The Cherry Mobile Cubix Cube 3 is an interesting phone because it is an exclusive phone sold over Lazada.com. The Cube 3 is selling at Php4,999 and right out of the box it looks good. But, there can be more that meets the eye. So with that this is our Cherry Mobile Cubix Cube 3 review.
Design and construction
The Cherry mobile Cubix Cube 3 has a 5.5 inch screen. This makes it good for watching videos and other multimedia functions. However, it takes a bit of getting used to as the phone does feel a bit wide. Around the screen is the beautiful looking body. It may be made of polycarbonate plastic but the Cubix Cube 3 looks elegant. The Champagne gold unit I reviewed looked quite impressive with the metallic sides and the textured back cover.
On the phone’s right side are the volume control and power buttons. At the top is the headphone jack, and at the bottom are the mic and usb micro port. The back of the phone holds the camera and the flash. At the front of course is the screen and the front facing camera. What is interesting about this phone though is that the function buttons(home, back, option) are onscreen.
Display and Multimedia
The display on this phone is pretty good. The 5.5 inch IPS display has a 720×1280 resolution that makes video watching easy on the eyes. The quality of the display is pretty good that at first glance I forgot that it was for only Php4,999.
On the subject of multimedia performance though it does not wow as much. Watching videos on it was a treat and so was looking at videos however the audio quality was a bit lackluster. There was not much to it. Sure at a specific volume the sounds are clear but that is just it. The volume feels like there are only specific levels for solid quality audio. I suppose the headset helps this a bit, but still the sound did not match the display.
Performance
This phone has 2GB of system memory which may not sound impressive but is still pretty good. It also has an internal memory of 16GB which is pretty good as well. I installed Dead Trigger 2 on this phone and I must say I was quite impressed. The phone has a 1.3GHz Octa core CPU so it does pack a punch. Not only that but the MALI 720 GPU really helps with games. Also it runs on the Android 5.1 lollipop and I can not complain about that. The interface is smooth, gaming is smooth, switching through a bunch of apps is smooth. I am not saying that this phone is powerful but it can handle enough work for a more rounded experience.
I ran this phone through some of the usual benchmarks apps we use and here are the results.
Antutu: 35447
PC Mark: 2217
Quadrant: 23238
Camera
The camera on the Cherry Mobile Cubix Cube 3 is what I would say decent. At 16MP, the photos look clear but you still need decent lighting to capture better quality photos with it. However, I think it can take good enough photos for social media posts. The camera wont set your Instagram on fire but it can capture the moment you want. Another note is that it is a bit slow when adjusting to lighting. But still, what is a few milliseconds. The front camera at 8MP is pretty solid as well. The beautify function is also integrated into this phone. For someone who is not keen on details though, the effects might be missed.
When taking videos, I’d say the quality is pretty okay as well. It share the same quality as the rear camera in terms of smoothness. Images are decent but zooming in has a bit of lag time. However, the zoom quality is pretty good in terms of visibility. With the right lighting, a zoomed image has decent detail and it is not too blurry.
Sample Photos
Selfie Sample
100% Crop Samples
Call Quality and Connectivity
The call quality on the phone was okay. There is not much to say in terms of the call. It was average on this phone. A note though that the placing of the mic is odd. It is at the far left side of the bottom of the unit. Now that is a bit problematic because sometimes my hand covers the mic hole. However. that is what the headset is for and the accessory does improve the call quality.
For connectivity. this phone is a good deal. So it has the standard Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, and FM radio. But to add more value for our money, the Cherry Mobile Cubix Cube 3 has USB OTG and 4G LTE connectivity.
Battery
If the phone has one downside I would have to say it is the battery. At 2700mAh it really is not too bad. It can last over 4 hours watching videos, and around 10 to 12 hours on casual use. Sure those stats are not astounding but what makes it worse is the fact that the battery is non removable. There are a more than a few cons to this but overall, the ability to switch out batteries is a great convenience. Even just taking out batteries when a phone crashes is a huge help. However as this battery is not removable it can be a hassle.
Buy or Bye?
Overall, I have to say that I had fun with the Cherry Mobile Cubix Cube 3. For all of its shortcomings it is still a pretty good deal. For a price of Php 4,999 we get 2GB RAM, 5.5 inch IPS display and 4G LTE connectivity. Of course those are the highlights but also, those are the makings of a pretty good smartphone. So I have to say that this is definitely a buy.
Cherry Mobile Cubix Cube 3 Specs
OS | Android 5.1 Lollipop |
Processor | 1.3 GHz MediaTek 6753 Octa Core, Mali T720 |
Memory | 2GB |
Display | 5-inch IPS On Cell, HD 720x1280, 267ppi |
Storage | 16GB |
Camera | Rear: Samsung 16MP BSI Front: 8MP |
SIM | Dual Micro SIM |
Battery | 2700mAh |
Weight | 170g |
Dimensions | 150 x 77.2 x 8.8mm |
Others | LTE |