Cosmic Technologies (Cherry Mobile) is once again challenging the Android market by introducing the cheapest Android handsets yet — the Cherry Mobile Candy and Candy Chat — at Php3,699.
These units are really cheap so we shouldn’t expect a lot from them. I guess the only reason for introducing them is that more folks can now afford to buy an Android smartphone.
On the other hand, these are dual-SIM phones too.
Cherry Mobile Candy specs:
2.8″ resistive screen @ 240×320 pixels
Dual-SIM, Dual-standby
MediaTek 416MHz processor
256MB ROM
128MB RAM
up to 16GB via microSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g
GPRS/EDGE
Bluetooth 2.1
1.3MP camera
FM radio
Android Froyo 2.2
Retail price: Php3,699
Cherry Mobile Candy Chat specs:
2.4″ resistive screen @ 240×320 pixels
Full qwerty keypad
Dual-SIM, Dual-standby
MediaTek 416MHz processor
256MB ROM
128MB RAM
up to 16GB via microSD
WiFi 802.11 b/g
GPRS/EDGE
Bluetooth 2.1
1.3MP camera
FM radio
Android Froyo 2.2
Retail price: Php3,699
Note: Photos to follow. Still looking for a CD drive to copy the press materials.
What Cherry Mobile did here was take their really affordable handsets and instead of putting the usual dumb-phone OS (those Java-type operating systems), they opted for the more popular one and installed Android in them.
guyz ilang hours yung battery life nito? pa answer naman willing akow
Twitter: stopthedrama
says:
just bought one today for my brother.. he wants to play games.. i can handle a few seconds lag sa pag open ng angry birds coz it takes a few seconds din naman sa lg ko. so far so good. hindi lng ako sanay sa resistive screen kc sensitive ang lg ko pero other than that this phone is really nice. wag lng mg expect ng iphone like capabilities.. basta if you are looking for android na cheap, i suggest this. sana nga ito nlng binili ko hindi yung 15k LG ko na ninakaw lng lols. if you want to see photos just tell me para ma review ko sa blog ko =)
Twitter: ShedoSurashu
says:
My mom just got the Cherry Mobile Candy one. It’s her first Android phone because she really couldn’t be bothered to get one kasi all she does is text and call. So far, I can’t seem to update the market app with the new Play Store. Rather slow, and ang HIRAP mag type. I was setting it up for her and I was going nuts with how almost all my key presses were missing the correct letters. And the phone doesn’t support auto screen orientation. It stays at portrait mode.
The flash is rather dumb because it isn’t really a camera flash. More like a light that is persistently open as you take shots. Also the light from the “flash” smears the left side of the picture with brightness making the images look like it was taken from a damaged cam.
The “resistive” screen is overly resistive IMO. Often times, I would press something then it wouldn’t get detected. Also the soft buttons are really uncomfortable to work with because some of them aren’t even aligned to the button images. For example, the physical menu soft button, you have to press lower than the image for it to be detected.
In fact, a cheaper Nokia phone with all the same functionalities except for the operating system could have done better. I just wished they added more thought into designing the product instead of just throwing Android into their phone shells. I would give it 2 out of 5 because it has at least a good sound output.
I’m beginning to question if it was worth the switch. I guess it would be a nice starter for her to learn how android works.
P.S. Sorry for the rant.
Been using the candy chat for a few months. Yes you can’t update Market, still the old market. Angry Birds plays very slow on levels that have too much things going on. Gameboid works fine with no sound, lags with sound. Zenonia 3 playable, but slightly sluggish. The camera is mediocre, the LED flash doesn’t help at all, but at least you can use the LED as a flashlight.
But at least facebook works, wifi also works. Versus normal phones (within same price range), it can load almost all sites (except sites w/ flash). Main feature that I really wanted is to sync my contacts, which works really well. Plus it’s a dual sim.
What I hate about the candy chat, the microphone. It’s place too deep inside the hole, about 2-3mm. People can’t hear me talk, had to use a headset whenever I make a call or someone calls me.
java enable ba siya?
Twitter: ShedoSurashu
says:
@Vincent, all Android apps are based on Java.
@orange, I figured out how to get apps onto the Candy without help from the Play Store. It’s a little involved so I might post a blog about it but basically, you either get another phone for it to work or jus.t use a 3rd party app store.