Just when everybody thought that Cherry Mobile’s days of local market dominance are numbered with the release of competitive mid-range smartphones, they’ve shown that they’re not going to go down without a fight – and it comes in the form of the new CM Flare X.
The Flare X isn’t exactly an attention-grabber. Its straightforward design coupled with a conventional form factor will not immediately impress any on-looker at first glance. It’s only when you held the handset, however, will you appreciate the Flare X’s minimalist design and pretty decent build quality.
The uncluttered layout of the handset’s front panel is almost screen with just enough room at the top for the earpiece and 5-megapixel front camera, and three capacitive Android navigation buttons at the bottom.
Both the Power button and volume rockers are located on the right side of the Flare X and are placed ergonomically to suit the natural position of the right thumb when holding the handset. These buttons are a tad too flushed for our liking, but provides a satisfying feedback when pressed.
Meanwhile the audio jack and MicroUSB ports are situated at the top and bottom portions respectively.
At the back you’ll find a 13-megapixel camera smacked right in the middle, neighbored by a dual-LED flash unit. Below is a speaker grille that hides two speakers units underneath.
Prying open the polycarbonate back cover will reveal two microSIM card slots and a microSD card slot. Sadly, user’s need to first take out the handset’s 3,000mAh battery to access any of these card slots.
The slightly curved back panel of the Flare X together with the non-glossy coating of the removable back plate makes the smartphone comfortable to hold.
Cherry Mobile Flare X specs:
5.5-inch Full-HD IPS OGS display, 1920 x 1080 @ 400ppi
Gorilla Glass 3
1.7GHz MediaTek MT6752 octa-core processor
Mali-T760 GPU
3GB RAM
Expandable 16GB internal storage
Supports up to 64GB MicroSD card
13-megapixel rear camera with LED Flash
Sony IMX 214 BSI sensor
5-megapixel front camera
Dual-SIM, Dual Standby
4G/LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
3000mAh battery
152 x 75.6 x 9.1mm (dimensions)
Cherry Mobile has been pushing the boundaries for really affordable yet very powerful devices. Granted that they still mainly use Mediatek chipsets for most of them, they are still relatively high-performance chips that are in the same level as last year’s global flagship devices running Snapdragon 800/801.
With a price tag of just under Php7k, it will certainly raise a lot of interest among those who are looking for bang-for-the-buck handsets, regardless if they’re local ore re-branded.
Cherry Mobile has a strong contender in their hands with the new Flare X. The combination of very decent specs, and competitive price tag puts the local brand’s new smartphone in a good position to compete with the likes of the Alcatel Flash Plus and Lenovo A7000.
Stay tuned for our full review in the coming days.
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Easy E says:
Waiting for the full review…
denmark says:
nah…di pa din cherry…metal frame(kaya?), mas magandang build quality at wag yung ganyan laging design.. haha… my opinion lang naman…
klky says:
*available exclusively on lazada
emilioaquino says:
kung ilalabas nila ito paano na yung infinity nila na mas mababa ang specs kaysa dito yung nakita ko ang price nun nasa 14,999 sana gawing 5999 nalang gusto ko rin kasi yun hinihintay ko lang bumaba ang price
Hello says:
Never thought I’d ever buy a CM phone until now.
Anony says:
Dual or stereo speakers ba yan? sana nga stereo
abuzellel says:
Bakit sa sticker sa pic quadcore pero sa description sa baba octa-core. Paki-clarify please. :D
Cherry Mobile says:
Galing talga ng Cherry. Bili na.
kulas says:
Maganda talaga ang specs ng phone, pero known pala ang cherrymobile for sluggish repairs pag may sira ang phone :(
Easy E says:
Guys importatnte ito sa Cherry. Make or break na ito. Sa tingin ko kaya naging Lazada exclusive ito ay para ma-maintain ang mababang price at para ma-isolate ang infinity nila. Will wait for the official review by yuga/unbox.
never trust says:
nadala na ako sa brand na ito ayoko ng maulit pa
wilson says:
hi, i would like to suggest that you include loudness of the audio quality to all the phones ur reviewing. like audio quality for incoming calls. nakaka dismaya maganda nga ang porma ng cellphone kaso ang hina ng ear-piece kahit todo na, handsfree audio at loudness ng ring tone. coz ito ang problem ng mga local brand like starmonile(astra) starmobile(roar) at O+ … wala magawa ang service center ng starmobile coz nasa piyesa na yan at kahit may audio boosting apps wla pa rin.
