HungryGeeks

Android One Archives – Hungry Geeks

Franklin Garcia

Android One was launched last February 2015 here in the Philippines, they aim to provide an affordable smartphone with true android experience. Its been a month now since we have been using the Cherry Mobile One, and we’re going to tell our experience about this Android One phone.

Check out again the specs of the Cherry Mobile One

Display

The metallic gray plastic body definitely fooled alot of people. It gave the CM One a more premium look it deserves, combined with the simple front glass makes it a winner. In our usage, we didn’t encounter any issues about its body pain chipping off or weak body structure.

Display

Despite the FWVGA resolution, the display of the CM One gives good color and contrast. Unfortunately its still not IPS so viewing angles aren’t that splendid, but its still okay since we think a 4.5″ smartphone is more of personal consumption. We loved the Asahi glass protection with anti-finger print coating, this gives an effortless touching experience on the phone.

Audio Experience

The speakers of the CM One aren’t going to “wow” anyone, but its sufficient enough for everyday usage. On the other hand, audio quality using earphones could still use a bit more enhancement in clarity and bass, but a simple equalizer could be an improvised solution for it. But then again this isn’t an entertainment phone, so its already acceptable as it is.

Performance

The quad-core MediaTek processor of the CM One will not impress any tech junkie, but the importance lies more on the software compatibility of Google. We could say that apps are definitely liquid in responsiveness but only up to 6 apps open. Beyond that, we were able to see some lags in switching in between apps. Perhaps the most disappointing part is that some apps are encountering problems such as the facebook messenger is having resolution problems which leads to cut texts. While the clash of clans game is not compatible with CM One (Sad)

Benchmark isn’t that important here, but as formality here is our Antutu benchmark scores

Camera

The 5mp camera provides good and simple shots. Colors are a bit washed out but definitely acceptable enough for everyday use and social media sharing. Until now, we just can’t get over the slow camera shutter speed which takes 2-3 second, despite updating and reset of the phone the problem still persists. Hopefully CM can have this fixed or determine if this is just an isolated case with our unit.

Battery Life

Honestly with a mobile data on-hand. the 1700mAh battery didn’t last much with our demand with battery. Starting our day at 8am will get us around 3pm with a low battery indication. This makes us hug more to chargers and powerbanks as the phone simply can’t catch up with our heavy usage profile. But if you’re a user that depends more on WiFi, then you’ll be able to squeeze in about 3 hours more into your day.

Definitely for 1st time Android users

While using the CM One for a month, I’ve been asked “why are you using a Php4,000 pesos phone?”. In our experience the CM One provided features and overall feel that didn’t disappoint. The Android Lollipop 5.0 experience was a fresh experience as it was very clean and neat to use, definitely something to look forward to your Android phone. It did had hiccups of apps unable to load properly and a bit sluggish camera, but it was all acceptable given the price and features. Overall for Php4,000 if you need an everyday phone with no unwanted features, then the CM One is definitely a phone to consider.

As the Android One program lands in Philippine shores. Cherry Mobile and MyPhone were the 1st manufacturers to provide devices under this program. Recently, Cherry Mobile just sent us their Android One device and is now our current mobile phone in use, check out our initial impressions of the Cherry Mobile One.

Cherry Mobile One

Out of the box gives you standard packaging of the unit, charger, manual and earphones. No screen protector, casing or any usual CM accessories this time around.

The back cover is a metalic gray color with a simple branding of Cherry mobile and Android One. The cover is made of standard plastic and covers extending to the sides of the phone, this results to a overall better grip of the phone. At only 4.5 inches, you’ll have no problem at all using this with regards to hand comfort.

The speaker and labeling of Android One is located near the bottom-back end of the phone. The Micro USB port is located at the bottom of the phone; opposite it is the 3.5mm audio jack. The speakers produces sound which are clear with bass that are just right and does not drown the music that you are playing.

The volume rocker and power button are both located at the right side of the phone.

The software is what stands-out for this phone. Equipped with stock Android Lollipop 5.0, the CM one showcases a sleek user interface without any lag or delays. We welcome the new stock user interface of Android which decreases the use of icons and adding more shortcuts to access more apps in less time; which is fairly convenient for on-the-go person.

The drop down notification / menu is also revamped with better access to features like flashlight, hotspot. Airplane mode is a thing we really don’t use often, hopefully the placement can be changed as we would better welcome the hotspot option on the top row.

