Speculations were first abound when local tech giant Cherry Mobile announced the Flare X. Shocker there, actually, since many then ha...
Speculations
were first abound when local tech giant Cherry Mobile announced the
Flare X. Shocker there, actually, since many then had thought that
the company will be putting an end to the line that hit mainstream
success. Fast forward a couple of months and here we are – Cherry
Mobile is up and again with a new addition to the highly acclaimed
Flare series, and this time it's the Flare 4. Is it going to blow
your socks off?
Technical
Specs:
OS: Android 5.1 Lollipop
Display:
5 Inch HD IPS 1280 x 720 resolution 2.5D curved glass w/ Dragontrail
glass
CPU:
1.3 GHz 64 Bit MT6753 octa core processor
GPU:
Mali T720
RAM:
2 GB
ROM:
16 GB expandable via microSD card slot up to 32 GB
Primary
Camera : 13 MP BSI w/ LED flash
Secondary
Camera: 5 MP BSI
Battery:
2,100mAh
Connectivity:
WiFi, 3G, HSPA+, LTE, Bluetooth, GPS, A GPS, Dual SIM, Dual Standby
Price: Php4,999
Unboxing
and Inclusions
Cherry Mobile is stepping up its game in the packaging game – the
box of the Flare 4 has, ahem, some flair into it. There's a separate
carton protecting the box itself, and it has the number '4' cutout
upfront. It's rad, but it could have been more rad if they managed to
make a presentation out of it. Still cool, though.
Open it up and you'll be greeted by the Flare 4 that's sitting nicely
in its own platform. Prop it up and the standard essentials, as well
as some nice treats, come inside the package. There's the user
manual, a1000 mA wall charger, a microUSB cable and a standard issue
headset. Cherry Mobile also decides to throw in a free screen
protector as well as a colorful pamphlet of sorts containing
promotions and whatnot.
Build
Quality and Design
The Flare 4 features a sweet, slim build that's really quite thin.
And contrary to the expectations its thinness is going to set, it's
very solid. It's not built like a tank by any means, but it's enough
to let you have a firm grip and not make you feel like you're holding
something cheap, or substandard if you would so prefer.
At the back is a removable leather faux panel for accessing the two
SIM card slots, microSD card slot, and the battery. The company's
brand and the line up name are both laser(?) printed at the back as
well.
Furthermore, its front panel is definitely a beaut. We're talking
about that sweet, svelte 2.5D curved display on top of it, and it's
even protected with Dragontrail glass to keep it from scratching and
whatnot. It gives the Flare 4 a more premium feel, and it adds some
bragging rights for you. Are there other smartphones that have this
type of curved display in the same price range?
Display
The Flare 4 features a 5-inch IPS panel with 1280 x 720 resolution.
Sharpness is rather impressive, and we're loving the rich color
reproduction as well. Viewing angles are also topnotch, and sunlight
legibility is great, too. However, on a personal standpoint, that
letterboxing was somewhat deceptive – at first glance it seemed
like the Flare 4 featured a bigger screen as compared to other
5-inchers, but it really isn't. It isn't really an issue to say the
least, but it could have taken advantage of the space to add more on
the screen real estate.
Software
and User Interface
The Flare series ever since it started featured a near-vanilla
Android experience, and the Flare 4 is no exception. It's what we've
loved about Cherry Mobile devices, actually. We prefer little to no
tweaking on the UI side, and Cherry Mobile does away with it pretty
well. Although there are several app inclusions such as Pomelo, Beauty
Plus, the now-standard Cherry Apps, Kakao Talk, TouchPal X, and Opera
Mini, you'll still feel right at Android home. Although word of note,
we suggest you download the Google Keyboard as well as the Google
Camera – those things are plainly better as compared to the onboard
offerings at the moment.
The Flare 4 is running Android 5.1 Lollipop, and navigation is
handled through LED-backlit capacitive keys. It's hard to get used to
if you've been using onscreen navigation buttons, but it will do just
fine after a couple of minutes of trial.
Performance
As far as the performance goes, the Flare 4 features a great hardware
sheet for its price. There's a speedy MediaTek MT6753 64-bit chipset
with a 1.3GHz octa-core processor, Mali T720, and 2GB of RAM – it's
one of the grandest setups you can really get in this spectrum, `nuff
said.
We're also liking some benchmark results here, and we're pleased with
gaming and multitasking performance as well. Games such as NBA 2k16 and Kabam's Marvel Contest of Champions are handled quite well, and you can expect it to perform better on
similar graphic-intensive apps to an extent. Should you wish to use
it as a documentation/productivity tool (we shudder to think you
would on a 5-incher), Google Docs and Microsoft's Office apps are
workable as well. Although we've already expected that much to begin
with, so to speak.
Camera
The Flare series, from the start has been a hit or miss with the
camera. While we were pleased back then with the performance of the
first Flare, the second and third incarnations were kind of a mixed
bag. Thankfully, that doesn't apply with the Flare 4.
It's
equipped with a 13MP BSI primary camera and 5MP BSI front snapper as
well. The details are pretty sharp and color reproduction is spot on
as well. Night shots are a pleasure to take, and you're not gonna
have problems taking selfies using the front camera.
Check
out the samples:
 |
| Close-up shot |
 |
| HDR capture |
 |
| Night shot |
Battery
Life
We're
liking the setup here – 2,100mAh is more than enough to plow
through the entire day on mixed to regular usage. Go on a maximum
ride with calls, browsing, hardcore gaming and whatnot and you'd
still get close to 9 hours of usage. We couldn't find a decent spot
to go LTE, though. But 3G browsing is fine enough and would more than
likely save you more juice.
Verdict
Pros:
-
2.5D curved panel is a gorgeous piece of engineering
-
Superb performance with the MediaTek MT6753
-
Sweet battery life
-
Rocking pair of cameras
-
Android 5.1 Lollipop is all aboard and running
-
Price
Cons:
-
Onscreen navigation should be standard
Four generations in and the Cherry Mobile Flare 4 can still, indeed
blow anyone's socks off. While it called for an additional Php1,000
from the signature price tag, the change is what you can call 'worth
it' at the end of the day. There's just so many improvements and new features that came into
production that no one would argue that it's one of the best
smartphones that hit the sweet spot of price and performance. There's really no way you could possibly ask for more. Totally, the Flare
series has once again exceeded our expectations.
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