P.S. pls use samsung galaxy grand-1 as basis for audio quality comparison (volume para sa incoming call, loudness ng ring tone sa kalye at louness ng handsfree speaker). thanks coz this will help me in getting my next phone.
thanks,
wilson
Anderson says:
i think a7000 is not comparable to the flare x. maybe k3 note
Jude says:
mamatay nalang ako na gamit ko lagi ay cherry mobile pero ayun, lahat nabenta ko na sa buy and sell, hindi naman nasisira at dinadag dagan ko nalang. nabasa ko ang review ng Jiayu S3 at maganda daw ang camera. Sony imx214 at f2.0 ang apperture. Mabilis din ang focus at shutter speed. nagtaka nga ang nagreview kasi antay sya ng antay na mag take ang camera, un pala tapos na. wala kasing animation. parang oppo din daw ang user interface. di ko lang alam kung ganito din ang ilalabas ng cherry mobile. ang battery non ay 3050 mah. lahat ng nabasa kong review, ang complaine ay slow charging. may option din sya na i calibrate ang screen, temperature, saturation, contrast.. lg ltps ang screen.
Sensors says:
Not seeing any information about what sensors are on this thing (gyroscope, compass, etc.). Please include those in the full review :)
it master says:
hi napansin kulang na sa ibang review e naka lagay 3G paki liwanag naman po, nalito ako bigla :)
flare user po ako at naga hahanap nang i papalit sa flare 1stgen ko kc almost 3 years kuna ginamit and its time na palitan siya.
thanks in advance !!
ciaossu says:
64bit ba to?
yuja says:
If only this was a 6-incher, i would swap my cosmos one to this because of its 3Gb & Battery
aries says:
gawa din sila ng 64 gb internal memory at 3gb ram na octacore sa presyong 9999…
Ralph Kevin L. Ablin says:
Maganda to……my first flare series phone ung…flare 2x…nabasag nlng ung screen….buhay parin…and ngaun im using cosmos one…from cherry…wlang problema…smooth..parin….nka ilang beses na akong mg palit nang rom….ngaun meron na namn bago…from cherry….flare x….
utot says:
rebrand ba to ng jiayu s3 , parehas lang sila ng specs
The Nomad says:
Since the CM Flare X is a rebrand of the Jiaoyu S3, you may want to see the Jiaoyu’s specs at their own site, for full spec info about the cm flare x.. :)
Off Limits says:
Good performance b tong Cm flare x? dalawa kc pinagpipilian kung bilhin ei
.. Cm flare x vs Honor 4c. Mas halimaw kc specification ng flare x ei.. kaso hndi ko type ung brand. Ok lng kung wlang issue ang flare x ,,bibili ako agad nito this month.
kororo says:
wag kana magdalawaang isip Brad yan din bibilhin ko
juan says:
rebranded na jiayu s3 advance parehong pecs plus build watch kyo ng reviews yan sa youtube malimaw daw pero may doubts sa gorilla glass 3 netoh ksi may gasgas daw yung screen ng sa reviewer kaya pag full review dapat itest yung screen kung gorilla glass nga
emcel says:
Mahigit 5 times na akong nasiraan ng cherry mobile pero mga low end lang naman na units, sa mga nabasa kung user experiences pati na rin sa friends ko ok ang mga mid—end to hi—end nila simula sa Fusion Bolt… magandang panlaban to sa Firefly allure.
Ryan says:
Kelan po to Iaannounce o ibebenta sa SM megamall ?
jim says:
Gawin nyo sa QUAD BAND ang CM kasi mahalaga parin sa phone ang call and text nito. Sana may free j.case na katulad ng starmobile. Kahit dagdagan ng presyo ok lang kay sa maghanap pa kami. Thank you..