MyPhone myX8 Review - It has good battery life, that's it!

MyPhone recently launched the myX8, a sub PHP 5K budget smartphone equipped with modern 2018 features.

MyPhone myX8 review!

In particular, it is one of the few with a taller 18:9 screen aspect ratio and large 4,000mAh of battery. Under the hood, it also has the new 64-bit MT6739 quad-core with a PowerVR Rogue GE8100 GPU.

Based on its specs and features, it is one the most exciting MyPhone since the My33 last 2018.

Let's see if it deserves some hype.

MyPhone myX8 Specs

Display: 5.45-inch 2.5D IPS screen w/ HD+ 1440 x 720 resolution at 295 ppi
CPU: 1.25GHz 64-bit MT6739 quad-core processor
GPU: PowerVR Rogue GE8100
RAM: 2GB
ROM: 16GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 128GB
Main Camera: 8MP f/2.0 Sony IMX134 sensor w/ AF and LED flash
Selfie Camera: 5MP f/2.8 w/ LED flash
Battery: 4,000mAh
OS: Android 8.1 Oreo
Connectivity: WiFi, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, dual SIM (dedicated)
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, proximity, sound
Others: Face unlock
Price: PHP 4,999

Disclaimer: This unit was seeded to us by MyPhone. Rest assured of our honest take always.

Unboxing/Accessories

The box

The myX8 arrived with the familiar MyPhone box. Inside, it has the 5V/1A USB wall charger. It is small for a phone with 4,000mAh battery.

Inclusions

It also has the usual USB Type-A to micro USB data/charging cable and earphones with mic. There's a pre-installed screen protector too. You will also find a manual inside.

It has no case included in the package.

Overall, it arrived with a decent package for a budget smartphone.

Build Quality/Design

Respectable construction

The myX8 is a budget phone. So don't expect it to come with premium construction. Instead, you will be treated with a hard plastic frame and a glossy curved plastic on the removable backplate of the phone.

In front, it has a 2.5D curved glass material on the display. It has no Gorilla Glass protection. But, MyPhone is generous enough to attach a pre-installed plastic screen protector.

With proper care, this phone will last. Try to look for a case as well.

Headphone jack and micro USB on the top

Nothing below

Power button and volume keys at left

Nothing at right

Design-wise, it is a pretty modern looking device. The glossy back design looks a bit tawdry. It has good curves though. The thickness of the phone is not that bad considering its large 4,000mAh battery. It has no camera hump as well.

The highlight of its design is the 5.45-inch screen with 18:9 screen aspect ratio. The result? This phone has smaller bezels than other budget phones. The chin bezel is a bit thick, but forgiveable.

We also noticed that it feels small for a phone with 5.45-inch screen. Its size is comparable to a traditional 5-inch or 5.2-inch handset.

The headphone jack and micro USB port is on top. The power button and volume rocker are found on the left side of the device. There's nothing on below and at right.

The phone is not that slippery to hold and prone to fingerprint smudges. However, the back cover is a bit prone to scratches.

Display Quality

Nice viewing angles

The myX8 is equipped with a 5.45-inch IPS panel with HD+ 1440 x 720 resolution. It is equivalent to 295 ppi. For the screen size, its sharpness and level of details are respectable.

It has black borders, but colors are fine and viewing angles are okay. Like other lower-end IPS panels, colors are a bit cold and slightly bluish.

Sunlight legibility is decent for the price as well. It is good enough to make text and images a bit viewable/readable under the sun. Just don't expect it to go really bright.

It has adaptive brightness, but unfortunately, you can't adjust the color tone unlike other phones in the display settings. It has no eye protection mode too.

The sad part? It only has 2 points of touch. So, don't expect your swiping, typing, and button smashing while gaming to be enjoyable.

Audio Quality

Single speaker below

At the back of the phone, it has a single speaker. The sound is decent, but as expected, it can't go loud. It will be tinny compared with other phone.

For headphones, audio output is a bit better (if you have good headphones/earphones). But again, don't expect it to be great. It is just good enough to make the mids clear. But lows are muddy and highs are lacking in sparkle. Soundstage is smaller than other phones too. It is lacking in range.

Bluetooth audio is nice and stable since it has Bluetooth 4.2 audio.

It can record stereo audio, but quality is far from good.

