We’ve been raring to see Cherry Mobile’s newest flagship, the Flare Infinity, in the flesh ever since it was leaked a few weeks ago. Why not – the promise a near bezel-less phone peaked our interest, and now that we have the phone in our hands, we’re thoroughly impressed. While Cherry Mobile launched quite a number of phones during their launch today, the Flare Infinity is probably the best device in the bunch – the one that should be in your holiday shopping list.
Cherry Mobile Flare Infinity specs
- 2.0GHz Octa-core Mediatek Helio P10 (MT6755)
- Mali-T860 GPU
- 4GB RAM
- 32GB internal storage, expandable via microSD (128GB)
- 16.0-megapixel Primary Camera, f/2.0, Dual-tone LED Flash
- 5.0-megapixel Secondary Camera
- 5.5-inch Edge-to-Edge Full HD LTPS display
- Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Dual SIM
- 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, AGPS, GLONASS
- Fingerprint Sensor
- USB-C
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 3,000mAh Battery
Initial impressions: the most premium phone Cherry Mobile’s ever released
Cherry Mobile has dabbled in phones over the 10K mark, which usually get the title of flagship when they’re released. The Flare Infinity is one of the few phones that truly deserve that title based on look and feel alone – the phone uses a body that’s fashioned from a single block of aluminum, giving it quite some heft. That unibody construction also leads to extra durability, since there’s now zero flex nor creaks in the device.
The phone has rounded corners and curved sides for ergonomics. The right side of the phone houses the volume rocker, power button and the side-mounted fingerprint scanner, while the left side of the phone houses the hybrid SIM/microSD slot. On the top of the phone is the 3.5mm jack, while the USB Type-C port is located on the bottom, flanked by the two speaker grilles.
Flip the phone over and you’ll see the 16-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture lens with dual tone LED flash. The phone has two prominent antenna strips on the top and bottom of the phone.
The main appeal of the Flare Infinity is the near bezel-less display. The 5.5-inch, full HD LTPS edge-to-edge display looks stunning, easily comparable to the flagship offerings of other brands. The 2.5D glass layered on top of it plus the GG3 protection is simply icing on the cake. It’s one of the nicest displays we’ve seen on a local brand before.
As far as actual quality goes, the display looks fantastic. The bright, vivid and punchy colors are a treat to the eyes. You really have to see it to appreciate the quality of the display.
Moving on internals, the Flare Infinity sports MediaTek’s Helio P10 processor, paired with 4GB of RAM. We’ve had our problems with the P10 before but non of that is apparent on the Flare Infinity. It’s obvious that generous 4GB of RAM helps a lot with the phone’s performance as it performed fluidly during its short time with us. The 32GB of expandable internal storage also means that you’ll have more than enough space for all of your stuff.
While the Flare Infinity has a rather steep price tag of Php 12,999 compared to Cherry’s other offerings, it definitely feels like a better deal compared to Cherry Mobile’s Helio X20-powered M1. Obviously this opinion may change once we put the Flare Infinity through the ringer.