Optus X Start: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Alex Kidman

Last updated: Aug 26, 2019

The Optus X Start is a highly affordable phone running Android Oreo Go, the cut-down version of Android 8, to make the most of its simple feature set.

5 inches

Display size

480 x 960px

8GB

Internal storage

5 MP

Rear camera

2,000 mAh

Battery size

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Display

Display Size

5 inches

Resolution

480 x 960px

Pixels per inch (PPI)

216.8 ppi

Camera

Rear camera megapixels

5MP

Video recording

N/A

Front camera megapixels

2MP

Physical Dimensions

Dimensions

137.6mm x 65.7mm x 9.8mm

Weight

135g

Connectivity

NFC

Wi-Fi

802.11 b/g/n

Network category speed

N/A

Power, storage and battery

Processor

Quad Core 1.28GHz

RAM

1GB

Operating system

Android Go

Internal storage

8GB

External storage support

Up to 32GB

Battery capacity

2,000mAh

Device features

Headphone jack

Yes

Fingerprint sensor

Water resistance rating

N/A

Wireless charging

Launch price (RRP)	$79
Launch date	2019-01

Go to Optus's site More info

Alex Kidman

A multi-award winning journalist, Alex has written about consumer technology for over 20 years. He has written and edited for virtually every Australian tech publication including Gizmodo, CNET, PC Magazine, Kotaku and more. He has also been the Editor of Gizmodo Australia, PC Mag Australia, CNET.com.au and the Tech and Telco section at Finder. Alex has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New England and a serious passion for retro gaming.

Where to buy

Buy at Target

What's in this guide?

Design
Camera
Performance
Battery
Pricing and availability
Alternatives
Specifications

Most of the big networks in Australia have their range of affordable, self-branded handsets for those on limited budgets. The Optus Start X is one of Optus's cheapest phones, but it could be the right match for your needs thanks to the use of Android Oreo Go. That's the slimmed-down, performance-enhanced version of Android that allows lower-power devices to really make the most of their limited resources for selected applications.

The Optus Start X sells itself on its price; if you're in the market for a simple smartphone on a very tight budget, it should be suitable, but there's a lot of competition in this space.

Design

5-inch display
Low resolution screen
Headphone jack

The Optus X Start is a smaller handset by 2019 standards, with a 5-inch LCD display, sporting a relatively low resolution of just 480x960 pixels. This would have an impact on your daily usage if you wanted to watch a lot of streaming video, such as Netflix, because it wouldn't look that great on such a low resolution screen.
However, it's very much a function of what you're paying for the Optus X Start. If your budget is more expansive, you could bump up to a phone with a 720p or 1080p display, but there really aren't too many of those at the sub-$100 price range.

Camera

5MP rear and 2MP front cameras are rudimentary, but that's in line with a budget phone

The Optus X Start's camera specifications are very basic, with a front-facing 2MP "selfie" camera paired with a rear 5MP camera. That's low by any standards, and while the lower resolution screen of the Optus X Start might not show up the imperfections in its camera all that much, you'd definitely see them if you shifted them to a better display or chose to print them.
Again, this is a familiar story. Low-cost phones never have great cameras, but for the target market of this highly affordable device, that's a sacrifice you'd largely have to live with.

Performance

Quad Core processor with 1GB RAM is ordinary
Android Oreo Go makes the most of what the Optus X Start has
Locked to the Optus network

The Optus X Start runs on a quad-core 1.8GHz processor, which might sound fancy and high-powered. In 2019, it simply isn't, and the combination with only 1GB of RAM speaks to compromised performance. Again, it's a phone that's built to a specific price.
Where the Optus X Start does have some advantage is in the fact that it's one of only a few phones to use Android Oreo Go. Based on Android 8, this is a specially optimised version of Android suited to low-power phones. You can run – or try to run – any app you'd care to name on the Optus X Start, but a select number of specific Android apps are supplied as "Go" editions, heavily optimised so they run faster, even on lower-power hardware.
You should be aware that, like so many other self-branded handsets on a given network, the Optus X Start is locked to the Optus network. We've got a guide to unlocking phones on the Optus network right here for you to read.

Battery

2,000mAh battery

The Optus X Start features a mediocre battery capacity at just 2,000mAh. That's not high, even by budget phone standards. Still, that lower-power processor and the optimisations available in Android Oreo Go should keep its power usage moderate. For the target market, and especially if you're only a light phone user, a single day's battery usage should be feasible. However, if you live 24/7 on your phone, that might not be true.

Pricing and availability

Price

RRP $79

Where to buy

Target Australia PostBig W Optus X Start

Alternatives

The phone is priced to sell, but Optus has plenty of other options if you want a low-cost phone on its network. If what you want is a very simple phone, you could consider the Optus X Lite.

If you wanted a little more battery power, you could consider the Optus X Smart.

Specifications

Display

Display Size

5 inches

Resolution

480 x 960px

Pixels per inch (PPI)

216.8 ppi

Camera

Rear camera megapixels

5MP

Video recording

N/A

Front camera megapixels

2MP

Physical Dimensions

Dimensions

137.6mm x 65.7mm x 9.8mm

Weight

135g

Connectivity

NFC

Wi-Fi

802.11 b/g/n

Network category speed

N/A

Power, storage and battery

Processor

Quad Core 1.28GHz

RAM

1GB

Operating system

Android Go

Internal storage

8GB

External storage support

Up to 32GB

Battery capacity

2,000mAh

Device features

Headphone jack

Yes

Fingerprint sensor

Water resistance rating

N/A

Wireless charging

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Optus X Start: Plans | Pricing | Specs

The Optus X Start is a highly affordable phone running Android Oreo Go, the cut-down version of Android 8, to make the most of its simple feature set.

Details

Display

Camera

Physical Dimensions

Connectivity

Power, storage and battery

Device features

Alex Kidman

What's in this guide?

Design

Read more on the Optus X Start's design

Camera

Read more on the Optus X Start's camera

Performance

Read more on the Optus X Start's performance

Battery

Read more on the Optus X Start's battery

Pricing and availability

Price

Where to buy

Alternatives

Specifications

Display

Camera

Physical Dimensions

Connectivity

Power, storage and battery

Device features

Latest Optus news

Ask an expert

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