Like most other Flarenatics last Wednesday, I was eagerly hanging around the Cherry Mobile Facebook page waiting for their announcement of the official Flare release date. I was anticipating that they would be releasing it the day after, since it was payday, and my plan was to hit the malls right before opening time and make a mad dash to a Cherry Mobile kiosk as soon as the malls opened their doors. Alas, they announced that the Cherry Mobile Flare would be released on Saturday at Robinsons Place Manila and SM North Edsa at 1pm. I was going to be in Laguna on that date.
So when Saturday came along, I picked up my girlfriend from work and went out to Laguna to get everything done that needed to be done. We were able to rush back and get in line at the Cherry Mobile Kiosk at SM North Edsa at about 2:15pm. This is what the line was like:
And another one:
Thankfully, after 4 hours of standing in line, I was able to take home the prize.
While I was already aware of the specs of the Flare, I was still surprised at how well it handled considering its Php3,999 price tag. Navigating through the Cherry Mobile Flare’s UI was very smooth, and that screen is almost the best thing about it! I’ve already customized it with my personalization apps like WidgetLocker Lockscreen (seen in the photo above), Apex Launcher and Beautiful Widgets. What I really like is that as a second phone, I don’t feel like I’m giving anything up in terms of capability or performance when I transition from my primary phone, the Galaxy Note, to the Cherry Mobile Flare.
While the generic design of the phone itself leaves a bit to be desired, I really can’t complain much because of the price point. Anyway, I can customize it like crazy and change the look of the phone itself by tweaking the Apex Launcher UI or lockscreen every now and then. As expected, the Cherry Mobile Flare does have some flaws, which I’ll post on a full review at NoypiGeeks pretty soon. However, overall I must say that I’m very happy with what my Php3,999 got me.
P.S.
I was able to meet a MobileTechPinoy reader while I was in line at the cash register to pay for the Cherry Mobile Flare. Zup Jerome!
Zup Bro! :)) Kamusta flare? 🙂
Yo zup! Hehe.. Lahat ng pwede icustomize, na customize na, haha.. Sayo dude?
2 things lang problem ko bro. SOUND QUALITY,BATTERY. aside dun okay naman lahat. Help naman para mas tumagal yung Batt ko. I installed Juice Defender,Better Battery Status. Still ganun pa din. Helllllp 🙂
kailan po magiging available sa mga cm kiosk ito mga sir?
Yung ka-officemate ng GF ko, nakabili sa SM Masinag last weekend.
Kelan po available sa ibang koisk? Kht s n0rth edsa or trinoma? I wanna buy 1 :c
Hi, you might want to visit this Facebook group. It’s a closed group so you have to have your Join request approved by an admin, pero mabilis lang naman sila mag approve. You’ll find a lot of Flare-related news there. *link removed by admin
yung price pu ng flare is still 3,999?
Yes po. However some sellers are capitalizing on the high demand by selling at higher than SRP. Even Flare users who are selling their pre-owned units are selling it at the original SRP price or higher.
hi sir, im having a stress with this cm flare. it always hang po,.. tapos i need to pull out the battery para mareboot kasi ayaw mag function ng open/close key. kht na hindi ko sya ginagalaw at nakalagay lang sa table ko, makikita ko nalang hang na or off na yung phone. 🙁 hope u can help me po.
may ginawa po kayong mods sa Flare mo?
sorry im a 1st timer sa android. not familiar with mods.
I see. Wala na po ang Flare saken so I can’t troubleshoot it with you. Try joining this Flare group on Facebook instead. It’s a very active community and there are a lot of helpful members and admins. Just remember to ask nicely 🙂 *link removed by admin
nakakalungkot lang kasi ganda na sana ng phone kaso ito naman problema.. cant enjoy it.. thank you po sir. 🙁
No prob. You might also want to consider taking it to a service center, pero try the Flare group first.
pero sir, did u encounter such like this problem with flare before?
hindi po eh. the most annoying thing i ever encountered was the keyboard and headset incompatibilities. nothing like what you’re experiencing.