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Cherry Mobile Cosmos S Review

The Cosmos series from Cherry Mobile marks a very huge step for the company as it is very ambitious. We put the Cosmos S under the test. With a quad-core processor, a 5-inch 720p display, an 18MP camera, a 2,500mAh battery & Android 4.2 packed in a 6.98mm thin body, will it deliver?

To see what comes in the package, here’s our unboxing video:

Design and Construction

The Cosmos S is without a doubt a beautifully crafted device. It feels entirely premium & it even gives you an impression that it’s priced expensively, even when it’s not.

COSMOS S

“People I handed the Cosmos S to wanted it from the moment they held it.”

People I handed the Cosmos S to wanted it from the moment they held it. Their only complaint with the build was the poorly printed 18MP label on the back, and they wanted a case to go along with it from day one.

On top you’ll find the 3.5mm audio jack and the micro USB port. On the left, you have the poorly placed volume rocker & the power button. Over to the right, you’ll find a bulging mini SIM card slot that you’ll mistake for the volume very often.

COSMOS S SIDES

Overall, this is one thin phone that packs quite a punch – a solid and quite hefty one for that matter. All that it probably took was the removal of dual SIM capabilities and a micro SD card slot.

Display

It’s true that its bigger brother, the Cosmos Z, packs the first 1080p display for the local market, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the Cosmos suck.

COSMOS S DISPLAY

5-inches of 720p HD IPS goodness comes into play with the Cosmos S. It’s big, yes, but you might ignore that for the moment when you see it; it’s gorgeous beyond measure. At the lowest brightness level, it could outclass several IPS displays that I know of, and the colors just pop.

Go ahead; you won’t find any problems here, from viewing angles to responsiveness. A pixel density of 294ppi is also enough for most users, so what else are you looking for?

OS, Apps and UI

Android 4.2 Jellybean runs the show here, and glad to say it doesn’t run on top of any skin. The UI is top down vanilla Android, safe for the semi-transparent app drawer, a new wallpaper, a modified camera interface and some usual CM apps.

COSMOS S SCREENSHOT

I wouldn’t have clapped my hands for this; I would have given CM a standing ovation – the live wallpaper is one of the best I’ve seen (including the image selections; I love how they showcase parts of the Philippines), everything felt very clean, and to be honest things would have been perfect if it weren’t for some hardware slow downs and still some CM bloatware. Nevertheless, it’s getting a lot better.

Sad to say though, CM is still inconsistent with its UI implementation. While the Cosmos S has to be applauded for this, the Cosmos X features different icons & some minor changes. It would have been a lot better if CM had finally decided on what road to take.

Multimedia & Camera

The speakers on the Cosmos S are pretty weak – to the extent that it became a deal breaker for some. On the other hand, video playback is a wonder on this 5-inch IPS display. We didn’t encounter any problems with playing any of our movies & recordings.

cosmos s shot

Now as for the camera, an 18 megapixel BSI sensor sounds so pleasing to the ears. However, just like how most people would have guessed – it’s basically an 18MP camera that takes 8MP-like images. It’s very obvious that all of the images were just stretched.

cosmos s

There certainly is a lot of processing going on behind the photos, as even the viewfinder is slow. In great lighting, expect sharp photos and less noise, while if you’re shooting in low-light, it’s a trade-off; you’re going to get bright shots, but extremely muddy & noisy ones for that matter. You won’t need to worry about auto-focus & everything else – they work very well.

For video recording purposes, it’s almost the same story, but you’re going to get less light. Also, expect a few dropped frames from time to time.

Performance & Battery Life

Powered by 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, the Cosmos S still stutters in day to day use, but glad to say it’s a lot better than CM’s past phones. The 1GB RAM helps a lot here, just as always, but what makes this faster than CM’s other phones is probably the lighter UI. Going through most of the basic stuff is a breeze.

BENCHMARK CM COSMOS S

  • Antutu Benchmark – 16,662
  • Quadrant Standard – 4,846
  • Nenamark 2 – 50.6

Call Quality & Battery

We took a few calls on the Cosmos S, and everything sounded decent. It’s not entirely crisp & clear, but it wasn’t that bad and muffled either. To add, we didn’t experience inconveniences when connecting to wireless networks as well.

COSMOS S BACK

The Cosmos S packs the largest battery among its other space siblings; it’s non-removable at 2,500mAh. During our battery test (looping video at 50% brightness & 50% volume), we managed to squeeze out approximately 6 hours of video playback, which is very impressive for a phone this thin & of this caliber.

Conclusion

Cherry Mobile has made a lot compromises for the Cosmos S; it lacks dual-SIM capabilities, it has no micro SD card slot & it doesn’t have a removable battery. But even with that said, CM has managed to create an amazing device – one that has exceeded our expectations.

COSMOS S CM

The Cosmos S packs a beautiful display, a solid build, a long-lasting battery & decent internals into one thin desirable design. CM’s hardware & software combinations are getting there, and while there are indeed drawbacks, they’re not much to rant about. After all, you’re paying an affordable price to go along with all of that.

