Cherry Mobile is perhaps the most aggressive of all local phone brands. This is evident with their frequent product launches and the introduction of the Cosmos series, specifically the Cosmos Z. Check our full review of the Cherry Mobile Cosmos Z after the jump.
Cherry Mobile has come a long way from creating entry-level feature phones to pushing the prices of Android smartphones to insane levels in the local market. Now, they’re doing it again but this time, its a jab at the flagship category.
By flagship handset, we mean large full HD displays, quad-core processors, and the close-to-the-latest Android flavors. The Cosmos Z is, by far, the only evidence that obviously points to that direction.
Design and Construction.
The Cosmos Z looked very simple and unassuming. Much of what it can boast are all hidden inside the 5-inch polycarbonate chassis. The review unit we got is the all-white variant with the front panel covered with glass from edge to edge, Android soft buttons at the bottom end and earphone speakers at the top end along with the front-facing camera and sensors.
The volume controls are found on the left side, power button on the right side, the microphone at the bottom end, and the 3.5mm audio port and micro-USB port at the top end. The large 18-megapixel camera is found at the back side along with the LED flash and the phone speakers. The Cosmos label is smack in the middle and another Cherry Mobile logo painted in embossed at the lower corner.
The device looks really sleek and very slim, the pearl white color is accented with silver buttons and silver trimmings around the sides. The smooth, matte finish feels a bit slippery and attracts oil and smudges very easily.
Over-all, it has a good build, nothing fancy and looking decent. Cherry Mobile’s formula for the Cosmos Z in the design department can go either way and it will boil down to personal preference.
Display.
The biggest feature that Cherry Mobile is very proud of with the Cosmos Z would have to be the full HD 1080p IPS LCD display. That basically puts it in the same league as the top flagship handsets of other global brands, like the Galaxy S4, HTC One and Xperia Z1.
The front panel is completed covered by tempered glass, the display is surrounded with narrow bezel that allows some space for capacitive buttons. If you want to nitpick a bit, you will notice a little black gap (about a millimeter wide) between the bezel and the border of active screen.
Needless to say, the screen is very sharp, clean and crisp. This becomes more evident when you’re browsing the web, viewing hi-res photos or watching a full HD 1080p video.
It is very rare for a local brand to go as high as this type of display but Cherry Mobile has proven they can do better than what the market expects of them. On that note alone, props to Cosmic Technologies for pushing the boundaries in the smartphone market.
OS, UI and Apps.
Cherry Mobile did not really touch the vanilla UI of Android Jellybean. If there were some customizations made, these were mostly light cosmetic additions like home wallpapers and pre-installed apps like Cherry Fun Club, eWarranty, Cherry Play and Software Update (OTA).
The Cosmos Z comes with Android 4.2.1 Jellybean right out of the box making it at par with most other handsets released this year. Access to Google Play gives you choice of hundreds of thousands of free apps and games. Customization is available via several themes and Home Launcher apps.
The virtual keypad for making calls and keyboard for SMS is as plain as you can get and should be familiar if you’ve tried the vanilla UI of Android Jellybean. As an option, Cherry Mobile has pre-installed TouchPal V5 should you wish to change the keyboard layout.
Multimedia and Camera.
On paper, multimedia is supposed to be a strong suit for the Cosmos Z especially with its full HD 1080p display and an enormous combo of 18MP and 8MP rear and front-facing cameras.
As mentioned earlier, the full HD display coupled with IPS LCD provides great video experience for the user. The same is true with mobile gaming. However, we noticed that the resulting audio from movies are a bit weak than normal.
The speakers at the back seemed to do its job when playing MP3 music or even with games. Despite it lacking in bass, the volume is more than enough to fulfill our needs.
The 18MP rear camera was very controversial since it rode on the megapixel marketing hype. Nevertheless, we were after on image quality rather than image size. Here are the sample photos we got using the rear camera.
[fancygallery id=”45″ album=”48″]
We were initially skeptic with the performance of the camera but the results showed above average picture quality.
Here’s the sample HD video we got from the same camera:
We were actually fairly impressed with the image quality. The camera apps was full of options and settings for tweaking the performance of the camera. There was no option for a 16:9 aspect ratio though and everything was in 4:3 aspect ratio.
Performance and Benchmarks.
There were occasions when we notice some significant lags. This was evident when we first used the phone that had Live Wallpaper running on the background and transitions were a bit choppy. It only disappeared when we changed the background to a static wallpaper. It’s curious though that CM used a custom Live Wallpaper as the default background without checking the user-experience at that level.
We played a number of usual games on the phone without any problems — starting out with simple ones like Fruit Ninja, to Temple Run 2 and Fast Racing 3D. For the most part, gameplay is smooth and appealing. Graphics might sometime become pixelated especially when they’re designed for 720p instead of full HD 1080p like the display of the Cosmos Z.
