More affordable than even Huawei’s offering
Huawei’s Y9 Prime 2019 used to be the most affordable pop-up camera-equipped smartphone in the Philippines, but that’s no longer the case thanks to Cherry Mobile’s newest mid-range offering. The Flare S8 Plus snatches that crown from the Y9 Prime 2019’s head thanks to a price tag of just Php 12,900.
For that price, you’re getting a smartphone with a 6.26-inch, full HD+ in-cell display, along with a total of 5 cameras spread out in its front and backside.
The pop-up camera is unique because it houses not one, but two sensors for selfies. The main shooter is a 16-megapixel camera, while the second sensor is a 2-megapixel deal for depth information.
The three rear cameras are composed of a 16-megapixel main shooter with an f1/.6 aperture lens, 5-megapixel depth camera, and a 2-megapixel “light enhancement” camera.
That’s an interesting combination of cameras to use on a phone, and this is the first time we’ve encountered a “light-enhancing” camera module on a device. Hopefully, the third sensor actually helps in low-light shooting, though that large f/1.6 aperture lens on the main camera certainly doesn’t hurt.
The phone has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and features USB Type-C quick charging to make up for 3250mAh battery.
Inside the phone sits a 2.1GHz MediaTek Helio P70 processor, paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
The phone ships with Android 9 Pie and Cherry Mobile has confirmed that the phone is almost pure Android without any enhancements, save for the camera app. You can use the stock Android camera app as well if you really wanted to.
Cherry Mobile Flare S8 Plus specs
- MediaTek Helio P70 processor
- 6GB of RAM
- 128GB of expandable storage
- 6.26-inch full HD+ display, 1080 x 2280 resolution
- 16-megapixel f/1.6 rear camera, 5-megapixel depth sensor, 2-megapixel low-light
- enhancement sensor
- 16-megapixel front camera in pop-up module, 5-megapixel depth sensor
- Dual SIM
- 3G, LTE
- WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, side-mounted fingerprint scanner, USB Type-C connector
- 3250mAh battery, fast charge
- Android 9 Pie
- 12,900