Cherry Mobile Cosmos S specs:
5-inch IPS LCD 720 x 1280 HD display
1.5GHz quad-core processor
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
18MP BSI camera with LED flash
8MP BSI front-facing
WiFi b/g/n
3G HSPA+
Bluetooth
GPS
2,500mAh battery
Android 4.2 Jellybean
Php10,999

What we liked about it:

  • Amazing display
  • Affordable price tag
  • Premium feel
  • Extremely thin
  • Improving CM Android experience
  • Good low-light camera

What we didn’t like about it:

  • Odd button layout
  • Weak speakers
  • Sub-par video recording capabilities
  • Muddy image captures

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Avatar for Bob Freking

Bob Freking occasionally contributes articles to the website. He is a UST Graduate of Commerce & Business Administration, Major in Marketing Management, and a full-time Sith Lord with three dragons.

31 Responses

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  6. Avatar for Martha Alajar Martha Alajar says:

    Pano po ba magscreenshot dito?

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  8. Avatar for ches ches says:

    pano pag naghang? e di ba built in battery nyan?

  9. Avatar for paul paul says:

    guys ok naman camera. yes maybe not 18 mpbut its a quality cam. atyung video recording HD talaga

  10. Avatar for Kenny Kenny says:

    I bought The Cosmo Mini S and it has dual-SIM capabilities, SD card slot & have a removable battery.

  11. Avatar for Kier Kier says:

    ask ko lng po san po kea pwedeng mkabili neto na installment using BDO Cash Card? tyi

  12. Avatar for paul paul says:

    have u tried the filters? have you tried other cam apps my cam work perfectly no muddy shots

  13. Avatar for mark kevin mark kevin says:

    nice spec. pero wlang pinagbago sa design ng hardware halos lahat nlng ng andriod is pareparehas ng mukha.. medjo ung sony xperia lang naiiba.. ibahin nyu nman cherry mobile..

  14. Avatar for Angelica Angelica says:

    San po makakabili ng Cosmos S near Cavite? Nagtanung po kasi ako sa The District CM branch at Central Mall CM branch out of stock na daw. Thanks

  15. Avatar for leroyrobles leroyrobles says:

    After the fiasco which is the cosmos Z, I’m glad to find this gem of a phone. Nice review. I like the fact that its broke the 7mm thinness barrier but still has a 2500 mah battery and a 720p 5inch screen. And the price is the most reasonable of the bunch too.

    • Avatar for abuzalzal abuzalzal says:

      You’re aware that this doesn’t come with an sd slot, right? which should give you aprrox. 12 gigs of user space

  16. Avatar for John Alemar John Alemar says:

    Anu ba yan! Bat mas walang kwenta pa tong review na to sa review ng Cosmos Z! At least yun mukhang may effort pa. Di tumitingin ng comment tong mga to. haizzz

    HOY. Ayusin niyo naman review!! Parang impression/handson lang to!

    • Avatar for Allymar Allymar says:

      …. kaw naman…. dian kumikita ang mga ganitong site…. xempre panay papuri sila sa mga products… depende ang papuri nila sa QUALITY at KAPAL ng BAYAD ng….. money talks, money winks, money undresses, money caresses, money fucks…. money makes everything, ika nga nila…. I agree with you, dapat objective at informative ang approach ng review hindi it all about business pay… uppppss, but then, sabi nga nila, TELL THAT TO THE MARINES!

    • Avatar for wew wew says:

      @John Alemar edi pumunta ka sa bahay ni abe at magpakita ka ng mga sample tech reviews mo,edi kung magalingan siya sa gawa mo magagawa mo nang palitan si bob dito at gaganda na ang mga reviews.KUNG KAYA MONG PALITAN.

  17. Avatar for batman batman says:

    IPS means it is a battery hog. The camera is not even 18mp.

  18. Avatar for meh meh says:

    Which cell phone in the 11k range is the best? cherry mobile? starmobile? Myphone?

    • Avatar for wew wew says:

      Get the myphone. mura na nga ung mga presyo ng mga untis nila,maganda pa ang customer service nila…di ko lng sure kung maganda rin ang customer service ng starmobile pero hanggat maaari wag ang cherry mobile sa una matutuwa ka sa sobrang mura pero kawawa ka din sa huli pag may depekto ang nakuha mo.

  19. Avatar for bab bab says:

    kung alam nyo lang how bob is happy being critisized.. :))

  20. Avatar for abuzalzal abuzalzal says:

    Freking’s Grotto is baaaack!!!

    IMO, the Cosmos S is THE best among the ”Cosmos” bunch , price/performance-wise

    konting tip lang freking :

    When testing HD videos, try to put it on Airplane Mode as much as possible, it can prolong the playback for as much as 1 hour +

    • Avatar for Bob Freking Bob Freking says:

      The grotto is happy to see you too.

      No need to worry. The devices I test are always in Airplane Mode. I pop in the SIM card & turn on the radios only when needed.

    • Avatar for wew wew says:

      for me there’s nothing wrong with bob using the grotto…maybe you are just insecure to him hahaha

    • Avatar for abuzalzal abuzalzal says:

      Weh..di nga freking

      else naka indicate na dun sa review (AIRPLANE MODE) tsaka wala akong makitang airplane icon sa screenshots

      well at least alam mo na lol
      wag na kasing magpalusot freks haha

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