Cherry Mobile Defender is a tough smartphone that targets consumers who have active lifestyles and consumers who like a durable smartphone. We must admit that although smartphones are such a necessity nowadays, most of them are still vulnerable to certain elements such as dust and water. Phone companies are trying their best to maintain good specs and achieve durability at the same time. Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and iPhone’s iPhone 7 are some of the latest smartphones that proved to be waterproof and dustproof. Samsung Galaxy S8 is IP-68 certified and even brags its capability to capture pool selfies. However, this kind of durability comes with a price. In this review, we are going to give our first impressions of an affordable IP68 smartphone, The Cherry Mobile Defender.
Before we begin the unboxing, let’s take a look first at the meaning of IP marking and its relevance. IP stands for the International Protection Marking. It is a standard drawn up by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The IP marking is then followed by numbers. The first number is the measure of its durability against dust. On the other hand, the second number is the measure of water resistance. IP68 means that a smartphone has a rating of 6 out of 6 for dust protection and a rating of 8 out of 8 for water resistance.
Based on this rating, it is safe to say that the Defender has “durability” as its middle name. Furthermore, It runs on an Android 6.0 Marshmallow with an Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P-10 processor. It has 3GB RAM and a 32GB ROM with an expandable memory up to 32GB via microSD.
What’s in the box?
The Defender has a very unique packaging. Unlike Cherry Mobile flagships which sport an outer shell, the Defender is presented using a flat square box. As you open the box, you will see the Defender presented in a minimalist manner. On the right side is the slot for the phone while engraved on the left is the name of the phone itself. After removing this portion of the box by pulling the black ribbon underneath the phone, you will see the other things included in the package. In this portion, you will see the 4200 mAh charger, headphones, a USB connector, a user guideline, a Cherry Mobile pamphlet including all of Cherry Mobile’s featured services and the tools that you will need to remove the back of the phone to insert your micro SD and sim cards.
Tough and Rugged Housing
The Defender is initially marketed for individuals who have a very active lifestyle. This is the main reason why the defender is encased with a tough and rugged housing. Although the phone is heavy and bulky, the hard outer rubber covering helps in getting a good grip on the phone. All the vulnerable holes of the phone such as 3.5mm audio jack and the micro USB Port are covered with hard rubber plugs with screws for a secured coverage. Furthermore, the outer hard shell casing has two components. The first one is the black hard rubber that protects the corners of the phone and the matte dark blue aluminum housing located on the sides of the phone that contain the buttons.
Cherry Mobile Defender – Specs
The Cherry Mobile Defender runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with an Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P10 processor. I think this is one of the good features of the Defender because this processor allows for a reduced power consumption. It can save up to 30% more power compared to other smartphones in the market today. If you are always out and about, this phone can be a long lasting companion.
The Defender also sports a 4.7 inch HD IPS LCD Display with a Corning Gorilla Glass Protection. The 4.7-inch display will give you multiple viewing angles with its 321 PPI. It has an 8MP front camera and an 18MP rear camera with it own LCD light. It has a dual sim with 4G support and is capable of Near Field Communication.
Cherry Mobile Defender – Body
The front contains the 4.7-inch display. The upper bezel contains the 8MP selfie camera and the lower bezel contains the navigation buttons. The bottom of the phone shows the IP68 marking of the phone. The sides of the phone contain a lot of buttons. The left side contains a video recorder button, a PTT button, and an SOS button. The right side contains the volume and the power button.
The Defender’s back is fully covered with the hard black rubber outer shell with screws attached to the corners and a cover protecting the slots for the sim cards and the microSD slot. The Defender requires the user to utilize the tools that came with it to remove the outer protective back of the phone to insert the sim cards and the microSD card. Furthermore, the back of the phone contains its 18MP rear camera with its own LCD light.
Indeed, the Cherry Mobile Defender is an affordable durable phone that is both dustproof and waterproof. It is available on the market at an affordable price of Php 9, 999. Stay tuned for our full review of the Defender in order to explore the other features of the IP68 certified Cherry Mobile smartphone.
More photos of the Cherry Mobile Defender: