Launched in October alongside Selfie and Plus models, the Cherry Mobile Flare S6 comes as the cheapest variant among the three. Despite this fact, it manages to pack a punch with the features it offers. People looking for a phone with decent specs may opt in for this especially if they’re on a tight budget.
Every new Cherry Mobile Flare S6 purchase gets you the following:
- 1 Cherry Mobile Flare S6 Main Unit
- 1 AC Adapter
- 1 Cherry Mobile Brand USB Type-C Charging/Data Cable
- 1 Cherry Mobile Brand Headphones
- 1 Quick User Guide
- 1 Screen Protector
Coming in as the cheapest option among the three, the Flare S6 sports a plastic body instead of a metal one. Nonetheless, it feels compact and solid to the touch. Its black and red color variant also looks good – and feels reminiscent of a Darth Vader-esque device.
Both the volume and power buttons sit on the right side of the phone.
Those looking for phones with audio jacks would surely appreciate Cherry Mobile’s inclusion of the port on top of the phone. Meanwhile, the USB Type-C charging port lies down below.
At the front panel sits the 5.2-inch 720 x 1080 HD IPS display and capacitive buttons for home, multitasking, and back. The screen gets bright enough for ample viewing angles, but gets difficult to see under extreme sunlight. Up top, a 13MP camera and an LED flash flanks the earpiece.
Meanwhile, flipping the phone over, the all-too usual camera bump greets the user, beneath which sits the fingerprint scanner. On the plus side, the Sony sensor shoots at up to 13MP, which seems like a rare find for phones within the same price range. Finally, on either end of the phone sits a the antenna band, much like one would find with the new iPhone 8 models.
For its price, the Flare S6 Plus captures photos decent enough for sharing on social media. Especially in good lighting, it takes clear photos with accurate color reproduction and plenty of detail. It comes with auto-HDR, which doesn’t always capture photos as quickly, but produces decent enough output.
As good as it is during daylight, the rear camera does fall short in low lighting conditions, so the LED flash can help mitigate the shots. Apart from manual or pro mode, it also offers a macro setting, but quality and focus tend to be arbitrary.
Meanwhile, the video camera can only capture in 720p, but reproduces the same contrast, saturation, and detail.
Right now, the S6 holds the title for Cherry Mobile’s cheapest Nougat-based smartphone. It comes with the recently launched Cherry OS, the company’s own version of Android.
For the average user, the Flare S6 might be more than enough. While it may not perform as smoothly with its quad-core processor and 2GB RAM, the Flare S6 functions amply as needed. For what it’s worth, the UI looks clean and simple, so it’s easy to navigate around the phone. That’s most certainly a plus. Apart from features like holding down the home button to invoke Google’s contextual screen search, it also comes with Cherry Mobile’s own suite of apps. Depending on the user, these could be useful, or just a bunch of bloatware waiting for deletion.
For Php 3,999, the Cherry Mobile Flare S6 and its features certainly make it the top budget phone candidate from a local brand. Right now the phone seems more than able to make up for its price tag, but stay tuned for the full review.