Cherry
Mobile M1 becomes the latest flagship smartphone from the local leader in
mobile. All of its top-notch features are courtesy of the MediaTek Helio X20
which is the chipmaker’s top-of-the-line SoC. The chipset defines the best
performance in Camera, Graphics, Battery and Connectivity. We were very
privileged to have a physical encounter with the handset earlier today and
it seems like the smartphone is the most powerful device the local company has
produced yet.
The
Cherry Mobile M1 has many firsts under its belt. For one, it is the first
locally-branded smartphone to tick with MediaTek’s Helio X20 chipset which is
entirely based on 10-processing cores in Tri-Cluster structure. To be specific,
the SoC have 2 cores of 2.5 GHz Cortex-A72, four cores of 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 and
another set of quad-core Cortex-A53 capped at 1.4 GHz speed. Likewise, it’s also
the first local handset to pack USB Type C connectivity.
Cherry Mobile M1: Plastic Slab with Powerful Internals
The
Cherry Mobile M1 comes with a no-nonsense design philosophy. From a distance,
it looks like a subtly curved slab with lateral sides wrapped by a metallic
frame but unfortunately, Cherry Mobile settles with plastic as its material of
choice for the M1.
The right side is the home of the volume rocker and the
power button; while the left side is intended for the SIM tray. The USB Type C
port with fast charging capability (Cherry Mobile claims the 1 hour and 30
minutes charging time) is located at the bottom of the device alongside the
microphone.
Looking
through the handset upfront, you see the 5.5-inch 1080p IPS screen which scales
with 400ppi pixel density. However, you can’t deny the fact that the black
bezel which frames the display is very imposing. Nonetheless, it registers great
color reproduction; and very responsive to our initial tapping tests.
The
camera also plays an important role in the Cherry Mobile M1’s feature set. The
smartphone boasts the Sony IMX230 that packs 21-megapixel with BSI support, phase
detection which focuses in 0.2 seconds according to Cherry. Meanwhile, the front-facing camera is defined by an
8-megapixel sensor with its own dual-LED flash.
Another
obvious addition is the fingerprint sensor at the back, below the dual-tone LED
flash. Other essential features include the dual SIM capability (both are Nano
SIMs), WiFi 802.11 ac with MIMO and 3600 mAh battery which should last quite
some time. The whole spec sheet also highlights LTE Cat 6 carrier aggregation
which is basically capable of up to 300 Mbps download speed and 50 Mbps uplink.
The beefy 4GB RAM is also worth-noting. The only downside is that it’s
coupled with only 32GB of unexpandable native storage.
The
Wrap
Cherry
Mobile is making bold moves every now and then, and this handset's release is absolutely not an exception. At Php 11,999, the Cherry
Mobile M1 is the most powerful device they’ve ever released – 4GB RAM, 10-core
CPU, 3600 mAh battery, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, etc. There might be a few
hiccups when it comes to the design nevertheless the whole package ticks
the right features the consumer needs in one premium handset.
Best
Features:
5.5-inch
Full HD display
MediaTek
Helio X20 with Deca-core (10-core) CPU
4GB
RAM
21MP
Sony IMX230 Phase Detection AF rear camera
LTE
connectivity
Fingerprint scanner
Android
6.0 Marshmallow
USB Type C with fast charging
3600
mAh battery
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