Our benchmark results show some struggle by the Cosmos Z in the graphics department, mainly due to the number of pixels it has to push per frame. Nevertheless, the numbers are still good enough with a Nenamark 2 score of 33.9fps.
Quadrant Standard gave the handset a score of 4,674 while Antutu Benchmark scores reached a high of 15,431.
Call Quality, Connectivity and Battery Life.
The Cosmos Z uses a dual-SIM functionality although only the primary SIM has 3G capabilities. Call quality is good though not as clear as we would have wanted. This is probably due to the lack of a secondary noise-canceling microphone. SMS delivery works fine and there was no noticeable delays in sending and receiving text messages.
The handset is all the connectivity options required from it — from cellular data, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and stereo FM tuner. What’s obviously missing is LTE capability and NFC connectivity we normally see in other flagship handsets. This is an inherent disadvantage when using a more affordable Mediatek processor where LTE and NFC are not yet integrated into the chip, unlike Qualcomm.
Based on our standard test bench for battery life, we were able to last up to 7.5 hours playing a full HD 1080p video at 50% screen brightness and 0% volume. That’s slightly lower than our average of about 9 hours on most other flagship handsets.
Conclusion.
Cherry Mobile has a solid contender in the Cosmos Z. Pretty solid set of hardware, good camera, impressive display — all in a very affordable price tag. We could not complain much except for the battery capacity.
With a suggested retail price of Php11,999USD 204INR 17,334EUR 195CNY 1,489, the Cosmos Z has the makings of a flagship smartphone at a mid-range price. It’s a proven and tested formula that will sell well.
Cherry Mobile Cosmos Z specs:
5-inch IPS LCD display @ 1080×1920 pixels, 441ppi
Mediatek MT6589 1.5GHz quad-core processor
PowerVR SGX 544MP
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
micro SD up to 32GB
18.2MP BSI rear camera with LED flash
8MP front-facing camera
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
3G/HSPA+, Dual SIM
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS w/aGPS support
FM Radio tuner
Li-Ion 2,000mAh battery
Android 4.2.1 Jellybean
What we liked about it:
* Impressive display quality
* Good over-all performance
* Large front and rear camera sensor
* Very affordable price
What we did not like:
* Below-average battery performance
* Low internal storage
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Jun says:
“6GB internal storage” — must be at least 16gb.
“3G/HSPA+” — 4G becoming more standard thru mid-highend phones right now even our cellular connection here in PH really sucks.
Other than that everything seems right on top! Awesome phone for the price.
{Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt owner here}
yt_gab says:
Sir, non-removable battery po ba ang Cosmos Z?
HiERARCH says:
whey.. peggy
abuzalzal says:
Boss Yuga
* Large front and rear camera sensor (?)
since software interpolation lang ginamit, I doubt it kung malaki talaga ang sensor size neto
Janet Lim Napoles says:
If you’re a newbie sa mga smartphone and budget-conscious, then this phone might fit you..
Sa mga techies jan, bka ma-put-off sila sa processor (never was a fan of mediatek processors), and/or battery life..
baka pag-ipunan ko na lang ang Note 3..
(wait, what am i saying?? Nasakin pa ang kaban ng bayan! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!)
Anti Troll says:
Who says that abuzalzal’s chery mobile is not good? Who? Come out now iphone and Samsung fans, Sammy has full hd 1080 display panel, but iphone? sucks! you’re dead with the year 2000 640pixel display LOL.
Abuzalzal’s chery mobile has a lot more camera pixel to give than iphone antiquated camera LOL!
Oh wait, abuzalzal’s phone is not GOLD COLORED? But its just 11K right. And you could buy in Binondo real gold anyway with the savings rather than the china gold paint in iphone, and still have plenty remaining to buy a brand new AIRCONDITIONING UNIT from abuzalzal shop. LOL.
But then you can’t have alleged apple experience? Oh Abuzalzal shop is also selling lots of apples at divisoria price, what do you want California, Chinese, or Japanese apples? LOL!
mike says:
there’s a typo on the LTE part.. you typed in mission instead of missing. with regards to the Cosmos Z. Is there any special feature offer from this phone?
