Fast Five: Feature Phones for Emergencies

Name: Fast Five: Feature Phones for Emergencies
Brand: Fast
Rating: 4.7 (1 reviews)

It’s common for our country to be struck by a lot of natural disasters year after year. Thankfully, some of our local smartphone brands are responding to this by offering affordable feature phones that deliver during those moments (which we wish wouldn’t happen). In this Fast Five, we take a look at five feature phones that can eventually be helpful in the worst times.

f5-emergencyfeaturephones

We don’t really wish for anything bad to happen anytime soon, but it’s better to be prepared than be sorry at the end, right? What these five phones have in common are large battery capacities that can provide connectivity in a snap, and some nifty features as well. Phones are listed in descending order of suggested retail price.

Cherry Mobile U6 (Php2,499)

cherrymobile-u6

First on out list is this two-toned rugged bar phone from Cherry Mobile, simply called as the U6. It boasts a large powerbank and a bright flashlight for searching your way in the dark.

Cherry Mobile U6 specs:
2-inch TFT LCD screen
expandable storage via microSD up to 32GB
Camera w/Video Recording
Dual-SIM
Audio and Video Player
Large Flashlight
Dust and Water-proof
2600mAh battery with Powerbank Function

Cherry Mobile U7 (Php1,999)

cherrymobile-u7

The U7, on the other hand, presents itself with a bit toned-down specs from the other member of the U series. Nevertheless, this one is said to stay afloat in water, in addition to its already-present dust and water proofing.

Cherry Mobile U7 specs:
2-inch TFT LCD screen
expandable storage via microSD up to 32GB
Camera w/Video Recording
Dual-SIM
Audio and Video Player
Floatable System
Dust and Water-proof

DTC Torch (Php1,999)

dtctorch

DTC recently unveiled the Torch, a feature phone which has a unique design. The phone itself is shaped after the body of a flashlight, primarily because the main feature is a huge torch light you can use outdoors. It also boasts amplified audio through its speakers should you need some good music outdoors.

DTC Torch specs:
1.44-inch display
expandable via MicroSD up to 32GB
Rear camera
Dual SIM
Bluetooth
Wireless FM Radio
Big Torch Flashlight
Super Bass Speaker
Video & Music Player
3500mAh with Powerbank Function

DTC Gear (Php 1,499)

dtcgear

Also from DTC, the Gear is one of the first phones to be featured in this category. At the time it was first introduced in the market, the Gear was on a league of its own — it touts to be one of the longest-lasting bar phones with its huge 4500mAh battery that can double as a powerbank at a really good price.

DTC Gear specs:
2.4-inch TFT Display (160 x 120 Pixels)
Expandable up to 32GB storagevia MicroSD
1.3MP rear camera
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
GPRS
Bluetooth
Wireless FM Radio
Flashlight
Shock Resistant
4,500mAh Li-ion Battery with Powerbank Function

MyPhone my112 SOS Phone (Php1,399)

myphone-my112

Rounding up our list, and the most affordable one of the bunch, is MyPhone’s newest bar phone with a whopping 6000mAh of battery and a shock and water resistance body. Its main feature? The SOS siren that’s just a press of a button away.

MyPhone My112 SOS specs:
2.3-inch display
Dual-SIM
Flashlight
Shock and Water-resistant
6,000mAh battery

And that’s it for five of the feature phones you can use in times of emergencies. Got another device not on this list? We’d love to hear them down the comments section.

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16 Comments

Lando · 10 years ago

Poor quality nung my phone… ang hina ng call kailangan mu pa iloudspeaker tapos plastic parang laruan. parang lata ang boses..

silverlokk · 10 years ago

Not exactly for emergencies only. I mean, what would you need media players for in an emergency? Maybe to keep your sanity? I think they’re more of everyday phones you can also use in emergency situations — maybe except for the MyPhone, which doesn’t have the media player

deuts · 10 years ago

For feature phones, I’ll still put my trust on Nokia. The best pa rin ang call quality compared sa parang nasa lata ng iba.

Ronaldo De-Felipe San Pablo · 10 years ago

Been searching the web with MyPhone my112 SOS VS DTC Gear. May nagsasabi ng despite maganda specs and features ng MyPhone, kaso hindi naman daw shock resistant. Anyone can confirm this?

nononono · 10 years ago

Crappy parehas sila. DTC gear claims to be shock resistant, pero I doubt it. Nahulog yung sakin then natanggal yung back cover. Masyado mabigat yung battery nya para sa back cover kaya natatanggal kaya hindi din shock resistant sya. BTW, hindi water resistant si DTC gear…

Yung software, halos walang kaibahan. Modified lang parehas pero same cheap china software. Buggy at hindi optimized.

Nice list of phones. Would love to use this as my main phone then the smartphone for casual gaming. Mas gusto ko parin mag txt sa keypad compared sa touch screen. I never really get the hang of it. I mean, sa touchpad nga tamad nko mag message, sa touch screen pa kaya. Kakagigil. lol

^ Good Idea. I have a feature phone and a Tablet as well for all my computing needs. However you need to be wary if you are to use these china phones as your main phone.

These feature phones are trash. They may have good features/hardware but their software is crap… I’ve tried most of them and they all fail with their software. Poor power saving feature (the DTC gearss up time for its 4.5Ah is lesser than Samsung Xcover e2370 with just 2Ah). The SMS storage is poor at around 200 text messages. The wireless FM is crap due to poor reception. The operating system interface are crappy thank to your default chinese buggy software.

I’m currently using Samsung Xcover 550. The best feature phone so far. It cost twice as much as CM’s U6.