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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

SKK Aura Unboxing with UI & App Screenshots


SKK Aura
I bought this unit at SKK's Robinsons Metroeast branch for 2,999 Php. Got this one for my dad to replace his MyPhone Rio Lite that I reviewed a year ago.

If you're looking for benchmark results, stress tests, and sample shots, I'm pretty sure the local tech blogs will post their own reviews soon. This is more of a photo blog of my unboxing and a dozen or so screenshots of the SKK Aura's UI and apps.


Eco bag and Box
Box (back)
Box (left side)
Box (right side)
Box (bottom) 12-Month Warranty
What's in the box?



Unit, Manual, Warranty Card, Earphones, Charger, Tempered Glass and wipes
Everything in the box except the unit
Free Tempered Glass and wipes
Charger
SKK Aura
Screen on
Screen on (with flash) 
SKK Aura (back)
Back and battery (with back cover removed)
Sim and MicroSD card slot
The MicroSD card slot is also the one that's 3G. The regular sim card slot is only 2G.

SKK Aura running on Android KitKat
UI

No app drawer.





Camera





Camera Widget

I find this widget amusing as heck! 


If you press the middle button of the widget, the photo of the DSLR camera will turn into a viewfinder. Clicking it again will take a pic!


Clicking the left camera button will return the widget back into a photo of a DSLR camera.


Recently taken photos will be displayed at the bottom like so. Photos taken with this widget will have a timestamp at the bottom with a 'polaroid' effect. See:

Camera widget photo

Clicking the photo will bring up 2 options, share and delete.

Share
Clicking share will bring up this menu.

Beauty



Theme
(I'll try to update this section when I get a hold of my dad's phone again.) I thought this folder would contain camera apps like BeautyPlus or Camera 360. But it's actually customization apps. The Theme app offers 4 free themes that have different icon sets. All the wallpapers used by the themes are available in the Wallpapers gallery.

Music

Native Music app
Dad doesn't really listen to music so there's nothing to be displayed here. I'll try to update this section too if I can.

Settings
Settings
If I update I'll add the bottom part of the Settings.

About phone

About phone
FM Radio 


FM Radio
File Explorer

Quick View

Images

Video

Audio

Documents

Applications

Internal Storage

External Storage

Notes

Basic Note app. If you want something that's cross device/platform and has sync, I suggest using Evernote or Google Keep instead.
Notes
 Search


Search
 Calculator
Basic Calculator

Scientific Calculator
  Sound Recorder



Sound Recorder

Downloads
I tried downloading an image on Opera Mini, but it didn't show up here. Maybe it only displays files you downloaded using the native Browser or file types that can't be displayed in the Gallery.

Flashlight

The LED flash will not disappoint. It's BRIGHT!
Flashlight
 Clock
Alarm

World Clock

Timer

Stopwatch
 Calendar
Calendar
 Video Player

 

I didn't realize I wasn't able to capture what the actual UI looked like. I'll try to upload pics of that too.

Gallery




Incoming Call UI
Caller ID



Easyshop

This one isn't an app, but a link to the website.


EasyShop Landing Page

EasyShop
 Skk

Same as above, it's not an app but a link to SKK's website.


Boost

Boost in action
Freed UI
 It was able to do its job. It's just 0.0B because repeated it so you'd see the UI. I didn't screenshot it fast enough the first time.

Recent Apps

You can access the Recent Apps by holding down the middle softkey.




Swiping left on an app doesn't close it, rather it locks the app up (see Evernote above) so it won't be closed when you click on the recycle bin icon.


Long pressing on an app makes this menu (Remove from list and App info) pop-up.

Messaging
Messaging
Power Menu
Holding down the Power button pulls up the Power Menu.

Quickbar

I'm still looking for the customization option for the quickbar. Can't seem to find it!
Quickbar

Notifications
Android KitKat
Android KitKat

Specifications (according to the box)


  • Android 4.4.2 Kitkat
  • 1.3 GHz Quad-Core
  • 5.5" qHD IPS Display
  • ROM: 4GB / RAM: 512MB
  • Bluetooth / FM Radio
  • Dual SIM Card Dual Standby
  • WIFI / 3G / GPS
  • Expandable Memory up to 64GB
  • Battery 2800mAh
Overall Impression

+ Snappy UI
My sister had a few minutes to tinker with the phone. When I told her it was running on a 512MB RAM she was surprised. It was snappy enough for her. Her phone is an Asus Zenfone 4 running on Lollipop. I noticed this too. It might take a second to open apps like the Camera and the Opera Mini, but overall I didn't feel like I was on a 512MB RAM device! I opened almost all the apps (except for Facebook, Twitter and Viber) and took screenshots. I didn't need to clear RAM at all! I only had to that one time, so I could take screenshots of the Booster app. It might all be thanks to KitKat though.

+ No bloatware
I don't consider Facebook, Opera Mini, Twitter and Viber bloatwares, but can't uninstall them. You can disable them though. The EasyShop and Skk are also considered system apps, so you can't uninstall these too, only disable them. However, since they are 'links' they take up less than 1MB of space!

+ Smart wake feature
Smart wake feature is fun to use once you familiarize yourself with the shortcuts. When I use the Double-click to bright screen (double tap to wake) it takes a second before the screen wakes. Compared to pushing the Power button that almost instantaneously wakes up the device. I'll update this post with screenshots.

Conclusion

Can't really say much about the phone this early. But I can say this phone is great for those who are looking for a 5.5" screen Android device running on KitKat with an above average battery capacity. If you want more storage space, higher RAM, crispier screen, and better camera you should either prepare your wallet, or prepare to compromise on specs, specifically the three I mentioned above.

 For 2,999 Php, is there anything else that can beat it? Name your contender below!