Skip to content

Mobiistar X1 Notch Hands-on Review: Good Looking Budget Phone

Vietnamese smartphone maker Mobiistar made its debut in India last year and it targets to be among the budget smartphone brands in the country. Earlier this month, the company launched a new budget phone Mobiistar X1 Notch in India. It is a selfie-centric phone with a 13MP AI selfie camera. Design wise, it is a good looking phone with a notch display and a dual color glossy back.

The Mobiistar X1 Notch price in India starts at Rs 8,499 and it will be available for purchase via offline stores across the country. We have been using the device for some time now and here is our hands-on review.

Design and Display: Looks Matters

If we talk about looks, the X1 Notch comes with a premium looking glass finish on the back panel. It is actually plastic, however, the phone feels good with an easy grip because of its rounded edges. The smartphone comes in Gradient Shine, Midnight Black, and Sapphire Blue colors. We received a blue variant with purple and green gradient, which looks quite cool.

Up front, there is a notch display with noticeable bezels and a thick chin. The power key and volume rockers are on the right side while the SIM card tray is on the left side that has two SIM card slots and one microSD card slot.

There is a 3.5 mm audio jack on the top while the speaker grille, micro USB port, and primary microphone are at the bottom. The back panel has a vertically aligned camera setup and a fingerprint sensor which is quick.

Coming the display, the X1 Notch sports a 5.7-inch 2.5D curved glass display with HD+ resolution. There is a wide notch on top. The quality of the display is decent and brightness is also good enough even in daylight. The pictures look sharp and colors seem balanced.

Overall, in terms of design and display, the X1 Notch is a premium looking smartphone with a glossy rear panel that makes it one of the few good looking phones at a budget price point.

Cameras: Good Selfies with AI

The X1 Notch is a selfie-centric phone that has a 13MP front camera with AI features. The rear camera is also a 13MP sensor with LED flash and AI scene detection feature. The camera has features like Night mode, pro mode, HDR and more.

The pictures taken using rear camera were good and with AI it works even better. The rear camera can record videos in FHD resolution with good detailing. It also supports EIS.

The 13MP front-facing camera is also powered by AI and even supports the bokeh mode which is missing in the rear camera. The front camera can also record full HD videos. The bokeh effect in selfies is really good and with AI it enriches the picture. The selfie camera is pretty good in terms of quality but low light few pictures may show little noise.

Performance: Fair Enough for Daily Use

Under the hood, the X1 Notch gets a MediaTek Helio A22 chipset with up to 3GB RAM and up to 32GB storage. We have the 3GB/32GB variant which offers fair enough performance during our brief usage of the smartphone. It didn’t lag most of the time and can handle day-to-day tasks easily.

Also, if you want to play high-end games like PUBG on the Mobiistar X1 Notch, you will not be able to play in high graphics and you might see some lag in such games. However, you can mid-range games smoothly.

The smartphone runs Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box with the company’s skin on top. The UI gives a near-stock experience and works smoothly. You will not see any lag while launching apps or switching between apps.

Battery and Others

The device packs a 3,020mAh battery which can offer you a day of moderate usage. You might need a charge by the end of the day if you have used it heavily. However, for a moderate user, it doesn’t require a charge in a day. The connectivity options on the phone are 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Verdict

The Mobiistar X1 Notch is a budget phone that comes with premium design, good display, and AI loaded decent cameras. It lacks in terms of heavy performance but it wouldn’t be a problem if you require a phone for moderate use. The UI will also not be an issue as the company might push timely updates. Overall, the Mobiistar X1 Notch is a good option in the budget segment.

nv-author-image

Satyendra Pal Singh

Satyendra explores the latest happenings in the tech world and writes stories about those. He likes to play around with the latest gadgets and shares his views through articles. In his free time, you can find him watching movies/TV shows and/or reading books.