Cherry Mobile Flare: Specs and Hands-on Review (Video)

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On the recent Flare-up event by Cherry Mobile, Cherry Mobile Titan W500 was announced alongside with this surprising tandem, the Cherry Mobile Flare; a 4-inch dual-core Android ICS phone with Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. We are almost like: WTF??!! Php3,999 for its price?

It was then nicknamed as the Dual Core ng Bayan for its very affordable pricing despite its high-end specs. We are among the first to have our hands on this phone, read more to find out about this Cherry Mobile Flare. Video included too!

Short, the Cherry Mobile Flare is a 4-inch dual-core Android ICS phone with Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor. Price is just Php3,999 and its unbelievable for us as we are used to know that the Qualcomm-type phones goes out more expensive compared to MediaTek-type Android smartphones. Promising it is, let’s review its specifications to clear things out.

The Cherry Mobile Flare is a re-branded Karbonn A9+, it is an Indian phone; not sure if they got the units straight from India. With this in thought, can we say that this one isn’t a China phone? Is an Indian phone better than a China phone? Well, let’s put that aside, I still wonder how they are able to come up with that really low pricing for the CM Flare.

Cherry Mobile Flare Specs and Features

Here is a round-up of the Cherry Mobile Flare specifications and other features:

Cherry Mobile Flare /Karbonn A9+

System

• CPU: 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon S4 processor
• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
• GPU: Adreno 203

Screen

• 4.0″
• WVGA (800×480 pixels)
• IPS capacitive display

Memory

• 512MB of RAM
• 4GB of internal storage (2.5GB usable)
• microSD up to 32GB

Camera

• 5MP autofocus camera with LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• VGA front-facing camera

Network and Connectivity

• Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/ 1800/ 1900MHz
• HSDPA 7.2 Mbps; WCDMA 900/ 2100MHz
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth v2.1 with A2DP
• microUSB 2.0 / 3.5mm audio jack

Other features: Accelerometer, proximity sensor

Battery: 1420mAh Li-on battery

Dimensions: 131×68.2×11.3mm

The Cherry Mobile Flare is expected to hit the local stores by mid November with an official SRP of just Php3,999.

Cherry Mobile Flare Review

The overall design of the Cherry Mobile Flare looks nice for me, while other blogger friends of mine thinks that it just doesnt looks good. Personally, it reminds me of China’s popular Xiaomi Mi-1S at first glance. Maybe its because of the fact that the showcased Cherry Mobile Flare units to us has different back colors. It is very light, easy to grip.

The Cherry Mobile Flare sports a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon S4 CPU that is clocked at 1.2GHz. Paired with that is an Adreno 203 GPU. I do not have much knowledge and experience with these system chip combination but basing on my hands-on with the phone, the experience is smooth and knowing its a dual-core device at 1.2GHz, its expected to be able to play HD games. It runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box, so we got a really cheap dual-core ICS device here.

It has a 4.0-inches IPS capacitive screen with a WVGA (800×480 pixels) resolution. It looks better compared to the 5-inch screen of the Cherry Mobile Titan as it have denser pixels count. No complaints here with the screen. The interface is also not just your ordinary ICS theme, but its a custom launcher with Lenovo-like/Symbian^3-like icons.

Memory-wise, the Cherry Mobile Flare has 512MB of RAM, sufficiently enough for anyones multi-tasking and gaming intentions. The 4GB of ROM on papers yields a 2.5GB of usable internal storage which is still expandable with a microSD  card supporting up to 32GB.

It has a 5 megapixels camera with autofocus and flash. Front snapper is a VGA camera. We are unable to test the camera that  time, but knowing that it has 5MP cam and with a front, sets it on the top line of the other devices on the same price bracket.

Its a dual-SIM device and has 3G support. Other stuff you can get on an Android ICS phone is here as well. With those good stuff mentioned and packed on this Cherry Mobile Flare, you wont think that its a Php3,999 phone only!

However, taking a look at its battery rating capacity, which is just at 1420 mAh; somehow answers the reason for low pricing. We know that number because we had flip-opened the Flare on that said event just to see the prints on the battery. One should not expect a long usage time with this little dual-core baby as the ICS environment plus the dual-core procie at 1.2GHz is a real combo of battery hog. Well, that is just my conclusion, we’ll still confirm that if we were able to have a unit for an in-house review.

Cherry Mobile Flare Video

Here is a video of the Cherry Mobile Flare that I had recorded using my phone. I didnt swapped out the audio here so you can hear Ms. Bianca G.’s voice (btw she’s the event’s host that night), it was the time when they played a game and let people guess the price of the Cherry Mobile Flare and the one who is able to guess it right wins the unit.

Overall, its an impressive yet very affordable high-end phone. This phone might be able to win the competition in the bracket of Php5k and below Android phone pricing category. I wonder what will happen to the price of those lower-end handsets from Cherry Mobile. On another note, I wonder how will the other competitors stack up on this release.

I just wish we could be able to have a handset for review so we can clear up claims and say more about this Cherry Mobile Flare.

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