Well guys, it has been so many months since we last reviewed the different Android powered phones from Cherry Mobile. Now, we will do it again. As you all know, the phone that I am about to review here is really a big jump from the Cherry Mobile Flare and you will see a large difference between this phone and the Cherry Mobile Titan. I introduce to you — the Cherry Mobile Flame!
DESIGN
The Cherry Mobile Flame has a big 4.5″ display with a qHD screen (540 x 960, 245 ppi) as compared to the Titan and Flare’s 480 x 800 display. I can say that qHD is a big enhancement from the previous Cherry Mobile Android phones. With its 245 ppi, you can clearly see the sharp quality of the icons and text. The pixels of Cherry Mobile are much smaller than the Cherry Mobile Flare’s WVGA (Wide Video Graphics Array) screen. Take a look at our sample picture of the pixel below.
At the top portion of the phone, you’ll see the 3.5 mm headphone jack and the on/off toggle. The volume rocker is located at the right side of the phone. The Flame also uses a micro-USB for charging and for data transfer is found at located at the left side.
Like the Cherry Mobile Titan and Cherry Mobile Flare, the Cherry Mobile Flame also has capacitive buttons. Although, we noticed that the capacitive buttons are more well-lighted compared to the latter phones I’ve mentioned. Take a look at the picture below:
It is known in the Pinoy Android community that the Flame is a re-branded Karbonn A21. But, Cherry Mobile managed to redesign the phone quite similar to the designs of Flare; this somehow makes the Flame a beefed up version of the latter. The Cherry Mobile Flame has a shiny bezels like the Cherry Mobile Flare and Cherry Mobile Titan making it look like a premium smartphone. Oh, didn’t I mention that the Cherry Mobile Flame has a dual sim capability?
THE OPERATING SYSTEM
The Cherry Mobile Flame houses an Android Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.4) OS. Navigating through Menus and Homescreen are a bit laggy but installing a new Launcher (like Apex or Holo Launcher) will somehow make it faster.
Just like the Flare, the Cherry Mobile Flame has a 1.2 Ghz Dual Core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor which enables applications to function properly and smoothly with less battery consumption. We do not know yet if the Cherry Mobile Flame will have an update for the Android Jellybean but hopefully it will become available soon.
What is good about Android smartphones like Flame is its Google Play Store which has nearly a million applications to download. It can be games, for customization, or for education. All you have to do is to sign up or log in to Google Play Store and you are all set!
PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY
Using Quadrant Benchmarking Application, the Cherry Mobile Flame reached 2,646 points making it more powerful than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Samsung Galaxy Nexus. As you can see, it’s only few points behind the Motorola Atrix 4G but way further than the HTC One X and ASUS Transformer Prime. But still, the Cherry Mobile Flame is a very powerful smartphone although it scored lower compared to Cherry Mobile Flare. Please note though that benchmark scores are relative scores as benchmark applications consider the current state of devices. It is possible for Flame to have a different score after a week or two.
The Cherry Mobile Flame has a 1800 mAh battery and you’ll see that I have been using this phone in 18 hours and 41 minutes (on battery) with minimal charging. I can say that the battery has an average capability for a maximum user like me. I think with minimum usage, the battery will last in 3-5 days. Quite impressive, right?
CAMERA
The Cherry Mobile Flame has a 5 megapixel-camera and as a photo enthusiast, the camera of this phone has an average capability like that of Cherry Mobile Titan. Here are my sample shots:
With well lighted subjects, the camera is very impressive. While with low lighted subjects, you will notice the pixelated parts of the picture. An example will be seen below.
MY RECOMMENDATION
Flare disrupted the pricing trend of dual core Pinoy Android phones in the Philippines; and Cherry Mobile is on it again to “revolutionize” the local mobile phone industry by breaking the trend of correlating ‘affordability’ and ‘poor quality’. With all the outstanding features and with a affordable price tag of PhP 6,299, I highly recommend the Cherry Mobile Flame. This phone is affordable but exudes great quality. Indeed, the Cherry Mobile made it again and with Pinoy market nowadays, this phone will certainly be highly saleable!
Guys, we know that you’re all interested about this phone. We at Gadget Pilipinas would like to know if you have any questions. We’ll answer them if we can; or escalate your concerns to Cherry Mobile if we can’t. We also believe that some of you may already know the answer to some of the questions, so please feel free to hit the comments section below.
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Gianfranco is the co-founder of gadgetpilipinas.net. He graduated from Far Eastern University. A Psychology student turned tech-savvy. He's currently the HR Supervisor of Blip Media and one of the content producers of Gadget Pilipinas. He enjoys playing competitive video games and binge-watch American TV series.
