Cherry Mobile has held the top spot in the country as the leading smartphone player for the last few years now. However, it faces stiff competition from Vivo and Oppo, which have been aggressively driving for more market share through huge marketing budgets and promoter incentives. For the most part, Cherry Mobile has held its own with seemingly little change to its strategy. However, with a new handset that was accidentally leaked on their latest episode of the Cherry Mobile Show, a monthly live-streaming show that showcases their newest products, it could seem that the local brand isn’t content to just sit idly by.
Beginning around the 16:20 mark, actress Kim Chiu is handed the smartphone in question so she can take a groufie with her co-hosts. The size of the handset could be anywhere in the 5″ to 5.5″ range, with a camera and fingerprint reader placement that’s similar to the Desire R7 Plus. However, this leaked handset’s flash sits above the rear camera, not beside it as is on the Desire R7 Plus. Also, the finish suggests it would eventually fall under the Flare series rather than the Desire series.
Flip the smartphone over, and you’ve got a larger than typical front camera with a dual LED flash, suggesting it could be a more selfie-oriented model.
What gives this an even better chance of being an as yet unannounced smartphone is the Cherry Mobile representative’s reaction to the phone. See it for yourselves at around the 16:30 mark. If this is indeed an upcoming Flare variant, it could be a follow up to the Cherry Mobile Flare Selfie, one of my favorite review phones from a couple of years back.
If this leaked phone ever does end up becoming reality, this would be great for Pinoy consumers as it would give them an even more affordable option versus the models coming out from the likes of Oppo and Vivo, and to a certain extent, international brands like ASUS.
[Screengrabs via: Revu Philippines]