For the past few days, Cherry Mobile had been hyping up a new quad-core device that they plan to release into the market real soon. Today, I got the chance to attend the launch event on behalf of NoypiGeeks to see if I could get some hands on time and photos of whatever they planned to launch.
UPDATE: Read our full review of the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt HERE.
Well, that device happens to be the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt. It’s a brand new budget Android tablet that retails for the incredibly low price of Php3,999. Yep, that’s no typo. The great thing is, I didn’t just get some hands on time with the Fusion Bolt, they actually gave everyone in attendance a unit that we could keep, which is why I’m able to give you guys a hands on preview so soon!
Update: The OEM device for the Fusion Bolt is not the Ainol Novo Venus after all. It’s the Novo Venus Lite. The Novo Venus sports the ATM7029, which is clocked at 1.5GHz. The Venus Lite is only clocked at 1.1GHz, which matches the Fusion Bolt.
Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt Specs
- Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean
- 7-inch HD IPS Display, 1280×800 resolution, 216ppi
- 1GHz quad-core Actions Semiconductor ATM7025 processor
- Vivante GC1000+ GPU
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB internal storage
- expandable up to 32GB via microSD card
- WiFi
- 2-megapixel main camera
- VGA front camera
- microUSB v2.0
- miniHDMI slot
- Super HD 2160p video support
- 3.5mm audio jack
- 4000mAh Li-Ion battery
Design and Construction
The first thing that’s immediately noticeable about the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt is that it looks nothing like any of the other budget tablets in the same price range that you might see with many of the local small-time sellers. The design is very much reminiscent of the Nexus 7 with its rubberized finish that makes it very easy to hold. It also feels slimmer than any of the budget tablets that I’ve had the chance to try in the past. For something that only costs Php3,999, the Fusion Bolt won’t have any problems passing itself off as a high-end device based on the design alone.
What’s in the Box?
The Fusion Bolt comes in a box that is a bit different from what I’m accustomed to seeing from Cherry Mobile. The boxes of the Flare and Blaze have typically been deep but barely any wider or taller than the phone itself. The Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt’s box is different because it isn’t that deep, and it’s only physically a bit wider to accommodate the micro USB cable in a smaller box beside the tablet itself. The charger comes in a separate box.
The Display
Of course, it gets better. Once you turn on the screen, you really will have one of those “wait, this costs what?” moments. The Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt sports a gorgeous 1280×800 IPS display. The high resolution and great color reproduction really allow you to appreciate details, and the viewing angles are pretty good too. There was minimal color shifting when viewed from an extreme angle, and the details barely degraded at all.
Overall Performance
The Fusion Bolt looks the part of a high end device, but swiping through the UI was a bit sluggish. Thankfully, this is an Ainol re-brand (Ainol Novo Venus), so I went into the settings to set the performance profile and give things a boost and was able to make things a bit smoother. The sluggishness isn’t that bad, and it’s something you’ll soon forget about once the gorgeous screen and graphics start working their magic on you.
Gaming is satisfactory, with the screen lending a lot to the gorgeousness of the visuals. I played Temple Run 2 and Dead Trigger, and the graphics were gorgeous, although frame rates left a bit to be desired. Everything was still playable, but it seemed as if the high resolution was perhaps tasking the chip too much.
Some of you might be looking for benchmarks, so I ran the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt through Antutu, Quadrant and Nenamark 2. It scored a 5,275 on Antutu, 2,687 on Quadrant and 38.8 FPS on Nenamark 2. Save for the Nenamark 2 scores, which are actually better than the Blaze (26.8FPS) that I recently reviewed on my own personal blog, the benchmarks for the Fusion Bolt aren’t the best. That’s just the effect of having more pixels to push.
Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt First Impressions
The Fusion Bolt performs satisfactorily, but it gets a lot of points for the gorgeous screen, upscale design and solid build quality. The screen is just begging me to play more games on it aside from Temple Run 2 and Dead Trigger, so I’ll see about downloading NOVA 3 and Need for Speed Most Wanted and see how well it fares. Still, at a price of Php3,999, you’re getting so much more than you should.
*** CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL REVIEW OF CHERRY MOBILE FUSION BOLT.
The Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt isn’t the best gaming tablet, but the frame rates are all playable on the more system intensive games, but if you’re only going to play Temple Run 2 all day on it, then it should do just fine. It is absolutely great for web surfing, reading books and watching movies, which is exactly what I plan to do with mine. I’ll still be putting the Fusion Bolt through the rounds for a full review though, so watch out for that in the next week or so. Look for the Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt to become available in the market sometime in March.
sang store may fushion bolt dito sa laguna,kasi balak ko non bumili ng Flare kaso sa mga store nila out of stock.san kaya sure na makakabili ng fushion malapit dito sa laguna
ask lng po pano po mgupdate ng fubo to ainol novo?? at saan po makukuha yng ainol novo n 4.1.1 0428 update?? thnx po s tutulong
hanapin mo si Nico’s Blog
thnx po s help. ^^
bat yung fusion bolt ko 5 gb lang yung internal storage ganun ba talaga yon ???
parehos lang tayo, 5 gig din sa amin, bili ka nalang ng expandable 32 gig memory. reserve mo nalang ang 5 gig sa apps at games mo
ung 5 gb po ung accessible na memory at ung 3gb po is for the firmware/os and other major software so dont be alarm. It’s just natural.
