The Alpha Prime 5 together with its 4 inch variant Alpha Prime 4 were both announced mid last year. Unfortunately, Cherry Mobile’s was not able to release the Alpha Prime 5 earlier and is set to be released this month.
Cherry Mobile’s Alpha Prime 5 is running Windows 10 and is set to be sold for only 3,999Php.
Display and Design
Equipped with a 5-inch screen with HD IPS, the Alpha Prime 5, design-wise does not stand out of the crowded mobile phone market. Nevertheless, having an 5-inch display paired with an IPS screen is somewhat a privilege for a below 4,000Php handset – the Alpha Prime 5 lacks interesting details that could separate it from the rest.
Comparing the Alpha Prime 5 photo on the box, you may be fooled that it looks to have a very thin bezel; but upon opening and inspecting the mobile phone, you see that the bezel is quite thicker than expected on the sides. What we like about the screen though is this specific handset is running Windows 10 OS it gives off a longer display (length-wise) feeling. But, coming off using a quad HD, the display still lacks clarity and vibrancy.
In front, you could find your 5″ screen with your 2MP front camera, and hearing piece together with the 3 smartphone buttons – non-lit back, home and search – at the lower part. No buttons or port are found on the left side while the volume rocker and power button is located on the right-hand side of the mobile phone. We were pleased to know that the microUSB charging port together with the audio port is located on top, this makes using this phone while commuting easier to connect your headsets or powerbank rather than stuffing it on the side or bottom part of your phone. No port are located at the bottom edge of the mobile phone while the speaker and 8MP main camera are located on the back of the Alpha Prime 5.
The phone is made off plastic with a chrome frame. The back cover has a smooth matte finish, which adds to the simplicity and elegance of the phone.
To tell you the truth, I found myself looking forward to using this phone. The curved and matte finished back is really comfortable to use, and all the buttons and ports are strategically well-placed. The screen display is not bad, plus 8MP camera on a 4K Php phone is too good to be true.
Audio and Multimedia
We tried out the Cherry Mobile Alpha Prime 5 while watching an episode of Game of Thrones, a few videos on YouTube and using it as our device player for Spotify.
Audio is okay – not great. The single speaker at the back will not get you far if you are looking for an immersive experience on anything that you are watching, or playing. Furthermore, we fill that the audio is not that strong of a feature, as it lacks in loudness, and basically on all variables that makes a great audio experience.
The visual experience on the other hand is pretty decent. The screen is bluer than usual, but this 5 incher handset delivers clear images and pairing it with an IPS display makes it one of the cheapest mobile phone to have fun watching youtube or series with.
Since the audio is just okay, we recommend using a headset to complete the whole audio and visual experience.
Camera and Sample Photos
With an 8MP main camera, the Cherry Mobile Alpha Prime 5 is a great point and shoot replacement for the normal consumer. Surprisingly, it does produce great accurate, but lacks contrast and saturation to make a certain image/thing pop.
While looking at the camera application, we noticed that both the ISO, brightness and the Shutter (1 sec max) are adjustable to your liking. White balance is also adjustable, while, video recording has a max of 1280x720p at 30fps down to a 854x480p at 15fps.
Battery
At 2,100mAH, I don’t think I could be able to use this phone throughout the day. I tried though, but after a 30 minutes of instagram and facebook browsing, I found myself trying to fina a charger. I hate how they give you LTE capability but they limit your phone to only 2100mAH of power. You can’t even use your phone the at half day when your LTE is on. But hey, it will only set you back for four thousand bucks.
Specifications
- 5-inch HD IPS display, 294ppi
- 1.1GHz Snapdragon 210 MSM8909 quad-core processor
- Adreno 304 GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB internal storage
- up to 32GB via microSD
- 8-megapixel rear camera w/ LED flash
- 2-megapixel front camera
- Dual-SIM (micro)
- FDD-LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS
- Windows 10
- 2100mAh battery
Conclusion
The Cherry Mobile Alpha Prime 5 is priced at 3,999Php. I don’t love it. But I definitely like it over all Cherry Mobile phones out in the market. It has a good screen size with IPS, the default keyboard app is definitely better than iPhone’s own. Having a Windows phone is a new experience although app selection still sucks. It is comfortable to hold, with a thin and light form factor. I love the buttons and the positioning of the ports.
If I would ever need a secondary phone apart from my main LG G4, this would be my go to mobile device. It’s cheap, light and I’ve always wanted a Windows phone.
Battery sucks though.
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