Today, Synrgic launches its first Smartphone in Singapore. I was glad to be invited to witness this event. The Synrgic Uno is an Android-powered smartphone with most of the features of a premium phone but at an affordable price. It is designed in Singapore and made in Korea.
From the picture, you can see the packaging of the Synrgic Uno. Before the event starts, we were not able to see the device except for some wall pictures.
I took the opportunity to take a quick look at the packaging.
The event started by Mr. Terence Koh (Head of Marketing SEA) to welcome us and also provide a brief glimpse of their company profile.
The company was established in Singapore from 2009. In 2010, they produced their first 7-inch tablet for North Asian market. Today, I also had a chance to take a look at their latest tablet (no picture) and I think consumers will like it. Anyway, they have offices in many countries (Hong Kong, Shenzhen China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam).
Next, the CEO, Mr. Cheo Suan Jin, took the stage to officially announce the arrival of the Synrgic Uno. Before he showed us the device, he took time to explain the design, technology inside the Synrgic Uno.
If you think Mr. Cheo is very young, he is (at the age of 26 years old).
The Synrgic Uno is powered by the TI OMAP 4470 chip as the processor (dual core).
And here is a diagram to show you the efficiency of the chip with 1 GB of RAM.
There is no LTE on this Synrgic Uno. I have talked to the Synrgic people. They might release LTE models in the future. Here are the basic features of the phone. Note that there is NFC in it (nice move).
And Mr. Cheo also announced a 1-to-1 exchange program, Syngric Exchange, for this phone. If you have this phone and is still covered by warranty, they will replace it with a new unit with no question asked.
Finally, the moment has come to witness the actual device (shown here by the pretty Arissa Cheo).
Mr. Terence did a demo to show how fast and fluid the phone is when playing games on it using external output to HD TV.
The phone will be available online from today. The price for this Synrgic Uno is USD320 or around S$400. BTW, did I mention that the some of the ringtones are composed by Singaporean? 🙂
http://www.synrgic.com/uno
The event ended with some Q&A. Richard Lai from Engadget about delivery since there is no physical shop selling this phone. According to Mr. Cheo, the delivery to (for example) Hong Kong is free.
I questioned about the exchange program. Mr. Terence replied that if there is some issues with the phone, the user with proof of purchase can get it exchange at the service centers (in some countries) or send back the unit to them.
Here is the full specs of the phone.
Specifications
- Platform: Android 4.0.4 ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich)(Firmware Updatable3)
- Size & Weight: 135mm (H) x 71mm (W) x 9.5mm (D, excluding Camera), 133g with Battery
- Processor Chipset: Dual-Core 1.5GHz Texas Instruments™ OMAP 4470 Application Processor
- Memory: 16 GB Internal Storage, 1GB RAM, Removable microSD Card Slot (up to 32GB)
- Display: 4.7” 16:9 S-IPS LCD, HD 1280 x 720 pixels, 16m colours, Scratch-resistant, Toughened Corning® Gorilla® Glass with Oleophobic Coating
- Cellular & Wireless: GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSPA Quad Band 3G Connectivity up to 21Mbps2
- Connectivity: Near Field Communications (NFC), Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n with Personal Wi-Fi Hotspot, GPS/Assisted GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, A2DP Stereo Bluetooth, Media High-Def Link (MHL), FM Radio (requires earphones), microUSB 2.0 OTG
- Audio: Built-in Dual Microphone with Noise Cancellation
- Camera: 8MP AF with LED Flash, 16:9, 1080p Video Recording, 2MP Front Facing Camera
- Sensors: Compass, Accelerometer, Gyroscope
- Power: Removable 2,300 mAh Li-Po Battery
- In the Box: Travel Charger, microUSB to USB Data Sync Cable, Stereo Headset (w/ Microphone), Quick Start Guide
1 NFC payment services vary by country.
Check with your local Telco or NFC service provider for details.
2 MHL Cable is required, not included.
3 Firmware updatable to Android 4.2 in 2H 2013
4 Up to 12 hours of talktime on 3G. Battery performance varies with several factors.
Some hands on pictures of the Synrgic Uno.
Front View
Bottom View
Top View
Side View
Close up of the power on/off button and the Micro USB port. Strange that they align the port to the bottom. I think center will be better for some cables.
The back with the cover taken out
The impression I had on the back cover is that it is very similar to HTC HD2. It is made of plastic and in my opinion, very thin.
The SIM card slot and the Micro SD card slot.
Without the battery.
2300mAh battery
As you can see, it was made by Samsung SDI and assembled in China.
The earpiece
There is no branding on it at all.
I did a short video on the powering on sequence, the software (actually there is no bloat ware in it. So, basically it is pure Android 4.0.4) and the Ringtones.
Here is my feel after the hands-on. It feels like Sony Ericsson Xperia range (yes, the previous Sony Ericsson before it changes to Sony) in terms of chassis. The back, as mentioned, looks like HTC. Overall, I think they could have built it thinner. Anyway, it is too early to say with just half hour of hands on.
Here is the Press Release.
Press Release
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