Cherry Mobile Flare P1 is currently the cheapest smartphone with a dual lens camera feature. In fact, it’s three to five times cheaper than its flagship counterparts such as the Zenfone 3 Zoom, iPhone 7 Plus, and Huawei P9 etc. What can this smartphone really offer? Here’s our unboxing with initial impressions of the Cherry Mobile Flare P1.
What’s in the box?
Cherry Mobile Flare P1 comes with an outer slipcover proudly stating Flare P1’s main feature, “dual camera” and the actual hard box within. Flare P1 came in with earphones, a travel charger, a micro-USB cable, a user manual, and a Cherry Mobile pamphlet including all of Cherry Mobile’s featured services. We got our Flare P1 with an attached Cherry Mobile tri-cut sim with free 2.1 GB internet.
Packed with Trendy Essentials
Flare P1 has the trendy essentials we are looking for in a phone. It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat, one of the first Cherry Mobile phones to run on Nougat. Furthermore, it has a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor with 1GB RAM. It also has an expandable memory up to 64GB via micro SD and a built-in 2350 mAh battery. Moreover, the phone sports a 5-inch IPS LCD HD display with a 720 x 1280 Pixels (294 PPI) resolution. The IPS Display provides the user a wide variety of viewing angles with a high-quality color reproduction.
The handset’s UI has a smooth transition from window to window. It’s also very easy to switch from one application to another. Similar to other Flare series handsets, the P1 has pre-installed apps that are either supported or owned by Cherry Mobile. Most of the pre-installed apps are services offered by Cherry Mobile such as the Bonus Load, Cherry Fun Club, Cherry Play, and Cherry Prepaid.
Hardware
The front side of the phone contains the display with the 5MP Selfie camera with its own LED flash. In addition, the bezels of the phone are moderate in size. The top bezel contains the selfie camera while the bottom contains the navigation buttons.
The top part contains the 3.5 mm audio jack and the micro USB port while the bottom contains two sets of drilled holes that look like a set of speakers. However, the moment I listened to music, I found out that only the set of drilled holes on the left side produces sound. Cherry Mobile probably aimed for a style that has balance and proportion, which could be the reason for the second set of drilled holes. The right side of the phone contains the buttons that control the power and sound level while the left side has a clean and sleek silvery finish.
Furthermore, the back of the phone contains the dual lens camera feature. Its 13MP camera lens is located beside the LED flash and the handset’s smaller 2MP camera lens is located beside it. Removing the polycarbonate back will reveal the microSD slot, 2 sim card slots, and the built-in battery.
First Impressions
The handset feels sleek to the touch. However, touching the phone reveals its polycarbonate back that gives a not-so-premium vibe. I also noticed that removing the back of the handset needs care and patience to avoid its possible breakage. The back cover of Flare P1 is very thin and flexible and it is way too securely attached to the phone’s housing. This design has both advantages and disadvantages. It is good because you know that the back cover will always be securely attached to your phone. However, being quite reckless might cause you some problems.
Camera
Now, let’s talk about the dual lens feature of the Flare P1. For this initial review, we tested out the main selling feature of the Flare P1. The Flare P1 has a 13MP main rear camera and a 2MP camera beside it. The dual lens camera feature gives the user the capability to create the “bokeh effect.” This is a photography technique which blurs the background to emphasize the focus object of the photo.
Before taking a picture using the rear camera, you may choose from a normal mode, a blur mode, and a panoramic mode. Furthermore, you can also choose the scene and the size of the lens that you will use. The lens sizes that you may choose from ranges from one (1) to thirteen (13) megapixels. To achieve the “Bokeh,” we used the blur mode.
On the other hand, the 5MP selfie camera has its own LED light to help you capture brighter pictures. Similar to the rear camera, you can choose the lens size that you want. The lens size of the front camera ranges from 1MP to 5MP.
The Cherry Mobile Flare P1 is available nationwide for an affordable price of Php 3, 999.00. Can Flare P1 really compete with its flagship counterparts? Stay tuned for our full review of the Cherry Mobile Flare P1. We will look further at the Cherry Mobile Flare P1’s dual camera feature.