Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 Review

Some people said that the Quad-core devices aren’t for everybody. Cherry Mobile prove them wrong with their Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0. Yes, it does have a Quad-core processor and a very affordable price. The price of the phone isn’t even that close to the P10K mark. Awesome right? Gotta love the goodness of a Quad-core processor. I’ve been using the phone for some time now and yes, I can say that I really enjoy using the phone. Why don’t you check out my review after the break?

What’s inside the box?

HARDWARE 

The phone looks really good aesthetically. I thought that the phone would pack an aluminium design on the sides but it was just just plastic. The body is purely made up of plastic. Nonetheless, it looks great on the phone. The phone makes me think of the iPhone because of that side accents. I also notice that the top and bottom of the phone sports a curve design. It isn’t really an issue for me but I notice that the phone is quite tall for a 4.5-incher. It isn’t that bad since you’ll hold the phone on the sides and not on top and bottom. I already expected that since the phone got a qHD resolution. Well, I really prefer having a taller display than a wider one. For a qHD resolution, I think the phone’s display is acceptable. The colors weren’t washed-out and the sunlight legibilty was good. The display is actually quite nice.

I really like the back cover of the Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0. It is glossy and It makes the phone look more premium. Sometimes, I even use the back cover as my mirror. LOL. The back cover is also finger-smudge attractive. But I really like the simple and neat look of the back cover. The power button on the top of the phone is kinda shallow which is somehow annoying for me. I also didn’t like that they choose the 4 Android buttons — home, menu, back and search instead of 3 Android buttons. I find it time consuming whenever I want to multi-task because I have to hold the home button whenever I’m switching to other apps.

You’ll get the things that you want from this phone except NFC. There’s the HSDPA, Bluetooth and WiFi. No issues about it. And just like the others, there’s only 1 sim slot that supports HSDPA while the other one is just GSM. I got no issues with the connectivities too. Inside the Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 is a 4 GB storage but I can only use around 1.5 GB ofit so I really suggest that you get your own MicroSD card for your phone. The Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 got a 1600mAh. You might be turned off with the numbers but it performed well than I expected. The Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 survived a day at school at me on average use. It immediately ran out of juice after our gruesome and 14 hours of bloodbath (I mean classes at school LOL!). Not bad for a smartphone with a specifications like this. The sound quality of the phone isn’t that bad. It performed well but I expected it to be louder.

CAMERA

The Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 got a measly 5 megapixel camera. It’s not really that bad but I was expecting that the phone would at least have an 8 megapixel camera. I used the phone for some time and I notice the camera app took some time before it captures a photo. Check out the photos that I took using the Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0:

While here’s a sample video that I took using the Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0. It’s saved as .3gp. Yep, the phone can only record 720p videos and not 1080p despite having a quad-core processor. The video quality of the recording isn’t that great too. Well, at least you could use Instagram and vine on this one. Check out the sample HD Video below:

SOFTWARE

This is probably the part of the review that y’all have been waiting for. The Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 is running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and there are a little bit of customizations on the phone. It’s not that heavy but you’ll notice that some of the icons were changed. The lock screen also has the shortcuts to dialer, messaging and camera. Thanks to the Qualcomm Quad-Core processor, the smartphone was so snappy and yes, its performance is comparable to the other flagship smartphones.

The Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 got a score of 10518 in Antutu. Most quad-core phones reach that score on Antutu. And yes, you could play demanding games on this phone. The processor can handle that. The phone might have a Qualcomm Quad-Core processor but that does not mean the phone has the same performance of the Quad-Core processor of the Sony Xperia Z or the Asus Padfone 2. This one is the much affordable Quad-Core processor of Qualcomm but still, the Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 didn’t fail to impress me in terms of performance. The smartphone really shines in terms of performance. This phone is very snappy in apps and the Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 can play most of the demanding games to date.

VERDICT

The Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 isn’t the best smartphone around but it is certainly one of the most powerful in the local mobile industry. I really like the looks of the phone. I’m just not used to using the 4 Android button layout of the phone. The camera is a bit of disappointment too but it would already suffice for your Vine and Instagram needs. But in terms of performance, the phone packs the speed and the performance that you need, playing games on the phone would also be a breeze. The Cherry Mobile Flame 2.0 is now available with a SRP of P6,999. Check it out at the nearest Cherry Mobile Store and kiosks.