Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt: It’s Going to be Flare Day All Over Again

The local tech blogs have been abuzz with Cherry Mobile’s newest addition to their Android tablet lineup. Rumors had been swirling that the local phone brand would be launching a new quad core device, possibly the Novo Venus, and those rumors were proven at least partially true at the event I attended yesterday on behalf of NoypiGeeks. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt.

Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt

The Fusion Bolt is a  inch quad core Jelly Bean 4.1.1 tablet that makes use of the Actions ATM7025 CPU. After a bit of research, the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt is not a rebranded Novo Venus as everyone was expecting it to be, but the Novo Venus Lite. The Venus runs at 1.5GHz while the Venus Lite only runs at 1GHz. Everything else spec-wise between the two is the same, such as the 1280 x800 IPS display, 1Gb RAM, 8Gb ROM, and primary and secondary cameras (2mp rear, VGA front).

Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt Manga Reader

I’ve only spent close to a full day with the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt and I must say that I’m loving it. Gaming performance on the more system-intensive games isn’t as smooth as I’d like it to be, but it’s great for reading ebooks, watching videos and browsing the web. I especially love it for reading manga, and I immediately downloaded the Manga Searcher app off of the Google Play Store and started reading Genshiken 🙂

Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt Box Contents

Overall, the Fusion Bolt is a real steal at Php3,999. It’s a great mix of solid specs at an ultra-affordable price point that even the imported Chinese tabs will have trouble competing with. While Cherry Mobile says they are prepared for what will be very high demand for this affordable Android tablet once they release it this March, I anticipate there will still be some supply issues similar to what the public experienced with the Flare. So what do you guys think? Are you going to get yourself a new tablet this March? You can also check out my Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt Hands On Preview over at NoypiGeeks if you still need help deciding.

Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt IPS Display  Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt Display Close Up

19 thoughts on “Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt: It’s Going to be Flare Day All Over Again

  1. Looks like i don’t have to wait too long for a Q4 device. Once again, AMAZING price from Cherry Mobile. thanks for this post JMB. As usual, looking forward to your in-depth review of this Fusion Bolt come March 2013.

    1. Thanks man. When they first announced the price at the event, the slide said Php8,000 and everyone was okay with it. Then they said, wait! slash off another php4,001 off of that and everyone went whoaaa…. That was an awesome moment 🙂

  2. Yeah, one blog posted a pic of that 8k-to-3.9k slide – what a drop indeed. Well it looks like I have to temper my expectations for Bolt – Unbox just reviewed it. Here’s hoping the final unit will be much more improved.

    1. I’ve played system intensive games like Dead Trigger and Need for Speed Most Wanted. The graphics look good but the frame rates feel like they’re below 20FPS, which is bad. The tablet got really hot after just a short time of playing NFS: MW. It took less than a minute for it to start feeling like I could fry an egg on the back.

  3. Im hesitating to buy one because of it being not so smooth in games. I`ll just wait for the devs to fix the small laggy feeling. although the Screen is awesome, i will just wait for more further reviews about this tablet :)) thanks though man!

    1. i don’t think it’s something that can easily be fixed with just a software tweak. the resolution is just too high and the CPU/GPU is just too feeble. Maybe if they tweaked down the reso, it might speed it up a little bit, but then it wouldn’t look as gorgeous. if games are a priority for you, try the Ramos Dryad W28. Sells for 5.5k, same overall specs but better CPU/GPU

    1. pipo S1, but the screen sucks. WVGA. and i’d avoid Pipo anyway. a friend of mine recently got a Pipo s2, then had to replace it with a U1 Pro because it boot-looped after barely even being used. Then the U1 Pro started to boot-loop too. so, no pipo for me.

  4. Hi, have you tried testing skype video calls with fusion bolt? If yes, how was the video quality for both caller and receiver? Was there any lag? Thanks.

    1. Playable naman sir, kaso may graphics bug. Hindi narerender ng maayos yung glass sa kotse, kaya nagmumukang basag yung glass.

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