and the most recently and the focus of this review is the Glimpse 2.

About Phone

It has similar innards with its predecessor, save for the slightly higher CPU frequency (1.2GHz versus 1GHz), the addition of proximity sensor, LED flash and lastly the colorful back covers.

>>>SKK Mobile Glimpse 2 Unboxing, Preview And Initial Impression


INTERFACE:

Lockscreen

The lockscreen has a padlock icon inside a circle, you can drag in four ways, each will give you different response - left will bring up telephony, right will go directly to messaging, upward is for FM radio and downward will unlock the device. In addition, if you have a missed call or unread message (when your phone is locked) you can go directly to that notification by dragging it towards the circle.

Homescreen

The homescreen can accommodate up to 9 pages, there are five shortcuts docked at the bottom of the screen which are visible on all pages. The middle always opens the app drawer while the remaining four can be altered whichever way you want.

Default Apps

Default Widgets

There are 28 pre-installed applications as well as 28 default widgets, the former has 4x5 layout while the latter is arranged in 3 rows by 2 columns. Among the default apps, only the Facebook, Maps and Opera Mini are removable without the need for root access.

Notification Panel and Quick Toggle Settings

The notification panel can be accessed by one finger swipe from the top of the screen, here you can check all types of notifications and the action you can do with them. The quick toggle settings on the other hand, is available when you swipe with two fingers, here you can turn on/off the most commonly used settings with just one tap.


DUAL SIM FUNCTIONALITY:

SIM Management

The phone supports dual SIM (regular+micro) dual standby, at the first boot it will ask you immediately which SIM you want to use for a specific function. You can set it during that instance or you just go to Settings>SIM Management.


TELEPHONY:

Telephony

The dial pad supports smart and speed dialing, when you are ready to call just press the green handset icon and you are good to go. When you have an incoming call, you can respond to it in three ways - cancel it, cancel it with a message or answer it.

The call quality is OK, both ends can hear each other loud and clear. One useful function during a call is the Notes, as the name implies you can take down important note/s while on a call.

Call Logs

The call logs is where you can find all the call history happened on your phone, you can filter which type of call to display as well as what SIM card was used.


PHONEBOOK:

Phonebook

The phonebook only support contacts, they are grouped letters and if you have a long list you can use the drag option on the right side to jump to a specific letter. You can also filter from which account you want to be displayed as well as the option to import/export a contact.


MESSAGING:

Messaging

The messaging app displays messages based on the latest time of arrival, it will also show a number (color blue) if you have an unread message. In a specific conversation, each message is color coded to easily identify which one you sent and which one you received. The message editor support both SMS and MMS, if you attached anything on SMS, it will be converted to MMS.


EMAIL:

Gmail

The only email app on the phone is the Gmail, but do not worry as it also accepts POP3/IMAP/Exchange emails apart from the Google account.


MULTIMEDIA:

Gallery:

Gallery

The gallery houses all your photos and videos on your phone, you can filler them by albums, locations or times. You can also change the view type by either filmstrip or grid.

Gallery Options

Photo Editor

The photo or video can be shared via Bluetooth, Email, Facebook or other social accounts. There is also a photo editor to enhance any picture you want to share.

Video Player:

Video Player

The video player will list all supported files on your device, sadly it has a very limited codec and can only play videos with small files.

Music Player:

Music Player

The music player will display all supported audio files, you can view them by artist, albums, songs or playlist. The player will display album art when a song is playing, directly below that is the artist name, followed by the album then its title.

FM Radio:

FM Radio

The FM radio requires a connected headset in order for it to function, you can search the channels automatically or set the manually. You can play the broadcast thru the headset or via the loudspeaker, you can also record it if you want to.

Camera and Video:

Camera and Video

The camera and video share the same interface, the record button and shutter key are placed side by side. In the left corner you will find the settings icon while on the right side is the thumbnail of the last item you captured.

Camera/Video Options

Selecting the setting button will reveal several options to tweak the camera and video such as picture size and quality.

Sample Shots:

Sample Shots

The main camera can shoot 2MP still and can record video up to FWVGA resolution. The above pictures are sample photo, for a 2MP camera the resolve resolution is pretty decent.

Browser:

Browser

Opera Mini

The phone has two browsers installed, one is the stock Android app and the other one is the Opera Mini. If you are satisfied with the former, better uninstall the OM to save storage space.

Gaming:

Piano Tiles

Zombie Tsunami

Asphalt 7

Playing casual games like Piano Tiles works like a charm while interactive games like Zombie Tsunami is playable, but not really smooth and there are times that you will encounter hiccups. I also installed Asphalt 7, but the phone hangs when I try to play it.

Install Location

The phone has only about 89MB free storage space, so better move every application to your SD card. One thing I am a bit confused is that I was able to install Asphalt 7, which is a very huge file compared to the available ROM. I tried to replicate it with Zombie Tsunami (available storage is smaller than the game size), but it did not work and return with "insufficient space" error.


CONNECTIVITY:

WiFi

The Glimpse 2 has no 3G capability, so the only option you have to get a good connection is via WiFi. The signal reception is good, there is no sudden drop or loss of signal.

Bluetooth

There is also Bluetooth that works well in transmitting/received files as well as pairing with wireless speaker. The 3.5mm audio jack and the micro USB port complete the connectivity list.


PRODUCTIVITY:

Calculator

Clock

NoteBook

Sound Recorder

To Do

Calendar

File Explorer

The productivity and organizing tools include Calculator, Clock, NoteBook, Sound Recorder, To Do, Calendar and File Explorer. The last item is worthy of discussion, it detects different file types like APK and group them together and it also has an FTP server function to work with files wirelessly.


BATTERY:

Battery Stats

I looped a video clip and the phone last for 4 hours and 22 minutes before the battery drops at 10%. During standby mode, it only consumed 40% of the battery after more than 5 days.


CONCLUSION:

The SKK Mobile Glimpse 2 has a price tag of Php1,999 and its specs is quite good in relation to its cost, a dual core processor, a 4-inch screen with WVGA resolution and dual camera. Even though it has only 256MB of RAM, it still works fine with most tasks. The only let down is when it comes to gaming, but I guess for this price we should never expect too much.


PROS:

Reasonable price
Ample screen size and resolution
Nice look and feel

CONS:

Low RAM
No GPS


Specifications:

• Dual SIM (Regular+micro) Dual Standby
• 4-inch capacitive  WVGA (800x480) touchscreen display
• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
• 1.2GHz Dual Core Cortex-A7 CPU, Mali-400 GPU, MediaTek MT6572 chipset
• 256MB of RAM
• 512MB internal, expandable up to 32GB via microSD
• 2MP main camera with LED Flash,
• VGA secondary camera
• Multimedia Player
• FM Radio
• 3.5 Audio Jack
• WiFi
• Micro USB 2.0
• Bluetooth
• Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity
• 1300mAh Li-Ion battery
• Php1,999