Cherry Mobile Flare S2 Quick Review

In this Quick Review, we take a look at Cherry Mobile’s imaging-focused smartphone – the Flare S2. It is the successor to the previous Flare S and is equipped with the same camera sensor as the Google Nexus 5.

The Flare S2 has a metal-plastic affair going on. It has a metal frame with a plastic back cover, and is pretty light on the hand compared to other smartphones of the same size. Generally, the body doesn’t feel flimsy at all but rather solid. Its physical buttons surround the screen with the Power/Lock button on the right and the volume rocker on the left side. Up top, we have the audio jack and micro-USB port.

Its 8-megapixel camera with Sony IMX 179 image sensor is something to be proud of. Although the photos look to be a little contrast-y, the colors are lively and satisfyingly sharp. Here are a few samples:

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Navigation is fluid and we don’t experience any major lags while going through its UI. It handles rendering games pretty well and the graphics aren’t bad either. The display is actually vibrant and bright which makes playing games or watching videos enjoyable.

Here are the results of from our usual benchmarks:

AnTuTu – 17,132
Quadrant Standard – 7,125
NenaMark – 54.3fps
Vellamo – 1,310 (Multicore) 695 (Metal)

On its battery consumption, we looped a video on 50% brightness while connected to Wi-Fi. We managed to squeeze out a little more than 5 hours of playback on the Flare S2’s 1800mAh battery.

Overall, the Cherry Mobile Flare S2 is undoubtedly a packed phone for its sub-Php5K asking price. It doesn’t have the nicest physique with its cheap-looking back cover, but inside you have a respectable processing performance, a better-than-its-predecessor battery, and a camera sensor that takes good photos.

Cherry Mobile Flare S2 specs:
4.5-inch FWVGA IPS display @ 854 x 480 resolution, 217ppi
1.3GHz quad-core MT6582M CPU
Mali-400 MP2 GPU
1GB RAM
4GB internal storage
microSD up to 32GB
8MP autofocus rear camera w/ 2 LED flashes
Sony IMX179 image sensor
2 megapixel front camera
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
HSPA+, 3G
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.0
1800mAh battery
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Price: Php4,699USD 80INR 6,788EUR 76CNY 583

What we liked about it:
*Smooth navigation
*Vibrant display
*Good camera sensor
*Better battery life

What we didn’t like:
*Toy-like back cover
*Heats up fast