THL T100 Monkey King 2 Octa Core, Exclusive First Look! Price Guesstimate, Release Date, Specs, Antutu Benchmark Score!
"A more popular manufacturer had already launched an Octa Core Android smartphone in the Philippines. But the chipset that they used is incapable of running all eight cores at the same time. THL Monkey King 2 is the first handset to be launched in the country with true Octa Core capability -- thanks to its MediaTek MT6592 chipset," Mr. Adrian Lim, IT Director of Novo7Tech - the Official Distributor of THL smartphones in the Philippines - told me in my meeting with them last Monday.
TP Friends, I really have to thank THL for trusting TechPinas this much -- so much so that they chose my blog to be the first media outlet in the country to get a first look and an exclusive hands-on of their upcoming and much-awaited flagship release.
When it hits store shelves just a bit later this month, THL Monkey King 2 - also known as THL T100 and T100S in other territories - will be the very first true octa core Android smartphone to become available in the Philippines, making THL - via Novo7Tech - the first company to announce and release such handset in the country.
With the way things are going in the smartphone industry, it's not hard to predict that 2014 will be the year of Octa Core Android handsets. I'm personally expecting all local players and fast-rising international ones like O+ and Huawei to likewise announce their Octa Core flagship devices within the next few days.
THL Monkey King 2 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system replete with stock user interface with its 1.7 GHz Octa Core ARM Cortex A7 CPU and 700 MHz Mali 450 GPU based MediaTek MT6592 SoC - which can run all 8 cores at the same time when needed or just use 1 core to save energy when there's little user activity on the device - and handles multitasking with 2 GB of RAM. The smartphone also has 32 GB of internal storage, which users can further expand via microSD card slot supporting up to 64GB.
Design-wise, the phone flaunts a very subdued yet elegant design language with edge-to-edge heavily-cornered scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 3 face and matte plastic back cover with subtle curves on either sides. The prototype unit that our friends from THL showed is the "to be improved" Black variant and according to them, they will also launch Champagne Gold and Yellow Gold versions. Construction-wise, the phone feels solid and durable when you hold and while it's not quite as gorgeous and visually-arresting as the glass-crafted O+ Imagine, THL Monkey King 2 does have its own charm.
At the back, we'll find the Full HD 30fps video recorder and the 13 MegaPixel autofocus camera with LED flash and a Sony-made sensor which is said to greatly improve low-light performance. This module is complemented by the 13 MegaPixel front cam, which - although has a fixed focus lens - nonetheless has the same sensor by Sony. TP Friends, I will show you sample photos and one Full HD video taken using THL T100 in a separately entry.
And as if all those amazing features aren't enough, THL Monkey King 2 - which sports a 5-inch Full HD IPS OGS display panel - is also a Dual SIM Dual 3G Dual Standby device! One slot supports regular mini SIM while the other is for microSIM.
The handset is powered by a removable 2,700 mAh Li-Ion battery pack, which - according to Novo7Tech - incorporates a rather new battery technology that gives a bigger capacity in a smaller package and increases the battery's life cycle. During their internal testing, THL T100 delivered 17 hours straight of mixed usage including making calls, texting, taking photos, recording videos, browsing websites over WiFi, updating Facebook and Twitter, and playing games.
For those who are wondering how an Octa Core MediaTek MT6592 powered handset performs against devices with more high-end chipsets, I have here the Antutu and Quadrant Standard Benchmark scores of THL Monkey King 2.
So when exactly will this true Octa Core Android smartphone become available in the Philippines and how much will it cost? Our friends from THL told me that they will be doing a soft launch of the phone at the opening of their new concept store in SM Southmall on December 20, 2013 -- that's already this coming Friday. The phone won't be available for purchase on that day but consumers can already sign-up and reserve a unit under their name at the venue. Our TP Price Guesstimate for this stunning device is around Php 16,000 to Php 18,000 but quoting Novo7Tech, "We plan to surprise Pinoy Android fans with the very reasonable promo price of our THL Monkey King 2 True Octa Core! We will share the exact pricing details first and exclusively with TechPinas within the next few days so they better stay tuned!"
