We review Cherry Mobile’s Cosmos One Plus!

Cherry Mobile went on a release rampage just as the year was starting by announcing several game changing octa-core products. One of their most recent announcements was their current flagship, the Cosmos One Plus. The Cosmos One Plus is the company’s most advanced flagship ever, and it’s obvious from the spec sheet and pricing that they’re looking to compete with
the offering of fellow local brand, Starmobile. Today, we’re going to be taking a closer look at the Cosmos One Plus and check out if it’s really worth the money the company is asking for.

Cosmos One Plus specs

• MediaTek MT6595M octa-core processor with big.LITTLE technology (2.0GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A17, 1.7GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7)
• PowerVR IMG Rogue G6200 GPU
• 3GB of RAM
• 5.5-inch full HD IPS display with Gorilla Glass 2 protection, 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 64GB
• 14-megapixel rear camear, Sony IMX 214 sensor with BSI
• 8-megapixel front camera
• Dual-SIM, Dual LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, NFC, HotKnot, USB OTG, Miracast
• 2700mAh battery
• Android 4.4 KitKat

Design that invokes some major déjà vu

When we first saw the product shots of the Cosmos One Plus, we needed to confirm with Cherry Mobile that it was really the Cosmos One Plus, and not the limited edition Cosmos One that the company announced last year. Putting both phones side-by- side, you’ll be hard-pressed to see which is which, since both devices are identical on the outside. Everything from the size of the display to the button layout is similar to the Cosmos One.

Of course, once you pick it up and start fiddling with it, you’ll see that there’s something different with the Cosmos One Plus. For one, the 5.5-inch display is full HD, and is sharper than the one in the Cosmos One. The phone is snappier too, and responds faster than the company’s limited edition phone. If the Cosmos One Plus is the first of the Cosmos series of phones that you’ve laid your eyes on, you’ll see that the phone, while generic looking, has small bezels and a very premium exterior. The monotone white color of our review unit (it’s also available in black) is punctuated by a plastic silver strip that runs around the side of the phone.

The back of the Cosmos One Plus is removable, which reveals the two SIM cards and microSD slot. While the device is primarily made out of plastic, it feels solid and has good overall build quality, which is something you’d expect from a top tier device from Cherry Mobile.

Like we said, button layout is identical to the Cosmos One – the left side of the device holds the volume rocker, while the right side holds the power button and hardware camera shutter. The top is where the 3.5mm audio jack resides, while the USB port is located on the bottom of the phone.

Like we said earlier, the display of the Cosmos One Plus is a definite upgrade to the Cosmos One. The 5.5-inch full HD panel looks great, has good color saturation, excellent viewing angles and great color reproduction. We enjoyed watching movies with the Cosmos One Plus. There is a caveat though – while the Cosmos One Plus has a great display, the sound that comes out of the speakers is really poor, which will force you to use headphones or speakers. It’s something we’ve noticed on Cherry Mobile’s recent offerings, and we really hope that the company starts offering phones with better audio quality.

Fastest Cherry Mobile phone so far

While the Cosmos One Plus looks like its kid brother externally, things are very different under the hoop. The Cosmos One Plus is powered by MediaTek’s MediaTek MT6595M octa-core processor with big.LITTLE technology and is paired with a whopping 3GB of RAM. It’s a real monster, scoring really high benchmarks that you wouldn’t expect from a local release. Real-world performance pretty much follows the benchmarks of the phone – there’s very little apps and games this phone can’t handle. Virtually zero lag on Real Racing 3 and NBA Jam. This thing just eats up apps and spits them out.

LTE connectivity for the phone is also pretty good. It’s one of the few devices that’s in the market that has dual-LTE capability, which is useful if you’re the sort of person that doesn’t want to lose LTE connectivity in the places that you frequent. Calls made to, and from, the device were also clear and had no issues whatsoever.

Great photos from the camera

The Cosmos One Plus sports a 14-megapixel, Sony IMX 214 sensor with BSI that promises excellent image quality. For the most part, the camera delivers – photos taken with the camera of the Cosmos One Plus are rather clear, crisp and weel defined, even in places that have limited lighting. We hope that this trend continues with Cherry Mobile’s other offerings as well. Fingers crossed.

Battery life needs a bit of work

The Cosmos One Plus has managed to ace our review so far, but here’s where it stumbles a bit. The Cosmos One Plus sports a 2700mAh battery, which in theory should give it more than enough battery to get it through the day, with a bunch left over for the next day.

That’s not the case – we experienced far less battery life when we used the phone heavily during one particular work day. With LTE and moderate use, we clocked in around 10 hours of useful battery life before it gave us the 10% critical battery warning. This isn’t the fault of Cherry Mobile – the Starmobile Knight X which uses the same processor also has the problem of lackluster battery life, which leads us to believe it’s an issue with the MT6595M processor. Packing a powerbank with the Cosmos One Plus is definitely a must, if only for those times where you’re out and don’t have a wall socket nearby.

Verdict: another solid flagship from Cherry Mobile

The Cosmos One Plus is another great offering from Chery Mobile. It has all the things that you’d look for in a flagship, and the dual-LTE feature is a really great thing to have. The camera isn’t too shabby either, and while the battery life isn’t as long as you’d expect, there’s always ways to rectify it. It’s definitely worth the Php 13,999 price tag.