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
- 4.5” FWVGA display
- Cortex A7 1.3 GHz Quad-Core processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB storage (expandable up to 32GB)
- 2x micro SIM
- Front and rear facing cameras (2MP and 5MP)
- Rechargeable lithium-ion, 1700mAh
- Android™ Lollipop (and gets the new version soon after it’s released)
- SRP Php3,990 (Now available at Smart / Sun Postpaid Plans)
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.