TP Friends, I really have to thank THL for trusting TechPinas this much -- so much so that they chose my blog to be the first media outlet in the country to get a first look and an exclusive hands-on of their upcoming and much-awaited flagship release.
When it hits store shelves just a bit later this month, THL Monkey King 2 - also known as THL T100 and T100S in other territories - will be the very first true octa core Android smartphone to become available in the Philippines, making THL - via Novo7Tech - the first company to announce and release such handset in the country.
With the way things are going in the smartphone industry, it's not hard to predict that 2014 will be the year of Octa Core Android handsets. I'm personally expecting all local players and fast-rising international ones like O+ and Huawei to likewise announce their Octa Core flagship devices within the next few days.
THL Monkey King 2 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system replete with stock user interface with its 1.7 GHz Octa Core ARM Cortex A7 CPU and 700 MHz Mali 450 GPU based MediaTek MT6592 SoC - which can run all 8 cores at the same time when needed or just use 1 core to save energy when there's little user activity on the device - and handles multitasking with 2 GB of RAM. The smartphone also has 32 GB of internal storage, which users can further expand via microSD card slot supporting up to 64GB.
Design-wise, the phone flaunts a very subdued yet elegant design language with edge-to-edge heavily-cornered scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 3 face and matte plastic back cover with subtle curves on either sides. The prototype unit that our friends from THL showed is the "to be improved" Black variant and according to them, they will also launch Champagne Gold and Yellow Gold versions. Construction-wise, the phone feels solid and durable when you hold and while it's not quite as gorgeous and visually-arresting as the glass-crafted O+ Imagine, THL Monkey King 2 does have its own charm.
At the back, we'll find the Full HD 30fps video recorder and the 13 MegaPixel autofocus camera with LED flash and a Sony-made sensor which is said to greatly improve low-light performance. This module is complemented by the 13 MegaPixel front cam, which - although has a fixed focus lens - nonetheless has the same sensor by Sony. TP Friends, I will show you sample photos and one Full HD video taken using THL T100 in a separately entry.
"THL changed their logo. I'm not sure if you noticed but the old one looked a lot like that of another handset company. I think this new one looks more youthful and attractive," Sir Adrian told me.
The handset is powered by a removable 2,700 mAh Li-Ion battery pack, which - according to Novo7Tech - incorporates a rather new battery technology that gives a bigger capacity in a smaller package and increases the battery's life cycle. During their internal testing, THL T100 delivered 17 hours straight of mixed usage including making calls, texting, taking photos, recording videos, browsing websites over WiFi, updating Facebook and Twitter, and playing games.
For those who are wondering how an Octa Core MediaTek MT6592 powered handset performs against devices with more high-end chipsets, I have here the Antutu and Quadrant Standard Benchmark scores of THL Monkey King 2.
On Antutu, THL T100 got a score of 25,716, which supposedly puts it in between this year's flagship releases HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 in terms of power and performance.
Device Info section of Antutu Benchmark Test shows the key technical specifications of the handset, including the exact chipset model, the ~2GB of RAM, and ~32GB of internal storage.
THL Monkey King 2 got a score of 13,230 in Quadrant Standard -- easily besting and slaying aging devices included in the comparative chart.
So when exactly will this true Octa Core Android smartphone become available in the Philippines and how much will it cost? Our friends from THL told me that they will be doing a soft launch of the phone at the opening of their new concept store in SM Southmall on December 20, 2013 -- that's already this coming Friday. The phone won't be available for purchase on that day but consumers can already sign-up and reserve a unit under their name at the venue. Our TP Price Guesstimate for this stunning device is around Php 16,000 to Php 18,000 but quoting Novo7Tech, "We plan to surprise Pinoy Android fans with the very reasonable promo price of our THL Monkey King 2 True Octa Core! We will share the exact pricing details first and exclusively with TechPinas within the next few days so they better stay tuned!"
Labels:
Cellphones
TechPinas Exclusives
THL
THL Monkey King 2
THL T100
THL T100 Monkey King 2
THL T100 Monkey King 2 Octa Core
.jpg)