SKK Lynx was the company's biggest surprise this year! It was a very impressive piece of machine that's price ridiculously low for the specs and features at just PHP 3,999! Now after a week of testing here's our full review of the said device.
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| SKK Lynx |
For the Unboxing, Build Quality and Initial Impressions article: Click Here!
Display
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| The display of SKK Lynx |
At 320 ppi it is probably the best HD display you can get under PHP 4K. It is not overly bright, the details are fine, the colors looks good and it has good viewing angles. It was also able to perform very well in sunlight and the good thing about this is it doesn't hurt my eyes even after hours of use. It did a wonderful job on viewing YouTube videos, photos, social media and playing games.
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| Browser display |
Overall, the display quality of the Lynx will impress a lot of people with its sharp and great looking screen.
Update: After more than a month of use, the SKK Lynx I have here still don't have any scratches even without screen protector and case. Great Job SKK, greaaat job!
Battery Life
Update: After more than a month of use, the SKK Lynx I have here still don't have any scratches even without screen protector and case. Great Job SKK, greaaat job!
Battery Life
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| Battery of Lynx |
This is where the Lynx beats most of its competition... The battery life of SKK Lynx did a wonderful job for an octa core HD phone! I was able to use it for more than 21 hours regular daily usage that includes occasional gaming, music (via Bluetooth IEM), internet (via 3G and WiFi) and taking a lot of photos. For hard core gamers this should last for at least 4 hours of straight gaming.
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| Black and white mode |
I also loved its power saving features to extend the phone usage. There's a screen saving mode that could turn your screen into black and white that's good to use when your battery level is extremely low or when reading e-books.
Audio
Audio
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| Sound-tripping with the Lynx |
Speakers - The speakers of the Lynx is quite strong! It was able to produce a louder than average tunes. The audio quality coming from this phone is also quite decent and won't distort even at 90% volume that's fairly great. The sound signature is bright which is more on the treble side, has decent mids / vocals and the some of the bass tunes present.
Audio Output / Compatibility - the SKK Lynx worked on all of my headphone and in ear monitor collections except the RHA MA750i. It's not the fault of the phone though, maybe there's something wrong with the jack of that IEM. Most headphones with mic are working too: Kitsound Mini check, Quadbeat 2 check, Samsung in ear with mic check and Earpods check.
When it comes to the sound quality of the Lynx, it is fairly balanced sounding. It can drive most headphones and iem with low impedance. The lows is quite fine, the mids sounded good enough and the highs is there. There's nothing too special about it, but it is not bad sounding compared to some smartphones below PHP 4K. Overall, it is a decent all rounder type of source and good enough for the general public unless you're an audio purist.
Update: I've noticed this also quite more detailed compared MyPhone Rio, Redmi 1S. The soundstage and separation is also on the satisfactory side.
When it comes to the sound quality of the Lynx, it is fairly balanced sounding. It can drive most headphones and iem with low impedance. The lows is quite fine, the mids sounded good enough and the highs is there. There's nothing too special about it, but it is not bad sounding compared to some smartphones below PHP 4K. Overall, it is a decent all rounder type of source and good enough for the general public unless you're an audio purist.
Update: I've noticed this also quite more detailed compared MyPhone Rio, Redmi 1S. The soundstage and separation is also on the satisfactory side.
Microphone - The SKK Lynx utilizes a single microphone, it works just enough to hear the person you're talking on the phone properly and record some videos with sound.
Free earbuds with mic - It's listenable, but definitely needs improvement. I appreciate the effort by SKK to add an IEM with mic in their package as it is quite usable especially if you do not have a good sounding pair yet.
Camera
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| HDR Indoors good lighting |
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| Normal Indoors good lighting |
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| Outdoors |
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| Indoors club like lighting |
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| Indoors dim lighting |
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| Indoors lights off near flash |
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| Outdoors poor lighting no flash |
Sample video dark
Sample video good light
The camera quality of the SKK Lynx surprised me a lot especially at this price point. Given that they used an unknown type of camera sensor it managed to take decent shots even in low light conditions. The outdoor shots were detailed, superb and looks fairly natural. The flash is very strong! It's good for distance shots, but the flash overwhelms the subject once you shoot too near. (See Indoors lights off near flash image) The front camera also did a good job outdoors and was decent in dim light, however it was not able to produce much of the details I wanted to see. For most it must be good enough. Again, at this price point I cannot complain. :)
Though I'm no camera expert (just a point and shoot auto guy), I can say that the rear camera of SKK Lynx can compete even with other camera phones above this price range. It's still far from DSLR like quality, but for a point and shoot phone this is better than the average. (Arguably the best camera phone I've seen under 4K)
Update: After the OTA update last wednesday the flash bug that leads to over-exposure was fixed
Performance
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| Sample game |
As an octa core phone the SKK Lynx won't disappoint! Everything feels buttery smooth and responsive. I was able to switch through numerous apps with ease and browsing feels great. Opening and closing of apps was also pretty fast. Gaming was also great on this phone, thanks to that 5 point multi touch in its display, octa core processor and the Mali 450 GPU. I was also able to run heavy games like NBA 2K14, Real Boxing and my favorite mini game (Subway Surfers) with no lag at all. There was just one occasion when the phone lag for a bit as I forgot to optimize the phone, kill apps and clear cache for 3 straight days. Overall, the Lynx is a powerful phone at an entry level price.
Quick gaming video
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| Gestures |
What I liked much about this phone is the tons of features in it like the double tap to wake, security features, other shortcut gestures and that amazing battery management tool.
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| Wireless update and total storage |
Benchmarks
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| Benchmarks |
For a 5 inches HD phone that's running on a MT6592 processor and Mali 450 GPU the Lynx delivered my expected scores.
Antutu - 27,618
Geek Bench - 2001 (Multi Core), 362 (Single Core)
Vellamo - 1,502 (Browser)
Quadrant - 11,793
Quadrant - 11,793
Pro's - display, rear camera, battery life, power saving management, features like (double tap, hotknot, quick start and other actions), doesn't heat up, feels right to hold, loud speakers, build quality (metal frame), OTG capability, sleek design, PRICE!
Con's - No LED notification, front camera not that good in low light, as expected the stock IEM with mic isn't that good
Verdict
We have a new king in the sub PHP 5,000 department! SKK Lynx is the phone to beat and a real game changer in the sub 5K department! It has that amazing combination of premium build quality, HD display, speed, power, long battery life and great camera optics. I know it is still not perfect, but the features and specifications we saw with this phone was unimaginable before. Last year it was MyPhone Rio, this year SKK Lynx is on the right track in becoming the early favorite for our local smartphone of the year award.
