Today was a big day for YTL Communications and Yes, as it made commercially available its 4G LTE services to Malaysian consumers. The internet provider now has the largest 4G network in the country, with over 85% of population coverage.
A little surprise was in store, aside from its amazing new “Double Data” postpaid plan that gives consumers 24GB of data for just MYR70 per month. Yes introduced its second ever smartphone–the Yes Altitude–“the most affordable VoLTE phone in Malaysia.”
I got to play with the device a little during the launch at the demo area, and while I get my hands on a proper sample unit, here’s some quick first impressions.
Hey, you’re not bad looking
Let’s get things clear. This is a budget device meant for the mass market. Yes wants to bring 4G LTE to everyone, and as such, the Yes Altitude is built as such.
But I’m not saying it looks or feels cheap. Because it doesn’t. In fact, while it has a plastic interior, the build is surprisingly good. The design has dabbles of the honor and Redmi devices. In fact, the back has a 3D curve, reminiscent of the Mi Note.
Again, I have to remind myself of the price. MYR399 (incl. GST).
The power button sits on the right side with the volume rocker, and on the top is the micro-USB port and 3.5mm speaker.
The Altitude is available in Gold, White and Silver.
Budget hardware
The Yes Altitude features Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 power, running at 1GHz. With it comes 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage. Feel free to top up to 32GB more via microSD.
It gets a decent 2,300mAh battery that should deliver a full day’s worth of use.
On the back is a 8MP f/2.0 main shooter, coupled with a 2MP selfie camera on the front.
It’s a dual-SIM, 4G LTE device. Yes touts the Altitude’s VoLTE capabilities, and if you’ve experience VoLTE voice calls, then you’re surely going to appreciate its clarity.
Software
On the software side of things, the Altitude runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with a custom skin that looks like a hybrid of MIUI and EMUI.
Performance
Despite its paltry 1GB RAM and lowly Snapdragon processor, the Altitude feels adequately snappy. It’s of course too early to judge, without any third party applications installed at this point. Having said that, at stock level, things seem fine.
Thanks to the f/2.0 lens, the main snapper does a pretty decent job with autofocus and shutter speed.
Initial impressions
For a budget device costing less than MYR400, it’s hard to fault. It does the basics right and doesn’t look too bad either. Grab one for MYR199 with the Yes Postpaid 48 plan, or get it for free with the Yes Postpaid 88 plan which is being offered at MYR70 per month.
It’s good that Yes is keeping things accessible with a budget device. Seeing that there already many other premium phones in the market to choose from, it would be pointless to compete in that segment.
For more information about the Yes Altitude, visit http://www.yes.my/altitude
Follow updates on Yes here: vernonchan.com/tag/yes-4g/
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