When the Cherry Mobile Flare X first came out, it became one of the brand’s top phones. For the price it had, it also came with some impressive specs. Now, a few years have gone by and Cherry Mobile comes out with the Flare X2. Will the X2 going to live up to the hype, or simply be a disappointing sequel? Let’s find out in our in depth Cherry Mobile Flare X2 Review.
Cherry Mobile Flare X2 Review – Design
Simply put, the Flare X2 looks great. When I first got hold of it, my first thought was that it looked like a bigger verssion of the iPhone 5s. But in actuality, it is much more impressive than that. To start off, this phone has Dragontail glass to cover the front and the back, with a gorgeous metal body for the outer shell.
Around the frame are the X2’s ports and buttons. The right side, for example, holds the volume control and screen lock buttons. Meanwhile, the opposite side yields the SIM tray that can also hold a micro-SD card. Conversely, the top only has the audio jack on it. The bottom of the frame looks especially nice but also confusing as the grates look like speakers but no, only the USB port is there and a mic hole. The speaker can be found on the back, joined by the fingerprint scanner, the 16-megapixel camera and the flash.
On the front of the phone is the 5.5-inch FHD Display that projects a 1920×1080 resolution. Alongside this is the 8MP front camera, earpiece and sensors. One thing that’s different about the X2 is the lack of capactive buttons. In fact, the usual home, back, and option buttons became part of the display. The only feasible problem with this beautiful design and setup, would be the tendency of this phone to accumulate smudges, fingerprint marks, and other dirt.
Cherry Mobile Flare X2 Review – Multimedia
In terms of audio or video, the videos on the X2 look great, thanks in part to the aforementioned HD resolution. Besides that, there isn’t much to talk about, really. The widescreen at 480p was a pretty decent experience, as the image was not pixelated nor blurred. Also, the wide viewing angles make it good for watching films and videos with a few friend flanking your side
The audio isn’t too shabby, either My usual markers of being able to hear individual instruments and clearly understand words were there. Quality-wise, I would say it’s good. There is a caveat, however: the volume is a bit tricky. For my tastes, I’d say that the speaker is soft, especially when a listener looks for clarity. Basically, it falls into the common problem of losing coherence at louder, noisier, volumes.
For games, I installed Modern Combat 5 on this device and I had a lot of fun with it. The graphics were very good, the backgrounds were detailed and did not look blocky at all. My only complaint, probably, is that it’s a bit stiff when looking around. However, this looks more like a flaw of the game software rather than the phone hardware.
Another game I installed is Asphalt 8 and I had absolutely no problem with that. It may be considered a mid-heavy game but on a smartphone with 5.5 inch FHD display this game just impresses. The cars look really good, the details are on point not just on the cars but on the whole as well. In terms of gameplay, even with apps running in the background the game was responsive and did not lag a bit. I’d say overall multimedia on the X2 is better than good. Despite a few hitches it does deliver more than just a solid experience.
Cherry Mobile Flare X2 Review – Performance
Under the hood, the Flare X2 packs a punch. The 1.4 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor allows the phone to handle heavier apps. The Adreno 505 GPU allows it to handle mid to heavy graphics needs. With the 4GB RAM, multitasking is also a breeze on this phone. Switching through games is smooth on the X2, but some lag can be seen with graphic heavy games.
The Flare X2 comes with the Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS, which helps make the user experience smoother. In addition, the app drawer provides easy navigation, in conjunction with an easier interface. Lastly, I ran the Flare X2 through some benchmarks test and here are the results:
- 3D Mark (Slingshot Extreme): 292
- Antutu: 44506
- Vellamo (via Chrome): 2463
- Quadrant: 22695
Cherry Mobile Flare X2 Review – Camera
My problem with some smaller-brand phones, lies in the fact that they don’t really focus on cameras. So imagine my surprise when I saw the camera on the X2 in action. For an overview, the main camera is a 16MP rear shooter that takes some decent photos. It adjusts to light pretty well, although sometimes natural brightness will give it trouble. So be mindful when taking photos during daytime. Overall, though, it still takes clear images with crisp details.
The selfie cam impressed me as well. It some good photos that showed some good detail. Also at 8MP it is good for social media post or profile pictures where you have to zoom in. On the topic of zooming, the phones has a pretty decent zoom too. In the sample video zooming in still provided some decent detail. As a whole I’d say the cameras on the X2 are good especially for casual users. They are clear, have good detail, and is able to adjust to lighting.
You will find some sample photos from the X2, below:
Rear Cam Samples
100 Percent Crop Samples
Selfie Samples
Cherry Mobile Flare X2 Review – Connectivity
I cannot stress enough that the X2 contains a lot of what you’d expect from a phone at this level. Bluetooth, 3G, 4G LTE, wifi, and GPS comprises just some of the features of the Flare X2. It even has USB OTG capabilities, although I do not exactly understand why they stock to micro-USB, instead of USB Type-C. Additionally, mobile connections are pretty decent on the phone. Much like calls, it really depends on the area’s general reception.
Cherry Mobile Flare X2 Review – Battery
With a 3000 mAh battery, the X2 meets the current standard, but I wouldn’t say that it exceeds expectations. Our video loop test with max brightness was able to last around 9 hours. And on casual use I was able to get some 11 to twelve hours on the device. It may not be an amazing battery, but it is dependable.
Conclusion
Overall, at PHP 7,999 the Cherry Mobile Flare X2 continues the Cherry Mobile mantra of giving users mroe bang for their buck. I particularly enjoyed how it looks far different from the Flare X, with its glass and metal combo. The hardware also looks pretty good, and you’d actually have to pay a premium for that kind of performance. Indeed, some flaws exist, but ultimately, they felt negligible. This smartphone was responsive, visually satisfying, and a device that I would definitely recommend.
Cherry Mobile Flare X2 Specs
Operating System | Marshmallow 6.0 |
Display | 5.5-inch FHD 1080x1920 IPS Screen |
Processor | 1.4 GHz Octa Core MSM8937 |
GPU | Adreno GPU |
RAM | 4GB |
Storage | 32GB, microSD up to 64GB |
SIM | Dual SIM (Micro + Nano) |
Camera | Rear: 16MP BSI, Front: 8MP |
Battery | 3000mAh Non Removable |
Sensor/Navigation | Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, G-Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, GPS/AGPS |
Interface | Standard micro-USB, 3.5mm Audio Jack |
Price | Php 7,999 |