DTC Mobile Jupiter Plus Unboxing and Review: Jupiter Ascending |
INTRODUCTION:
DTC Mobile has been very conservative about their phone offerings, they have fewer devices when compared to other local brands, this is because they design and manufacture their own products.
CPU Z |
The last time they announced a new wave of products was way back May of 2014 and the Jupiter Plus is part of that group. It sports a 4.7-inch touchscreen display powered by a 1.3GHz quad core MediaTek processor coupled with 8GB of ROM and 1GB of RAM.
UNBOXING and HANDS-ON:
Video Unboxing and Hands-on
Retail Package |
The retail package consists of the unit, battery, warranty card, user manual, charger, USB cable, headset, FREE screen protector and FREE phone case. In terms of the physical aspects, it has the same design with the original DTC Jupiter, in fact they have the same footprint, you can check it here. Display wise, the only difference is their resolution, the Plus has HD screen.
SENSORS:
Sensors |
Like its predecessor, it has an accelerometer, ambient light and proximity sensors, all of which are functioning properly.
BENCHMARKS:
Antutu, Quadrant, Vellamo |
NenaMark2 |
The benchmark results are typical for an Android device with MT6582 chipset. When you compare the scores of the Jupiter and the Jupiter Plus, the latter has higher numbers even though it has a higher pixel count. It is supposed to have lower scores due to the 720p display, but it did not, the reason behind is that the benchmark apps algorithms are different from 10 months ago.
INTERFACE:
About Phone and OTA |
Interface |
It runs on slightly outdated Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and when I checked the DTC OTA app, it still says that the system is currently up to date. The interface is almost stock with Fancy Widgets on top, this is also the identical to the older Jupiter.
BASIC FUNCTIONS:
Basic Functions |
All the basic functions are working fine, no issue or problem encountered during the review period.
MULTIMEDIA:
Gallery:
Gallery |
The gallery holds all the photos and videos stored on your device and can be filtered by albums, locations or times and it has a built-in photo editor app. What is missing is the video trimming app, good thing is that there is Movie Studio app to take its part.
Video Player, Music Player and FM Radio:
Video Player, Music Player and FM Radio |
The video player can handle different file types up to 1080p resolution, watching movies are pleasurable because of its high definition IPS display, although under bright light it tends to be reflective. Meanwhile, the music player displays album art together with other audio information while the song is playing. Lastly, the FM radio requires a connected headset to work.
Camera and Video:
Camera and Video |
The camera and video use the stock Android camera interface wherein their shutter buttons are placed side by side at the lower part of the UI. The shooting modes include normal, beauty shot, HDR and panorama.
Sample Photos:
Day |
100% Crop |
Day_1 |
The main camera can take photos of up to 13MP resolutions while the front one has a 3.2MP sensor, pretty much the same with the older Jupiter. Honestly, I believed that the rear shooter has the same module since the image qualities are almost identical. Overall, the output is good with realistic colors, especially when there is an ample source of lighting.
However, the amount of resolved details are only comparable to those 8MP camera only. If you take a look on the word "EXIT" it is readable, but not as clear compared to other phones that we reviewed that has the same camera resolution.
Browser:
Browser |
The browser supports multiple tabs and incognito mode, you can also bookmark web pages and even save them for offline reading. In terms of browsing speed, it is fast and loads sites quickly, even those with lots of images.
Gaming:
Despicable Me |
Asphalt 7 |
Heroes of Order & Chaos |
Dungeon Hunter 4 |
Storage and Install Location |
The casual games or those that do not require intensive graphics are handled by the phone at ease. Meanwhile, Despicable Me and HD games are also playable, however, the frame rates are noticeably lower not to mention that the loading times are longer. It terms of storage, it has a unified 6.22GB of space, but if you need more, just insert an SD card and it will be the default storage and install location.
CONNECTIVITY:
Connectivity |
The connectivity features include dual SIM capability with dual 3G, which you can share through tethering and hotspot, WiFi, wireless display, Bluetooth, 3.5mm audio jack and a micro USB port that lacks OTG support. All of them are working properly without any known issues during the test period.
PRODUCTIVITY:
Productivity |
The productivity tools include a calculator, calendar, clock, file manager, sound recorder and to do. There is no document editor/viewer, but you can always download one for free in the Play Store.
GPS:
GPS |
The phone has built-in GPS with A-GPS and EPO assistance, with data pre-loaded, it was able to get a satellite lock in about 3 seconds with an accuracy of 10 feet.
BATTERY STATS:
Battery Stats |
I used it as my back-up phone with two SIM cards inserted, its main function is a tool to communicate with my family, mostly through text and call. In this kind of usage, which I considered as very light, it managed to last for more than two days. Meanwhile, the phone lasted for more than 6 hours during our video-loop test while more than 3 hours on our game-loop test.
CONCLUSION:
The DTC Mobile Jupiter Plus is generally an incremental follow-up of its predecessor, wherein the "+" translates to a higher screen resolution and twice the internal storage. It offers a seamless interface, can play HD videos, good camera and above average battery performance. However, it runs on slightly older version of Android, which is 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
PROS:
4.7-inch HD IPS display
Quad core processor
1GB of RAM
8GB of ROM
Good battery life
CONS:
Runs on older Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Specifications:
- Quad band 2G, dual band 3G
- Dual SIM (regular+micro) dual standby
- 4.7-inch IPS HD (1280x720) capacitive touchscreen display, 5-point touch
- Weight: 150 grams
- Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
- 1.3GHz Quad Core Cortex-A7 CPU, Mali-400MP2 GPU, MediaTek MT6582 chipset
- 1GB of RAM
- 8GB internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via micro SD
- 13MP auto focus main camera with LED flash
- 3.2MP secondary camera
- Multimedia player
- FM Radio
- 3.5mm audio jack
- GPS with A-GPS
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Micro USB 2.0
- Bluetooth
- Sensor: accelerometer, light, proximity
- 2200mAh Li-Po battery
- Price: Php6,990
- Freebies: Phone case and screen protector
7k? Lol.
ReplyDeleteHi there, does the new GT17A Jupiter Plus have a working backlight on the home, menu, and back keys? The previous GT17 version did not.
ReplyDeleteDoes DTC ever release OTA updates for their devices, or is it pretty much pushed out to the market and then forgotten? I'd really like to see KitKat on this device.
Thanks very much for the review!
Thanks for reading my review. As far as I can recall, capacitive keys have back lights. For the OTA updates, based on my experience, they did twice
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Anjie for the reply!
ReplyDeleteWelcome po
ReplyDeleteIs there anyone out there who has the rom for GT17A Jupiter plus? I need flash it and it is not available in anywhere... Maybe somebody could provide a rom dump? Please contact me riiapikk@yandex.com
ReplyDeleteParang may hawig ung graphics neto sa myphone pero pnkgsto ko about this is its camera :))
ReplyDeleteI love the camera.💟😀👍
ReplyDeletenice, love he camera resolution!
ReplyDeleteoh my why the main cam is 13mp which is good but the secondary cam which is 3.2mp is not...
ReplyDeletenice camera ah !!!
ReplyDeleteMuch I Want !!!
ReplyDelete