Cherry Mobile has been doing a lot of things with their smartphones lately. They would amp up battery power, they would jack up the camera, or even boost the processor. This time they are taking things beyond the phone itself. The Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 comes bundled with a VR box, moving into the VR game with a massive 6-inch screen smartphone. Here is our review of the Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2.
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Review – Design and Construction
This phone is big. Sure most phones these days are 5 to 5.5 inches but this phone is 6 inches wide. However, as big as it is, it is not as heavy as I would have imagined. Sure it has some weight to it but for its size it holds pretty okay. The overall look I’d say is good. It doesn’t scream innovation or anything like that. but it does look reliable. The back cover looks professional with its textured finish and the sides have a metallic sheen to it which adds to the phone’s good look.
Other physical aspects are pretty normal, USB micro port and audio jack are at the top, power and volume buttons are on the right, and at the bottom are the mic and speakers. The back has the rear camera and flash right below it plus the “Touch XL” and “Cherry” labels.
On top of the 6-inch screen are the speaker and the front facing camera, and at the bottom are the three buttons “home”, “back”, and “options”. However, the three buttons are not backlit so it can take some getting used to.
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Review – Multimedia & Display
The Cherry Mobille Touch XL 2’s 6-inch display is partly good and partly bad. First off for playing games, this phone is great because your fingers have a lot of room to move. It also allows for a better interface than smaller screens. Watching videos and viewing pictures are pretty good as well, provided that the screen is upright. When the screen is maximized though, videos can look a bit stretched, because they are. The display has a solid 720×1280 pixel resolution which makes it good for HD videos, but when sporting smaller formats, the videos will look stretched.
Audio-wise the Touch XL 2 is alright. It delivers solid sounds, but just like most phones at this price range, when the volume gets a little too loud, the quality fades. A saving aspect for audio though is the headset. Compared to the speakers, the headset listening experience is better.
As an added feature, the Cherry Mobile Touch XL2 comes with a VR Box. Now, it doesn’t look impressive as it looks like a cardboard cut out but still, not only is it free, but it is pretty okay. The box is designed to fit the Touch XL 2 perfectly and the phone comes with a preloaded VR app for this purpose. Experience wise, it is pretty nifty thing to have but I do have a problem with the divider inside at the middle of the box. It is so obvious that it is there that I can’t fully enjoy the VR experience. However, it is still free and a nice little change of pace to have when experiencing media content. Honestly, for the price, having a freebie like this is a treat but don’t expect stellar quality.
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Review – Performance
This phone works with a 1.3GHz quadcore processor so it is a bit modest in power. It also has a Mali-400MP GPU for graphics and 1GB RAM. This may not seem much but seeing this phone’s performance is pretty solid. Casual games are a breeze with this. I even tried out some heavier games on the Touch XL 2 and despite a few hiccups it ran pretty okay. Playing Dead Trigger on this phone was pretty smooth, even switching in and out of the game was not much trouble. Also, I tried Mortal Kombat and Marvel Contest of Champions. Mortal Kombat was a bit slow to start but it still ran fairly smoothly. The Marvel game was a better experience though. It also helps to to turn off all the background apps first before loading these kind of games. Also, considering that these games are at 2GB each, a micro SD card is a good idea as the phone only has 4GB of internal memory.
Running on Android Marshmallow, this phone has a decent interface. The vertical scroll app drawer makes for a different experience but also in my experience it makes looking for apps easier. We also ran this phone through some benchmark apps and here are the results:
Antutu: 23633
Quadrant: 6069
Vellamo: 1578(Chrome)
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Review – Camera
The rear camera of the Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 is 8MP with an auto focus and flash. This camera can shoot some decent photos given proper lighting and all that. However, for those impromptu moments that you might want to capture, the camera might not deliver the best quality. Still, the autofocus feature is pretty neat but it can be a bit slow so that is a consideration. The front camera at 2MP is just okay for selfies. It has a beautify feature which is nice but it does look grainy on the 6 inch screen. Despite the price, I still say that the camera is quite underwhelming, it feels like a mismatch between the camera and the screen. Still, I won’t say it is awful, I’ll even call it functional but it is just underwhelming for me. Below are some sample photos.
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Review – Rear Camera Sample Photos
Rear Camera 100% Crop
Sample Selfies
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Review – Call Quality and Connectivity
Pretty much normal. The calls are fairly audible, I can also be heard clearly. There is not much here, just make sure you have a decent signal and the calls ought to be alright.
The Touch XL 2 is pretty standard here with Bluetooth, GPS, WiFi, FM Radio and 3G connectivity. Unfortunately the touch XL 2 does not support USB OTG. Still, I would say that for more casual users this shouldn’t really be a problem.
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Review –Camera
First off, I must say I really appreciate it when a smartphone sports a removable battery. It just makes more sense. In the long run, these things tend to go bad and the ability to just buy a new battery instead of a new phone is convenient. And on the topic of convenience, that ability to swap out batteries is under appreciated. Even in the age of power banks, with smartphones not really lasting too long, a spare battery can be a big relief. However, back to the battery itself, I must say it’s pretty good. At 3000mAh, this phone can last over a day with some social media and other apps at moderate use. The time, I used it I played games from time to time and it lasted a day. On video with max brightness, it lasted close to six hours.
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Review – Conclusion
Overall, I like the Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2. Priced at Php 3,499, you get a lot of decent features with this phablet -the 6-inch screen, the Android Marshmallow OS, and the VR Box. Even the decent specs are admirable at this price. The battery is pretty solid and despite the modesty of the CPU and system memory, you still get your money’s worth (especially if you are in it for the videos and not the games). Still, even if you want to try out more than just casual games, the Touch XL 2 can handle it. If anything, it is definitely a decent phone as long as the user understands its limitations. Again for Php 3,499 this phone is no flagship unit but what it is is a dependable smartphone with a big screen. And for the general users, who doesn’t want that?
Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Specs
| OS | Android Marshmallow 6.0 |
| Processor | 1.3 GHz MediaTek 6580 Quad Core, Mali 400 |
| Memory | 1GB |
| Display | 6-inch HD 720x1280 |
| Storage | 8GB up to 64GB |
| Camera | 8MP, 2MP |
| SIM | Dual Micro SIM |
| Battery | 3000mAh removable |
| Weight | 183g |
| Dimensions | 160x84x8.5mm |
| Sensors | Light sensor, Proximity sensor, G-Sensor |
| Others | FREE VR Glasses |
More photos of the Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2
