Monday, February 20, 2017

SKK Chronos Ace Plus Bought From Lazada

In my previous blog post, I mentioned about buying a new phone at Lazada for only P 1,800.

Yes, you read it right.  P 1,800 (around $36) worth of smartphone with the following specs:


2GB RAM.  That's what it caught me aside from
my main purpose of buying this. Plus the camera.

I have to admit, I am not that tech-savvy person.

I use my phone for calls and texts.

Sometimes I do use it for web searches or for communicating via social media apps.

Or just to play games in my leisure time (mostly mind games which consumes little of my phone's storage).

So honestly, some of the technical terms used in the specs I don't really understand especially that "1.3 GHz Quad-Core".

Of course I made an effort in searching to understand it, but every explanation that I read still seem like an alien word for me. (If you can explain it to me in layman's term, please do so 😉)

But here's why I wrote this post for:  This is for the people who's not so tech-savvy like me but still looking for a smartphone that is worth your money and works for you.

I am not after any brand.

Anyway, I also mentioned in my previous blog post about my main reason for buying this, which is for its OS version, Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Yes, that's it.  Haha

For linking my PayPal account to my GCash account, I bought this affordable phone.

I have no plans as yet to buy a new phone actually.

My Samsung S Duos which was bought in 2013 is still serving its purpose to me.

But yeah, it just failed on this one which led me to search for an affordable phone which is "sulit" for the price and meets my purpose.


The SKK Mobile Chronos Ace Plus is the one.

Before buying this phone, I made tons of research and read comments about its performance.

Actually my first choice was the Hyper X Blade (which I saw in one of Pop Talk's episode before).

But I read a lot of comments about it being drained fast, getting hot fast, no built-in camera app, etc.

And honestly, since I'm half-assed about buying a new phone, it felt like its price is high for the quality it is giving the consumer (just basing it on the reviews though, so yeah).

Luckily, the site where I researched the Hyper X Blade, also had a review about Chronos Ace Plus.


Here's where I read it:
SKK Chronos Ace+ Review - The Sub 3K Phone To Beat?


And since I don't know any SKK Mobile shops or kiosk nearby, I searched for it in Lazada.

So far, I saw a lot of positive comments about it.

And huwag ka, this is a lot cheaper than Hyper X Blade.




So I thought it's a good catch.

It was sale that time and it's marked down to P 1,999.

I also saw a Lazada code for new customers.

Being a first time buyer of Lazada, I input the code and yeah it worked.

It only costed me P 1,800. (I also bought a VR Glasses for only P 90, discount deducted. Sulitin na ang pamimili.  Sayang naman ang discount. Haha)

I ordered on February 10, I received the VR Glasses on the 11th and the Chronos Ace+ on the 14th (Yes, Araw ng mga Puso, bes!)

Mababait pa yung mga nagdeliver from LEX (Lazada Express) and even though I've checked out as a guest, I am well informed about the status of my orders thru text and email.


It's packaged well.

Neatly packed.

I love bubble wrap <3 Gonna pop this later.

Yes, that's me photobombing.

Another me!

I was quite surprised with its size.  It's bigger than I expected.

First thing that I checked is the sim card slot.  LOL!

Because I have a standard-sized sim and most of the phones sold at this time has a micro sim slot, I had to check if that's also the case in this smartphone.

Fortunately, its Dual sim feature has two slot sizes.

One slot for the standard sim and one for the micro sim.  (Lucky me! I don't have to have my sim card cut.)

Ang eng-eng ko pa sa umpisa dahil hindi ko alam buksan yung back cover. x'D

It came with a screen protector and a smartphone case aside from the earphones and charger.




I'm quite cautious with the case because I've read comments about it being easily broken, but so far it is still intact in its one week of being with me. 😀





I just didn't appreciate the screen protector.

Maybe it's just me being ignorant on putting it, but it had so many bubbles so I bought a new one with a tempered glass at the mall.

Actually the ate priced me P 150 for it, but she lowered it down to P 120 when I told her I bought the phone for only P 1,800. 😝





So far I've only charged it thrice from the time I received it.

The first one on the 14th when I drained the stored battery charge.

The second one on its 3rd day in my hands and the third one was yesterday, Feb. 19.

I've only installed the GCash app, BDO app, Globe Switch, Fb Messenger, Instagram and YouTube.

Clean Master was already pre-installed there so I didn't install any antivirus app anymore.

Of course it drains faster when I'm connected to the internet but every phone that I encountered does so it doesn't matter to me.  😁

The camera is, of course, clearer than my old phone so I appreciate it.

Please excuse my photography skills and my subjects. 😆

Just take a look at the phone's camera quality.



Oh look!  Someone's going out of the earth.

I don't know why I took a photo of this, but I like green.

The dough. Bow! With green peas on the side.

Are you familiar with Pigar - pigar? My version of it.

I didn't take a selfie because you can see my face's crater and pimples and pores and acne marks.

The phone is not that laggy too.  It's snappy (if I used the term right).

I am quite amazed to have this phone at a cheap price.

And it meets my needs so that's a PLUS for me. (Pun intended 😜)

It looks sophisticated too (in my eyes and in my taste).


So to end this, I am contented with what I bought.  So far I haven't encountered any issues at all.  Since I bought this at a cheap price, I might encounter some in the future if I don't take good care of this lovely phone.  Kaya iingatan ko talaga 'to tulad ng pag-iingat ko sa Samsung S Duos ko.  If my younger brother would want this when we see each other, I'll buy him one too. 😊


P.S.
     I am happy that my auntie appreciated my phone too.  She said "Maganda siya ah."
     Yeah, ganyan ako kababaw.  Hahaha!

