Here’s our hands-on of the MyPhone Rio Fun!

Today, MyPhone officially launched another game changing smartphone under their Rio line. The Rio Fun is probably the most affordable 5-inch smartphone that you can find in the country today, and it’s only natural that people would like to see just how it stacks up. From our limited time with the device, we can say that MyPhone potentially has another winner, as long as you consider the target market. Let’s dive in.

MyPhone Rio Fun specs

• 1.3GHz dual-core MTK 6572 processor
• Mali-400 MP
• 512MB RAM
• 5-inch TFT touchscreen display, 480 x 854 resolution
• 512MB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 32GB
• 3.2-megapixel rear camera
• VGA front camera
• Dual-SIM, dual-stand by
• 2G only
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
• 1800mAh battery
• Android 4.2
• Php 2,999

First Impressions: very compelling smartphone considering the price point

It’s amazing just how far we’ve gone when it comes to budget devices, and MyPhone has been leading the charge for bang for your buck devices in the 5K below market segment, starting with the Rio. The Rio Fun is a continuation of that, with its Php 2,999 price point. While other local brands has offered compelling devices for under 3K before, the Rio Fun has the biggest screen size of all of them.

The Rio Fun looks good and feels great in the hand, and comes in different colors. Unlike the Rio, it does not have a plastic shell over its body, and instead goes with a traditional plastic cover. The finish on the back is matte, and the overall fit and finish as well as the build quality is pretty good, considering the price point. The display is a TFT one, with a lower resolution compared to the original, which is understandable – corners had to be cut to bring the price down, and this is one (of the many) aspects that had to be sacrificed in the name of price.

Navigating through the Rio Fun, we’re happy to announce that the overall experience is pretty smooth, again considering the price point. As a point of comparison, the Rio Fun is as smooth as the second version of the Rio, and nowhere near the lag levels of the original version of the Rio. Internal storage space is very limited, as the Rio Fun only has 512MB of storage, but MyPhone has assured us that it can install apps directly to the SD card which was the issue with the original batches of the Rio.

As far as benchmarks go, the Rio Fun attained a respectable 11226 points in AnTuTu which isn’t bad again considering the price point that we’re looking at. Aside from the lack of internal storage, another issue with the Rio Fun (one that is actually a big deal for people who always need to be connected) is that it doesn’t have 3G, and works only with 2G.

Is the Rio Fun worth it? On paper, it is a good smartphone. The loss of 2G is a bummer, but then again there are many, many people who rely purely on Wi-Fi hotspots to hop online. For 3K, the specs that the Rio Fun provide is hard to ignore, and may just be the smartphone for first-time smartphone users.