Jay says:
1GB RAM? Fail. It’s 2013. You need 2GB minimum. The 2000 mAh battery is also a fail for that 441 PPI display
Name: mdm782010 says:
wow…parang Alcatel idol x..1 gig lang yung dehado..pero panalo nman sa less 12k…at sana may otg din.
wew says:
cherry mobile di mo pa rin ako mapapabili nyan kahit pang high-end na ang specs nito,LUGI lang ako pag nasira agad tsk tsk
FanBoy says:
lol nakakatuwa mga hirit, banat at pintas dito! pero ang totoo, wala talagang isang smartphone na ang lahat ng tao ay sasabihin na “yan na”! maski anong produkto yan, laging may pipintas at pupuri. pag may nag labas nang 4GHz, Octacore, 16MP cam (front and back), 16GB RAM, 128GB Storage, card slot up to 128GB, display na may 600ppi, 10000mAh battery at kung ano ano pa tapos presyo Php60,000, sasabihin “masyadong mahal! may mas mura dyan na tulad nyan! etc..” Pag may nag labas naman ng mababa specs, yun din ang banat! lol Kung may pera, bumili, kung wala, manahimik!
drew says:
Pro:
441ppi
Full hd display
1.5 ghz
Cons:
Non USB OTG Capable.
Low battery mAh
Bad customer service
Non scratch resistant screen
3/5
Tsktsk says:
Review ba ‘to? Parang hands on lang ah! lang kwenta.
leroyrobles says:
For the money. I’d rather go for a Cherry Mobile Omega HD2 plus a portable LTE router. This thing is too expensive.
Dins says:
Is it available now in the market?
Gretzch says:
wala to. omega hd 2.0 parin ako. kung lte na ito. pwede pa. di naman nagkakalayo yung specs same parin.
stitchy says:
available naba to sa market? i wanna buy na po kasi
Jinky says:
Ganda naman ng review sa games temple run lang.. La kwenta. Sana yung mga hd games ng gameloft hindi yung sobrang casual. E puro yan ginagamit nyong sa review
Carlo says:
My dual core Xperia SP is still smoother than this, and has LTE for just a few more bucks. LOL.
luigi says:
its a half baked review. wlang msyadong cnabi 2ngkol sa camera! im so disappointed
CM User since 2006 says:
Mga ulol. Kung ayaw nyu ng cm phones why waste ur freakin time posting on a cm phone review? If u guys hate cm phones fine, but go buy samsung if u can.
aj franco says:
sabi po nila dati 8gb internal ang cosmoz z…. dito 16gb? anu po ung totoo 16 or 8?
CaveMan says:
Ahh .. Hindi kasi ako fan ng smartphones, ang cp ko kasi samsung champ lang pero aalis ako ng bansa at sabi nila kailangan ko daw ng smartphone para makapag keep in touch ng mabuti kasi wala din akong laptop. Ok kaya tong cp na toh? Ty .. :3
Mike stuzy says:
Id rather ask some friends to buy me a NEO N003 with ram and rom of 2gb and 32gb and only amounting to 9k sa labas ng pinas or 11k sa limited sellers sa bansa natin. It even has 3k mAh battery. Overkill itong presyo ng cosmos C este cosmos Z. Try searching neo n003, maspapatok pa ang cherry mobile apollo kesa ito
Edgar Orino says:
Quite expensive. If you’re on a tight budget, I suggest you go for CM Razor instead.
jologs says:
16 gb? o 8 gb lng
bat ganun? dba sa ibang site 8 gb lng cya
Mike stuzy says:
16gb ito mga pre, ito ung source ng cosmos zhttp://gsmarena-mobile.blogspot.com/2013/07/zopo-c2-platinum-mtk6589t-quad-core.html?m=1
Jeyy says: says:
Wala akong masabi sa phone na to maliban lang sa 2000 mah na battery niya. Masyadong mababa para sa full hd na screen.
Pero nakakainis lang mga comment ng iba. Pwede namang manahimik nalang kung ayaw niyo to diba?? Kailangan pa bang magpost ng mga ganyang comment?? Edi mag SAMSUNG kayo o Iphone..
Walang pakealamanan dito mga brad!! Hahaha
Tsaka kung di rin naman kayo bibili wag na kayo magsalita pa.. Ginawa ang review na ito para sa mga interesado hindi para sa mga bitter na walang alam gawin sa buhay kundi mangialam.. May freedom of speech nga, pero sino nagmukhang masama?? Isip isip din.. Hahaha
Athrun Zala says:
Tang ina niong lahat… Mga pilipino nga kau.. Mag away away dahil sa phone hahaha..
Yer says:
Ano po Meron sa SIP calling???
me option sya sa Audio files
SIP calling ringtone…
StanliJey says:
Good day po. I’m planning to buy one of the cosmos series next month, but I really have a lot of things in my mind that bothers me. Usually they are the bad comments from the people, saying its not that impressive and some things in the phone doesn’t work well. But regardless of the comments, I would still like to buy one of those phones, either the COSMOS Z or COSMOS X2. Please suggest po kung anong mas okay. Mejo naguguluhan kasi ako kung anong bibilhin ko eh.
