Cherry Mobile Tegra Note 7 Quick Review

Cherry Mobile partnered with NVIDIA to bring the Tegra Note 7 here in the Philippines. There has been some redesigning that happened from the international variant physique-wise, but the same NVIDIA-powered components are driving it inside. Did this gaming and multimedia tablet perform well during its time with us? Read on and find out.

A video version of this Quick Review is available above. It shows more of the device and includes demonstration on some of its features.

The IPS display of the Note spans 7 inches across and is flanked by speakers on both ends that are supported by a Bass Reflex Port. The Power and lock screen button is located on the top right edge of the device in portrait view, while beside it are the 3.5-millimeter audio jack, micro-HDMI, and micro-USB ports. There is a flap on the right side for the microSD slot along with the volume rocker, and on the other end is where the included stylus is housed. The left is where a dedicated cover for the tablet is inserted and finally, the bass grille mentioned earlier sits at the bottom to provide more kick for the lows.

Tegra Note 7 is a bit heavy for its size. It’s the first thing we noticed as soon as we picked it up. At 320 grams, it’s considered weighty compared to other 7-inch tablets out in the market. The next thing that should steal your attention is its matte-finished back. This is where the local Note 7 is largely different from the international (EVGA) model – the former has one solid back piece while the latter has a segmented design and perforated back.

Its DirectStylus is NVIDIA’s technology which uses a passive stylus that acts like an active one by having a pressure sensitive function. We tried using it on the SketchBookX app and the results were surprising as users can make it work to their advantage to apply different strokes.

Its camera app is also note-worthy for its option to take photos and videos in HDR mode. In addition, it also has a slo-mo feature (just like the iPhone 5S) that shoots videos in 120 frames per second. We tried it out with the help of our pet cat (refer to the video).

The Note 7 packs a powerful Tegra 4 processor clocked at 1.8GHz paired with the company’s 72-core GeForce GPU. This made playing graphics-heavy games as smooth as we’d expect on a tablet running a total of five cores.

Benchmark scores:
AnTuTu – 34,891
Quadrant Standard – 12,733
NenaMark2 – 59.7 fps
Vellamo – 1,548 (Multi-core), 898 (Metal), 1,916 (Browser)

Watching videos were also an enjoyable experience thanks to its dual speakers that threw pretty loud sounds. We liked everything so far, but if it only had a Full HD display we wouldn’t be asking for more in the multimedia department.

Its battery lasted us 5 hours and 42 minutes during a video loop with the following parameters:
*HD video (1280 x 720 resolution)
*Connected to Wi-Fi
*Brightness 100%
*Sound 100%

Overall, the Tegra Note 7 is an able device with its performance built both for gaming and multimedia – there’s no doubt about that. Speakers give off good sound and navigation of the interface is a breeze. The device is hefty too, which can be a curse or a blessing depending on the one using it. The implementation of an HD display leave us wanting more, but is generally capable of producing good colors and clear details.

Cherry Mobile Tegra Note 7 specs:
7-inch HD (1280 x 800) IPS display, 216ppi
1.8GHz NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad-core (+1 core) CPU
72-core NVIDIA GeForce GPU
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 32GB via microSD
5 megapixel rear camera
VGA front camera
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
micro HDMI port
micro USB 2.0 port
GPS, GLONASS
Android 4.4 KitKat
4,100mAh battery
Chisel Tip Stylus
Front-facing Stereo Speakers w/ Bass Reflex Port
199 x 119 x 9.6mm
320g
Price: Php9,999

What we liked about it:
*Handles games easily
*Loud dual speakers
*Slow-motion video capture
*Pressure-sensitive DirectStylus
*Android KitKat

What we didn’t like:
*Weighty at 320 grams
*Not Full HD
*Bezels are thick