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!
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