Battery Life

One of the select positive traits of this handset is its battery life. It has large 4,000mAh of battery. Sadly, we weren't able to benchmark it using PCMark's work battery life test as it keeps on crashing.

Good battery life!

But in real life, it was able to last for 11 hours on a single charge under our usual heavy usage. If used as a secondary phone, it can last for around 1.5 days on a single charge.

Charging time is not that fast as expected. Why? It only has a 5V/1A charger. It will be slow for its 4,000mAh battery.

As a result, charging time from 0 to 100 percent is around 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Camera

Single cam

Behind, it has an 8MP f/2.0 Sony sensor for basic mobile photography. It has AF and LED flash. It goes with the stock camera UI with basic HDR and filters.

Camera UI

Autofocus speed is not fast, but not too slow. It has decent focus speed in daylight, but slow focus in lowlight. Shooting speed on HDR is slow at around 3 seconds per shot. On auto mode it is a bit faster at around 1 second per shot.

Photo quality using the main camera is bad even in daylight. The main camera of MyPhone units like the Rio 2 from 2015 is so much better than this.

It lacks the details that other budget camera phones can produce. Details are soft, HDR is poor, Colors are yellowish (a bit greenish too), and dynamic range is off. Avoid using it in lowlight as well.

Hopefully, MyPhone can seed an update to make its photography experience better.

Rear Camera Samples

Dull colors

Daylight shot

Another daylight shot

Bright daylight shot

Decent looking daylight shot

Close-up snap

Lowlight sample

For selfies, it has a 5MP f/2.8 snapper with LED flash. Interestingly, it has no face beauty mode. It has HDR and various filters though. Shooting and saving speed is close to the main camera behind.

Single selfie cam with flash

My experience with the selfie cam is a bit better than the main cam. Details and colors are a little nicer than the main camera under daylight. Dynamic range is more decent as well. It has poor indoor and lowlight performance though.

Yes, selfie performance is poor even if you use the selfie flash.

Selfie Camera Samples

Daylight selfie

Indoor selfie

Lowlight selfie with flash

For videos, it can shoot up to 1080p at the back. Interestingly, it has EIS to provide some sort of stabilization. In our experience, it was able to record decent daylight videos. The shake is there, but it is forgiveable for a budget smartphone.

For selfie videos, it can shoot up to 720p in quality. Its performance is respectable for the price too.

Video Samples

Performance

AnTuTu and Geekbench score

Under the hood, this phone runs with the new 1.25GHz 64-bit MT6739 quad-core processor with PowerVR Rogue GE8100. It also has 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM like other sub PHP 5K phones.

The MT6739 of MediaTek is the same chip found on the Honor 7S. The Honor 7S has good performance for the price. Unfortunately, the myX8 doesn't have the same performance even if they have identical specs.

The myX8 that we reviewed is sluggish. It is simply far from fast. We have had (Go edition) powered phones with very low 1GB RAM that has faster performance than this phone.

Gaming with myX8

It can play games like the Asphalt 8, but it will lag. Fortunately, the thermal management of this device is good.

The UI

Most likely, its sluggish performance is due to its unoptimized software. It only has around 850MB left on its 2GB RAM. The UI has no app drawer anymore and it has few bloats.

You can change the theme if you want, face unlock is hidden in the settings

For security, you can use the usual phone lock or face unlock. The face unlock is not as refined versus higher-end phones though.

Telephony experience is nice. It has good GSM signal reception, Bluetooth connectivity, GPS, and 4G LTE. It has two SIM slots. It also has OTG support. As expected, it has no gyroscope.

Pros - Compact body with 18:9 screen, long battery life, 4G LTE connectivity
Cons - 2 points of touch only, tinny audio, slow charging time, software is not optimized, sluggish performance for the specs

Verdict

The MyPhone myX8 is a promising smartphone. It has the specs that can compete with the best under PHP 5K. It even has a big 4,000mAh battery.

However, my experience with it is not as smooth compared with its competitors.

Touch response, audio, and cameras needs improvement. The UI they used is resource heavy and far from smooth.

Hopefully, MyPhone will seed an update to lessen the above-mentioned problems we had with this device.

Build/Design - 4
Display - 3.75
Audio - 2.5
Battery - 4.25
Camera - 3
Performance - 2.75
Average - 3.33/5