Cherry Mobile Ace Review: A Good Start for Firefox OS?

Cherry Mobile Ace with Box

Cherry Mobile Ace is the first Firefox OS in the Philippines and at Php1,499, it is among the most affordable smartphones available today. At one point, it may have even been THE most affordable smartphone when it launched at a sale price of just Php999. It may not be as powerful as smartphones powered by Android, but Firefox OS is a good start. It is also available in different colors.

Cherry Mobile Ace specs

  • 3.5-inch HVGA display
  • 1.0GHz Broadcom single core processor
  • 128MB RAM
  • 256MB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 16GB
  • 2G
  • Dual-SIM
  • GSM (900/1900 MHz)
  • WiFi, Bluetooth
  • 1,100mAh battery (200 hours of standby time)
  • Firefox OS(1.3T)

What’s in the box?

Box Contents

  • Cherry Mobile Ace
  • USB Cable
  • Wall Charger
  • Earphone
  • Manuals

Design

The Cherry Mobile Ace

Homescreen

You will only see one capacitive home button under its 3.5″ HVGA screen in front.

Back

At the back is the Cherry Mobile Ace branding with the 2mp rear camera and the speaker grill. The back cover does have a nice rough texture that virtually eliminates smudging and the occasional slip.

Top

At the top is where you will find the 3.5mm headphone jack and power button.

Bottom

The only thing that you will see at the bottom is a microphone pinhole for calling and audio recording.

Left Side

On the right side is where the volume rocker and micro USB port are located.

Display

The Cherry Mobile Ace has a 3.5″ HVGA capacitive screen. It’s not an IPS display which means it does have bad viewing angles. Still, the Ace does have a good sunlight visibility so you can still see the screen, even when outdoors.

Lockscreen

 

Camera

The Cherry Mobile Ace only has a 2mp rear camera. Yes! you read that right, and it doesn’t even have a front-facing camera for taking selfies. The Firefox OS’ Camera app has a simple UI and lacks some of the features we’ve gotten used to on Android.

Screenshot (Camera App)

Below are some sample pictures taken using the 2mp rear camera of Ace. As you can see, it’s not something you can compare with cameras from other smartphones, but who cares? For its price, it is good enough and the shots are still serviceable.

Firefox OS

Firefox OS is an open-source operating system developed by Mozilla for smartphones and tablets. It uses HTML5 for its applications, which means that most of its applications are web-based and need an internet connection to work.

Below are the screenshots of the homescreen from Firefox OS. It doesn’t have an app drawer but you can organize your apps by putting them into one folder.

Screenshot (Homescreen)

Firefox OS has a simple UI for its dialer, messaging, contacts and music. It allows users to easily navigate through it with ease.

Firefox Market Place

Applications for Firefox OS is powered by HTML5 so expect that some of it might require network connections. The Market Place is where you can download some apps that are already available for Firefox OS such as: Facebook, Twitter and Line. Since the applications are based on HTML5 it is very obvious that the apps doesn’t look like how it should look on Android and iOS.

Performance

The Cherry Mobile Ace packs a 1GHz single-core Broadcom prcoessor, 128MB RAM and 256MB ROM. It may not be as powerful as some other smartphones but Firefox OS 1.3T is optimized for low-end configurations.

Battery

The Cherry Mobile Ace promised a 200 hours of standby time and its specs, that estimate seems to be pretty accurate. While using it, I managed 4 straight hours on a single charge with WiFi turned the whole time. That means its 1100mAh battery is pretty reliable and can be used the whole day for texting and calling.

Verdict

At a price of just Php1,499, the Cherry Mobile Ace is a decent start for those who are looking for an affordable smartphone. However, we can’t help but feel that Firefox OS is not quite ready for prime time yet.

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