We’re now on the first week of the new year and 2015 is officially over. Just like what we usually do, we take a look back and recap the notable products and events in the tech scene. This time, we give you four of the best local smartphone flagships of last year.
Cherry Mobile’s latest flagship smartphone is the Flare S4 Plus that led the pack of the Flare series during its arrival. The display alone of this phablet means serious business as it is equipped with a 5.5-inch Full HD panel with 400ppi, One Glass Solution, and is reinforced with Dragontrail glass to endure heavy scratches and impacts.
Specifications:
5.5-inch FHD OGS IPS display @ 1980 x 1020 resolution, 400ppi
Dragontrail glass
1.3GHz MediaTek octa-core processor
3GB RAM
16GB internal storage
microSD card support (uses one SIM tray)
16MP BSI rear camera with LED flash
8MP front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
Android 5.1 Lollipop
2,800mAh battery
Price: Php7,999
The Starmobile Knight Spectra was launched in the Philippines during the latter part of the year and with it comes some pretty serious specs including a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and a 1080p AMOLED display. It also boasts a new rear camera with dual-lens setup that aids in taking shots quickly with a more accurate focus.
During our full review, we liked its vibrant screen and great camera performance, but we experienced some performance issues and occasional signal drops.
Specifications:
5.5-inch Full HD AMOLED (1920 × 1080 pixels) display, 401ppi
1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Octa-core 64-bit chipset
Adreno 405
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
microSD card support
13MP + 2MP dual-lens rear camera w/ LED flash, f/2.0 aperture
8-megapixel front camera w/ flash
Dual SIM / Dual Stand-by
4G LTE
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS, A-GPS
DTV Support
3,500mAh battery
Android 5.1 Lollipop
Price: Php14,990
MyPhone’s Infinity 2 is the local company’s latest premium flagship that flaunts a thin, high-grade aluminum-polycarbonate unibody which houses its 64-bit octa-core processor, 13MP rear Sony camera, and LTE connectivity. Just like the Knight Spectra, it sports an AMOLED display but with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 protection and a lower 720p resolution.
Specifications:
5.0-inch HD AMOLED display, 294ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
1.5GHz MediaTek True octa-core 64-bit CPU
2GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 64GB via microSD (uses SIM 2)
13MP Sony rear camera w/ LED flash
5MP front camera w/ flash
Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby (micro + nano)
4G LTE, 3G HSPA+
WiFi
Bluetooth
GPS, A-GPS
USB OTG
2,450mAh battery
Android 4.4 KitKat
Price: Php12,799
Known internationally as the Ulefone Be Touch, Philippine brand Firefly Mobile brought it to local shores and called it the Allure 64 LTE. The device got the attention of a lot of consumers as it packs beefy internals like an octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM, and 13MP rear camera with Sony’s Exmor tech. On top of that, it also has features that are usually seen on high-end smartphones — 4K video recording, QuickCharge support, and a fingerprint sensor for under Php8K.
Firefly Mobile Allure 64 LTE specs:
5.5-inch HD IPS OGS display, 1280 x720 @267ppi
1.7Ghz MediaTek MT6752 64-bit octa-core processor
ARM Mali-T760MP2 GPU
3GB RAM
Expandable 16GB internal storage
Supports up to 64GB MicroSD card
Dual-SIM, dual Standby (Standard + MicroSIM)
Dual 4G/FDD-LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11ac
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS w/ A-GPS, GLONASS
Fingerprint Scanner
USB On-The-Go support
13-megapixel Sony Exmor IMX214 rear camera w/ LED Flash
4K video recording @30fps
8-megapixel OmniVision OV5648 front camera w/ Flash
2,900mAh battery
QuickCharge support
Android 5.0 Lollipop
Dimension: 158.1 x 77.4 x 8.60 mm
Weight: 160g
Price: Php7,999
Note: We understand that while some of these price points will already get you a decent smartphone offered by some international companies, the article focuses on home-grown brands and their flagship offerings — regardless of their asking prices.
And there you have it. These devices came out on top thanks to their beefy specs and high-end features compared to offerings of other local contenders (like SKK, Torque, Arc Mobile, CloudFone, etc.), but if you think we missed some, let us know in the comments below.
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w says:
MyPhone My36 should be on the list instead of Infinity. As for Cherry Mobile, both the Flare X and the S4 Plus could carry the banner for them, with the Flare S4 Plus being more premium but the Flare X more successful of the two.
pat says:
Nice list but isn’t the infinity too old for this?