Thanks po! :)
menerva says:
I had already my cherry mobile cosmos x2.Nabili ko last aug.2013.So far very ok
naman walang problema.Pero meron nagsabi na
madaling ma lowbat.Siguro basta android phone
lalot open lahat yung apps mo.Kahit nman samsung
ganun pa rin e.So pagmatutulog na e close yung apps na hindi na ginagamit katulad ng wifi at iba pa.Ang sa akin nag download ako ng du battery saver tapos dun sa mode pwede kang gumawa ng sarili mong costomization,at pag matulog na ako yung screen ko nlang yung open para kung may magtxt ma read ko pa rin.
Romar Cabasagan says:
Ako nga nadapa eh!
elyboy says:
Ampotah..marami nanaman masasayangan ng pera dyan..good for 1 year phone?o 1 week..?criticism is a norm mga brad, chill lang kayo..sa presyo na yan eh konti nalang i dadagdag pede na kayo mag one x o s3 na brand new..its a matter of choice, pero mag basa muna ng mga forum para di tayo masayangan ng pera, dahil proven naman na pangit ang after service ng cherry..puro mga rebrand yan mga kapatid, kaya di nyo kailangan ma offend..brand lang ang pinoy, so pabayaan natin yung mga comments..natural yan..nakakatulong sa lahat
marcuz says:
Maganda ang pagkaka review, maraming salamat sa sa fair na review..mas fair ito kumpara sa ibang site na obvious na pinopromote masyado ang produkto dahil sa na sponsoran..maganda nga sana kung parang review sa ibang bansa, yung prangka..kahit anong brand pa, international man o local..dahil consumer parin naman ang makikinabang,we have the right to know kung ano ang pros and cons ng ating bibilhin, dahil pinag hirapan natin yung pera..kesa mag away tayo at ma offend, eh bakit di natin basahin at unawaan ang sinasabi ng iba.
blake says:
mga sir ano po ba maganda cosmos z o cosmos x2? salamat po.
Daphne says:
Hi everyone,i have a question,ung front camera nyo ba is na dedelay din?hindi accurate sa pag galaw nung tao?thank you
Bil says:
Hi Po, i bought one recently this cosmos z ok nmn lahat my problem is mahina ung audio nia is there a way to fix it or settings? tnx! :D
Sed says:
well this phone is all well for its price. sana nga lang talagang gawang pinoy, pinapagawa lang din ito sa china tapos patent natin. I have a z10 and I think its the best but ill buy a cosmos to support filipino products.
Lita says:
Alam niyo iba’t iba ang preferences natin pagdating sa cellphone kaya natural lang na may iba na hindi magugustuhan itong phone na to.
Nagdedepende din yan kung para san mo gagamitin yung phone at anong klaseng cellphone user ka. Kung heavy phone user ka malamang kulang talaga yung 2000 mah battery sayo. Pero para saken, okay na yun, matagal-tagal din yung standby time nyan (up to 400 hours) at talk time (up to 10 hours). Kung adik ka at maselan pagdating sa games at apps sa cellphone mo syempre kulang talaga yung ram para sayo. Pero kung games lang din pag-uusapan mas gugustuhin ko pang maglaro sa laptop or computer nalang kasi di ko planong gawing all-in-one ang cellphone ko. Opinyon ko lang yan. “To each his own”
chetwo says:
Lahat ng cp kahit anong brand gawa lahat ng china.ang nakakamahal lang yan ang brand name this cherry phone has low price kasi pinoy ang brand pero sa totoo it can be compare to samsung.i have a samsung cp pero nagluko narin overheating.
cish says:
sir bakit sa mall 8gb lang internal niya? pati sa box nakalagay 8 gb ano po ba talaga sir?
cris sison jr says:
kakabili ko pa lang sa cosmos z ko. sa sobrang excited ko di ko na check yung camera eh kaya lang naman ako bumili nito dahil sa specs ng camera… bkit ganon 6m lang sia it means ba 6mega pixel lang tlga at ang front na sabi 8mega pixel eh 1m lang skin…. bakit ganon? naiinis lng ako! may phone kasi ako and satisfied nmn ako kaso mababa nga ung camera specs nia! kaya ako nag palit!
eric says:
Hi guys! I’m selling my Cosmos Z, 3 months used color white, makinis! with case, with box, original charger, original USB cable, with receipt, no headset (misplaced) for only P9,800 Rush! interested buyers may contact me at 093981***** or 091520*****, txt me for meetups! preferably metro manila area only!
jocyline says:
the battery is not good every meanute is low bat
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Vic says:
I bought a cosmos z recently. Ok naman ang performance except for the battery. I purchased it not only for its design but because I wanted to patronized Filipino products.