It’s easy to see where the mobile trend is taking us in terms of screen size. Bigger is definitely better, with many of the latest smartphones coming out with at least a 4 inch or bigger screen. But how big is too big? Samsung led the way with the Galaxy Note at 5.3 inches and then followed up with the 5.5 inch Galaxy Note 2. Now, other players are following suit, with the most notable in the Philippines being the Cherry Mobile Titan and the Lenovo S880.

After all, they are near-twins with both of them having a 5 inch screen with a resolution of 800 x 480, ICS 4.0 out of the box, and a more affordable price compared to either the Galaxy Note or Note 2. Of course, there are differences, two of which are significant enough that would make it very easy to choose one over the other. Read on to find out what they are.

The OS: Bite into Delicious Ice Cream Sandwich

After having to endure a number of budget smartphones launching with the outdated Gingerbread 2.3, I’m pretty happy that both the Cherry Mobile Titan and Lenovo S880 launch with Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 out of the box. While it’s not Jelly Bean 4.1, ICS combines the stability of Gingerbread 2.3 with the functionality of Honeycomb 3.0 into a single package that’s been optimized to play nice with higher resolution screens (Yes, 480 x 800 counts as high resolution).

While neither Lenovo nor Cherry Mobile have customized the UI excessively the way most other manufacturers do, the customizations on the Lenovo S880 are far more obvious. For example, the stock icon set of the Lenovo S880 are all circular in appearance and have quite flashy colors. Then there’s Lenovo’s custom widget that you might have seen on a lot of their Android phones lately. It’s a fairly large widget that acts as a homescreen launcher for your favorite apps. The widget initially launches with Google apps by default but that can easily be customized later on.

On the other hand, the Cherry Mobile Titan will give you about as close to stock ICS you can get without getting the Galaxy Nexus. The icon set is stock, except for some proprietary Cherry Mobile apps, and the stock wallpapers are probably all Cherry Mobile-branded, but that’s just about it.

Of course, the beauty of Android is that you can customize it to no end, and I have no doubt that people who have plans of buying either of these phones will quickly install an alternative launcher. But if it’s functionality you’re looking for right off the bat, Lenovo’s take on ICS has a slight edge, while Cherry Mobile’s approach is slightly less bloated. Either way, they should both still run just fine on ICS with their decent specs.

CPU: Two is Better Than One

Like I said, the Cherry Mobile Titan and Lenovo S880 are virtually identical in terms of specs, however their CPUs set them apart. The Lenovo sports a MediaTek 1GHz MT6575 Cortex-A9 single core CPU coupled with the PowerVRTM SGX531 pro 3D GPU for handling graphics. It’s a decent enough combination with just 512mb of RAM and will be able to handle even some of the more system-intensive tasks.

The Cherry Mobile has an identical setup, having the same PowerVR SGX531 GPU and 512mb of RAM. However, rather than just a single core CPU, it sports the MT6575’s bigger brother, the 1gHz dual core MediaTek MT6577. That extra core means that the Cherry Mobile Titan should be able to power through multitasking tasks better than the Lenovo S880.

Design and Build Quality: Something’s Got to Give

It’s really surprising that the Cherry Mobile Titan is able to cram in this much performance at a price point that is usually reserved for entry-level specs. Of course, something has to be compromised, and in the case of the Cherry Mobile Titan, it’s the overall design and build quality. The design isn’t actually bad, and it even gives a kind of understated executive feel to this inexpensive handset. Then again, understated is just another word for boring. That and the materials and finish don’t have that high quality feel.

The Lenovo S880 undoubtedly gives off the more expensive impression of the two because of the higher quality plastic and better finish. It even has a nice looking silver accent strip that runs along all the sides of the device, and there are some other more subtle details too. Unlike the Cherry Mobile Titan, which only comes in black, the Lenovo S880 comes in both black and white, with the black coming with a textured back cover while the white version comes with a smooth glossy one.

The Screen: They’re Big. End of Story. Or is It?

Both the Cherry Mobile Titan and the Lenovo S880 sport a 5 inch 480 x 800 screen. That gives you a pixel density of 186PPI (pixels per inch for the uninitiated). Being a Galaxy Note owner, I love the fact that I’m able to compose messages and emails very comfortably, even when my phone is in portrait mode. I’m certainly glad that budget-minded Filipinos can now enjoy those benefits without having to spend anything close to what I did. A bigger screen is also great for media consumption like playing games, watching videos, and browsing the Internet. You’ll spend less time scrolling through content and more time actually reading it, something I brought up in my preview of the Titan and the S880.

There’s a bit of a downside though on the Lenovo S880. For navigation, it comes with a four onscreen button layout that eat up part of the screen. I’m sure they disappear when playing games or watching videos, but otherwise, you’ll be viewing content on something that’s less than the advertized 5 inches. The Cherry Mobile Titan doesn’t make this mistake as it has a separate layout for three capacitive navigation buttons right below the screen. That way, you get to enjoy the entire 5 inches of screen real estate.

The Price: Cherry Mobile’s Knockout Punch

When the Lenovo S880 originally launched in September, it came out with a sticker price of Php14,999, which is still what it still retails for today. At the time, I was relatively impressed that there was a new and affordable alternative to the Note and Note 2 that people can choose from.

Then of course, Cherry Mobile decided to launch the Titan almost a week ago. It came with similar setup, with only the CPU being the main difference in terms of performance. How much? Take a guess. Php12k? No. Php10k perhaps? Still no. Try Php6,499. No, seriously. That’s how much it retails for. No, it’s not a promo price. It’s SRP. No, you’re not dreaming so don’t ask me to pinch you.

Conclusion

Which one should you buy? Do I really have to point it out? Even if you have qualms about the build quality of Cherry Mobile’s phones, you can still get two Titans and still have change leftover! If Cherry Mobile had decided to release the Titan at a more respectable price of Php12k, I might recommend the Lenovo S880 over it because of the perceived better overall build quality that’s associated with the brand. Sadly for Lenovo, that’s not the case. The Cherry Mobile Titan is just the undisputed better buy. Still, I’d like to take this opportunity to post my favorite pic that I’ve found of the Lenovo S880 so far.

Specifications

Cherry Mobile Titan	Lenovo S880
1GHz Dual Core MT6577-A9 CPU	1GHz MT6575 Cortex-A9 CPU
Dual SIM functionality	Dual SIM functionality
512Mb RAM	512Mb RAM
4Gb ROM	4Gb ROM
Expandable Storage via MicroSD up to 32Gb	Expandable Storage via MicroSD up to 32Gb
5″ Capacitive TFT Touchscreen at 800 x 480 resolution	5″ Capacitive TFT Touchscreen at 800 x 480 resolution
3G/HSDPA Connectivity	WCDMA 900/2100 MHz, GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP Bluetooth Stereo	Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP Bluetooth Stereo
GPS and A-GPS	GPS and A-GPS
5Mp Autofocus rear-facing camera, 0.3Mp front-facing camera	5Mp Autofocus rear-facing camera, 0.3Mp front-facing camera
2,350 mAh Lithium Ion battery	2,250 mAh Lithium Ion battery
SRP: Php6,499	SRP: Php14,999

Source: Lenovo Mobile Philippines, Android Authority, MICGadget, PhoneArena, Unbox.ph, PinoyTechBlog,Cherry Mobile Blog