Cherry Mobile Flare XL 2.0 Review

Flare 系列新增了一位 XL 成员。所谓 XL，就是指大屏幕，准确来说是 6 英寸。这就是 Cherry Mobile Flare XL 2.0。只需不到 6000 菲律宾比索，你就能拥有一部平板手机的全部优势，而不至于破费。它到底好不好？以下是我们的完整评测。

设计与建造

Right off the bat, the Cherry Mobile Flare XL 2.0 is a sleek device despite its 6-inch display. It’s tall, narrow, and appears to have thin bezels when the screen is off. Its design actually reminds us of the Sony Xperia C5 Ultra. When the screen is on, it’s a bit disappointing to see that the bezels are not exactly as thin as we initially thought. On the bright side, it’s not that thick and doesn’t look bad either.

在屏幕上方，有耳机、光线传感器、8MP 前置摄像头和一个小型 LED 闪光灯。下方是三个未点亮的电容按钮。

在右侧，我们有用于调节音量和电源/锁定的金属按钮。对于手小的人来说，豌豆大小的电源按钮可能需要一些时间才能适应。

左侧是 SIM 卡和 microSD 卡的混合托盘。它可以是双卡双待设置，或是单卡加上 microSD 提供的额外存储。

Up top, we have the headset jack and a couple of antenna bands to let radios pass through the aluminum frame.

Down at the bottom are the microUSB port, mono loudspeaker, and the primary microphone. There's also a couple of antenna bands alike on the top.

把它翻转过来，你会看到主16MP摄像头配有双LED闪光灯和次要麦克风。后面刻有简约的Flare和Cherry Mobile品牌标识。

从设计和制造角度来看，Flare XL 2.0 外观吸引人，手感坚实。机身金属质感的框架增添了高级感，而背面的光滑、非光泽、蛋壳式表面触感舒适。我们不满意的是框架的漆面质量。仔细检查后，我们发现细小的气泡，使得设备呈现出老化、脏污的外观。

显示和多媒体

乍一看，你会注意到 Flare XL 2.0 的巨型 6 英寸显示屏。它是一块 IPS LCD，分辨率为 1280 x 720 像素，像素密度约为 244ppi，并配有弧形 2.5D 玻璃。6 英寸的尺寸下，高清分辨率被拉伸，导致小文字出现像素化和锯齿。与此同时，对比度和饱和度偏高。快速进行屏幕闪烁测试时，显示出近乎白色的再现，但 RGB 在肉眼下仍可接受。

As for the speaker situated at the bottom, it can get loud enough to fill in a small room or to be heard among a group of friends. Quality is average as it lacks bass and there’s too much treble.

操作系统、应用程序和用户界面

Cherry Mobile 在软件方面表现出色，得益于 Android 6.0 Marshmallow 开箱即用。是的，6.0 版仍是 Android 生态系统中可用的最新版本，且该手机很可能会保持此状态。

UI 没有皮肤，但预装了包括您喜爱的 Google 服务、Cherry 自己的应用、Xender 和 Opera Mini 在内的几个应用。默认启动器类似于 Google 的，当然，您也可以自行安装。只需打开 Play Store，挑选适合您口味的即可。

使用 16GB 内部存储，约 11GB 可供终端用户用于应用、媒体和其他文件。

相机

The Flare XL 2.0 is equipped with a 16-megapixel rear autofocus shooter and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. Both have their own flash – a dual-LED for the rear and a single soft LED for selfies. The main camera module takes above average stills with plenty amount of details and pleasant colors. Sharpening is a bit too much but it will do for most since they post their smartphone photos on social media rather than print. As for the selfie camera, it’s got a pretty wide lens and will be able to fit not just your face, but your torso as well when getting vain. Here are the samples:

在视频方面，您可以以最高1080p的分辨率录制，但只能使用3gp格式。压缩率较高，输出适合日常拍摄。请注意，连续自动对焦功能不存在。以下是一个全高清示例供参考：

性能与基准

内部搭载的是一款 64 位 MediaTek MT6753 八核芯片，主频为 1.3GHz。图形处理采用 Mali‑T720，且配备充足的 2GB RAM，以应对多任务需求。该性能配置对于中端设备来说相当标准，或如 MediaTek 所称的 “超级中端”。

在基本任务和一般导航方面没有任何问题。应用之间的切换没有任何令人沮丧的卡顿，但您需要留意，因为2GB很容易被内存占用较大的应用程序（如功能齐全的 Facebook 应用）吞噬。至于游戏，则流畅且令人愉快。包括我们稳定的测试游戏《Asphalt 8》和《Dead Trigger 2》在内的热门游戏都能轻松支持。

以下是想要数字的人的基准分数：

• 3DMark – 173 (Sling Shot ES 3.1), 268 (Sling Shot 3.0)
• AnTuTu Benchmark v6.1 – 34946
• PCMark – 4107 (Work)
• Quadrant Standard – 22479
• Vellamo – 2626 (Chrome), 938 (Metal), 1558 (Multicore)

Call Quality and Connectivity

Despite the question of people to the handset being a tablet, it’s still a smartphone and placing calls on it is no different than most midrange devices. Conversations on the phone are okay but the earpiece is just too soft to be able to overpower the background noise. Although, the voice capture is quite decent, thanks to the secondary microphone working on the noise-cancellation feature.

For a 2016 smartphone, it's got the modern essentials covered like Cat4 LTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS w/ A-GPS support. Dual SIM card slots are also present. Keep in mind that it’s a hybrid setup with one slot doubling up for storage expansion through microSD.

Battery Life

When we have a big smartphone, we expect it to also have a big battery. Sadly, that's not the case with this handset. Giving juice to all the hardware is just a 2500mAh battery, and it's not even removable. Using our traditional loop test using a 1080p clip with 50% brightness and volume on earphones and in airplane mode, the Flare XL 2 was able to last for 8 hours and 20 minutes. It was above expectation but we still wish for a bigger battery as a trade off in having a humongous smartphone.

With a more definite parameter like the PCMark work battery test, the handset was able to get an endurance score of just 7 hours and 3 minutes, a disappointing number for a 6-incher.

Conclusion

For just Php 5,999, you're getting an affordable phablet that doesn't sacrifice design but did skimp on battery capacity. Nevertheless, the Cherry Mobile Flare XL 2.0 was able to give a lasting impression during our review. If you're looking for phablet on a budget, then this handset is worth a try. It also comes two colors, black and white.

Cherry Mobile Flare XL 2.0 specs:
6.0-inch IPS LCD @ 1280 x 720 pixels, 244ppi
1.3GHz MediaTek MT6753 octa-core 64-bit processor
Mali-T720 GPU
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
Expandable storage via microSD, up to 32GB
16-megapixel autofocus rear camera w/ dual-LED flash
8-megapixel front-facing camera w/ LED flash
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
LTE Cat4
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band
Bluetooth 4. 0
GPS w/ A-GPS
USB OTG
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
2500mAh battery

What we liked about it:

• Good build and design
• Surprising battery endurance
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box

What we didn't:

• Small battery for a 6-incher
• Unlit capacitive keys