Anyways, that's all for now.  Peace y'all!  



Update:

I posted in YouTube a video sample I took using this smartphone:





Update as of March 14, 2017:

It's been exactly a month now since I received this phone and I'm happy to say that it is still serving its purpose.

And the phone case that a lot of comments are saying na madaling masira, is still alright.  There's a very tiny scratches on its back due to being ipit in my bag with my keys and whatnot but it is very little to even notice if you don't look closely, so it's fine. 

I'm planning on making a decent video sample with its rear and back camera using a mono pod and also when handheld.  So I'll update again soon! 😄


Update as of March 24, 2017:

I've experienced something with my phone last March 17, which I decided to post on Youtube and what I did to fix it.



So far, once ko lang na-experience yan at hindi na naulit pa.

Hindi ko pa tuloy nagagawa yung plano kong video sample. Wait lang guys. 😆


Update as of July 10, 2017:

My phone keeps rebooting, guys.

Kagabi ito nagsimula.

Just a background, may naeencounter akong malware for a few weeks now, which is yung com.android.google.settings. (Dati may mga nag-o-automatic install na apps sa phone ko, hindi mo makikitang nag-install siya from Google Playstore, pero makikita mong nag-install siya sa phone. In-on ko lang yung App Permission Management ng phone, and hindi na uli nag-install ng iba pa, maliban lang dito sa isa).

Hindi ko po iyon ininstall.

Basta na lang siyang nadi-detect ng Clean Master at sinusuggest na i-uninstall ko, which I always did, pero bumabalik siya.

Nagsearch ako sa internet kung tungkol saan yun, and it turned out na malware daw siya.

Nagsearch ako ng solution but most of the articles/forums suggest na i-factory reset yung phone dahil mukhang pre-installed daw yun.

Never pa akong nakapag-factory reset ng phone, so I'm scared. x'D

Saka may mga nakikita akong nagrereply sa mga forum threads na hindi naman daw umubra sa phone nila ang factory reset.

So hindi ko ginawa.

What I did was, nagsearch ako sa File manager ng mga unfamiliar files, searched it on the internet para malaman kung ano iyon at kung safe bang i-delete.

May dinelete akong isa, which is yung MTKlog na folder (sabi kasi sa internet, safe daw yun i-delete and kung system file naman daw ang na-delete ay babalik yung folder dahil nga kailangan para magwork ang phone).

Pero kahit dinelete ko iyon ay nag-iinstall pa rin ng kusa yung "com.android.google.settings" na in-uninstall ko naman agad dahil umaappear ulit si Clean Master.

Sa App manager naman ako nagtingin ng pwedeng solution.

Nakita ko duon ang "com.android.googlesettings".

May Uninstall button, so I clicked it and it did its job.

Pero bumabalik talaga si "com.android.google.settings".

Until yesterday, nagsearch uli ako sa App manager at napansin ko ang isang app na "PackageInstaller".

I disabled it.

I used my phone tulad ng lagi kong paggamit sa kanya, chatted with my friends sa Messenger.

Pero may mga apps na hindi na gumagana yung "Back" para ma-iclose ko. Ang ginagamit ko tuloy ay yung "Home".

So I tried turning off my phone and on again (yeah, bakit hindi ko na lang clinick ang "Reboot". xD)

Pagkapunta niya sa Home screen, may notification na lumabas, "Write IMEI failed".

Siyempre, ako naman na hindi techy ay hindi alam ang gagawin.

Sinearch ko uli sa internet kung ano ang gagawin duon, na ang sinusuggest ay mga technical na bagay (para sakin).

Una ko lang ginawa ay i-dial ang "*#06#" kung lalabas ang IMEI details, at lumabas naman so hindi ko ginawa yung mga technical na bagay.

So sinubukan ko na lang munang i-reboot yung phone baka sakaling maayos siya.

Duon na siya nagsimulang mag-reboot ng mag-reboot.

Wala na.

Hanggang logo na lang siya then magrereboot na lang uli.

Kinailangan kong tanggalin ang battery para lang mapatigil siya dahil kahit pindutin ko yung Power button ng matagal, nagrereboot pa rin.

Chinarge ko siya kaninang umaga and nakita kong drained yung battery.

As of now, sinusubukan ko pa lang muna ang mga "Press, press" suggestions, like press and hold the volume buttons to enter the safe mode, pero hindi ako napunta sa safe mode. Press and hold the Power key habang nagrereboot siya para maturn off, pero patuloy pa rin sa pagreboot yung akin.

Naghahanap pa ako ng ibang solution as to this writing, bago ako magresort sa factory reset.

I''ll update this sa kung anong kahihinatnan ng aking SKK Chronos Ace Plus.

.....

Okay, after trying so many possible solutions, hindi pa rin umubra, nagrereboot pa rin.

So finally, bago matapos ang araw na ito, I resorted to factory reset.

And now, it's working again.

Back to when I bought it.

And as expected, all of my files are gone.  But okay lang since mga ebidensiya ko lang naman ang mga iyon laban sa aking pala-tangging kaibigan. 😄

For now, i-mo-monitor ko na lang muna ang behavior ng phone na ito bago ako ulit mag-install ng mga kailangan kong apps.

4 comments:

  1. hows your phone now? i mean this skk ace plus...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! As of now, it is still as good as the first day I used it :)

      Delete
    2. buti ka pa po sakin kasi, bukod sa may heating issues siya, yung 2200 mah na battery,parang 1000 na lang nung chineck ko sa cpu z

      Delete

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