Smart Netphone 701: Unboxing

Remember that Smart commercial with Martin Nievera? Yes, that Smart Amazing phone commercial. We maybe are not far from reliving the prodigious phone in its generation. Smart once again launched that "branding a Smart logo on phone" concept form their lines of phones.

This time, they maybe barking not on the phones outstanding rafts of features but on the aspect of a lifestyle-on-the-fly. I believe it is a good marketing standpoint as banking on the phone's hardware is short-lived as new features pop up every quarter or so. However, taking stride on the online services is provider-centric.

With SmartNet.Ph, from the defunct MySandbox, allows you to connect with your SmartNet-registered buddies. It is fully integrated with Twitter and Facebook so you can shout out what's in your (in)sanity to all three(twitter, FB, and SNPh).

It also syncs with your Google contacts wit your Smart Global Directory. And the instant messaging system which is akin to the Blackberry BBM is a breeze. Just ask your friends to register to the SmartNet and you're on it.

Other services include ability to check your bill/balance instantaneously, track your current subscribed services, purchase new sets of packages on top of your current packages, reload your prepaid phone without ever going to a Smart loading center, pay your bill without going to the neighborhood payment center.

Other features are a de facto standard on Android 2.2 Froyo firmware version. But the hardware specs are as follows: 600Mhz ARM 11 Qualcomm MSM7227 chipset CPU, 3.5" LCD with 480x800 resolution, 512MB of RAM, Wifi 802.11b/g/n, Wifi hotspot, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, FM Radio tuner, GPS with aGPS support, and Li-Ion 1250mAh battery.

The camera slapped at the back is just 3MP autofocus. So don't expect that it yield very good resolution especially under a low light condition.

I came from a Samsung Captivate i897 Galaxy S so an experienced with a 600Mhz clock speed phone is a bit like a degraded experience. I know as the Captivate is way ahead of its generation, having sported a 1Ghz processor which is blazing fast. I can see little jitters when scrolling. And the Lattitude app which is a standard Android app wouldn't even run.

At a Php9,900 for a prepaid handset from a Smart's retail centers, I honestly think it is a bit of a rip off. It could have been appropriately priced had the price point ranges from Php6-7k. Oh well, TipidCP brand new units had that range, so you can also take that as an option.