The display isn’t something remarkable, but given the 4.5″ screen size and FWVGA resolution. It is enough to deliver adequate viewing angles and good colors. Performance isn’t much of an issue as we rarely get any lag juggling multiple social media platforms. Another good this is the included Asahi glass protection, its also has an oleophobic (water / smudge resistant) which makes the screen easier touch and slide, plus less fingerprints for the more OC user.

Despite being on Android Lollipop, we found a small bug in the camera. Taking shots, even regular shots have a 2 second lag that gets very annoying if you love taking photos with your mobile phone. Despite restoring default factory settings or recalibrating some settings, it is still a prevalent problem for this phone. Hopefully this can be addressed with a software update soon.

Here are some camera shot samples

Camera shots are good (not great) given that there is ample lighting available in the area. The autofocus works well and there are other options as well including HDR which we liked tinkering with.

Lastly, the battery comes a bit short despite being on a 1780mAh. At the most, we can only stay up to 12 hours on normal usage (Social Media, Camera and Checking emails at Mobile Data) on 0% brightness and 50% sound levels.

Right now, we’re still using our Cherry Mobile One to give you a 30 day for a more comprehensive impression of this Google project. So stay tuned around last week of March for our full review of the Cherry Mobile One. In the meantime, you can now purchase the CM One for Php3,999 at Cherry Mobile stores nationwide.

Octacore is the new standard for 2015. Cherry mobile just announced the upgraded Flare S3, now powered by an octacore processor. The flare series is known for its affordable sub 5k price point showing aggressive specifications.

Here is the specifications of the Flare S3 Octa

The Flare S3 Octacore will be initially available this February 28, 2015 through a flash sale in the Cherry Mobile concept stores. The flash sale will start on 1PM on the following branches

First 200 buyers per location will get a free powerbank (2600mAh). At the price point given and its aggressive features this will surely be a hit phone from Cherry Mobile. But again, this is one phone that will compete with the Android One project. As we stated in our article, eventually Cherry will compete itself with the Android one project.

We have seen the successful Nexus program of Google from manufacturers like HTC, Motorola, Samsung, ASUS. All of them were partners with Google to create an affordable, up to date and specification-worthy android devices. This challenged other manufacturers to either match the Nexus devices or to go more above it, which lead to more affordable strong-spec’d devices worldwide.

Android One 

But now, Google took the initiative into a whole new level with Android One. By tapping local manufacturers in every country, Google provides the latest updates (Including the next generation Android M), the best software compatibility (faster response and longer battery life) and the widest application ecosystem. In exchange, the local branded manufacturers can produce an affordable smartphone (of course, given under certain Google specifications) that is guaranteed for updates, software compatibility which translates to greater customer experience. Plus all phones are certified by Google for it’s “One” initiative.

It provides a whole new experience for Android users with stock android experience, while removing the fear of their phones being left out when the next Android update is released. Usually the manufacturer’s processor is the bottleneck for providing updates, but since this initiative is from Google, they can roll out updates straight to their partners.

Specifications of Cherry Mobile One and MyPhone Uno

Cherry Mobile One

MyPhone Uno

Is it sustainable?

The Nexus initiative is present and is currently rolling, but hardly felt (especially in the Philippines) due to other manufacturers have matched their products to compete with the Nexus line which is also limited in terms of availability in other countries. But since Android One is specifically targeted to emerging countries like the Philippines, we could see better support from Google; especially now that they have an existing local office.

But the question to ask is… can Cherry Mobile and MyPhone avoid producing more phones to battle their own? With Cherry Mobile producing phones like crazy, and MyPhone aggressively moving into the affordable market as well; then its not surprising if they will release a smartphone with the same price but with better specifications in the future. Ultimately, this will divide their audience and might not drive enough unit sales for Google. Not to mention other brands like Starmobile, SKK, BS Mobile, ZH&K might release same priced smartphones with better specifications just to compete.

Android One is definitely a gamble here in the Philippines, but with long term benefits guaranteed, we just hope that regular Juan Dela Cruz could understand the benefit of having the latest software. All is left are accessories support for the phones like (Screen Protector, Jelly Casing, etc) for Filipinos to jump into the Android One bandwagon. (Admit it, we Filipinos consider accessories as one of factors in purchasing a gadget)

As of now, we have to say congratulations to Google Philippines for launching the Android One initiative. Definitely exciting to see what it could create in the local smartphone arena. Should you get one? Our suggestion is to get one; unless you are already satisfied with your current android performance. Nothing beats getting your smartphone updated to the latest android version.

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