Same with other smarthphone and tablets.
kung bibili kayo OK lng namn ang specs sa ganyang price yung nga lng ang baba ng score sa antutu dun lng talga kau magtataka,, ang baba ng points khit quad core w/ gpu pa and 1gb ram..
update mo to 4.1.1 0428 Ainol Novo frimware ang Fubo then do Antutu uli magugulat ka sa 11300 plus na rating. ang rating ng cherry firmware is 5000 plus lang tae.
alam ko dre.. pero sa ainol novo ang update na yan,, oo pwede yan sa cm fusion bolt pero pag may sira di na magagamit ang warranty dhil sa update na yan.. at mali ka dre dpat 0328 muna ang gamitin pra mas fast and more improvements i2 kysa 0428.. tpos hintayin lng natin ang final na 4.2.2 kc beta pa yung 4.2.2 na binibigay ng ainol novo.. maybe next months labas na ang final 4.2.2.. XD
parehos lang ang 0328 at 0428 me nagkakalat lng ng rumors na mas maganda ang 0328 ang totoo parehos lang ng bilis yan, natestingan ko na din ang 0328, alang pinagkaiba. tama di mo magagamit ang warranty kung patay na screen o battery mo but its your risk, kung nasira lang camera mo o wifi pwede yang ireflash to old cm stock rom para pwede uli ipadala uli sa cm service center, its your choice. kung gusto mo ng mabagal cm fw ka nalang, pero kung gusto mo yung optimized walang lag at mabilis, gamit ka nalang ng ainol fw.
di naman mabagal may pagsisi nga ako nung inupdate ko ang cm fubo ko kaya binalik ko sa old fw.. based on antutu 3.0.3 i run it at ang lumabas ay 11973 hindi 5657 ang layo naman ata nun sa score ko.. pero nung nagupdate ako sa ainol ang score ay 11694 nalng bumaba keysa old points ko sa cm… kaya sa lahat kung score nyo sa antutu ay mataas na wag nyo ng iupdate pa.. pero kung mababa talga score nyo sa antutu update nyo nalng..
depende siguro sa unit pre, pero kadalasan madami reklamo sa CM stock rom mostly yung lags at lage naghahang, whichever works para sa inyo mapa flash man o CM stock rom nasasainyo nalang yun. but most people na nagupdate to Ainol got a huge boost so iba naman siguro sa case mo.
pano po ba mag-update?
rebranded lang po tong tablet na to kaya medyo mababa yung specs , pero yung orig mataas ang specs
rebranded nga kaya ibalik mo lang ang lumang brand na firmware, google mo si Ainol Novo 7 4.1.1 0428 firmware at iupdate mo yan cherry firmware, magugulat ka sa bilis, do an antutu and see the difference.
di naman mas lumiit nga score ko from 11973 of cm to 11694 na inupdate ko sa ainol… i use antutu 3.0.3 and kung inupdate nyo wla na use ang warranty nyo..
kung mabagal at lag ang fubo mo sa stock rom update to ainol, its your risk kung magupdate ka mwawala nga ang warranty, pero kung nainis ka na sa bagal ng stock rom eh di update mo nalang to ainol, kung nasira wifi o speaker o kung anong jack up na saksakan nasira madali lang naman ireflash pabalik sa stock rom na cherry mobile at padala nyo uli sa service center nila so valid pa rin ang warranty, to get the maximum capabilities at experience mo sa fusion bolt mo I would recommend flashing it to Ainol 4.1.1 0328 o 0428, gamit nyo yung antutu 3.1.1 for benchmark wag yung bago di tumatakbo yun, wag din yung below 3.1.1 di updated yun baka mali ang binibigay na score.
Haha! Wag kayong ma offend hah? Pero talo pa pala FUBO sa 3580 na dual core ng cd-r king. 12k plus score niya sa antutu benchmark with stock rom
icompare mo muna ang screen quality bago mo icompare ang benchmark, ano ngayon kung mataas ang benchmark kung tae naman ang screen quality ni CDR king, HD IPS Display, 1280×800 resolution, 216ppi ang ke Cherry Fusion bolt.
Tama nga nmn.. go fubo
Rebranded po ito nung Lite version na sinasabi nyo. kaya mas mababa ung specs. As you stated it is rebranded not remade.
Sabi po sa box QUADCORE, pero pag titignan mo sa task manager, 1000Mhz(dual core) po ang naka lagay
ano nangyare?
bka nagkamali lng dre,, factory defects baka unang labas ang nakita mo at meron pang factory defects,,, XD
update mo to Ainol Novo 7 4.1.1 0428 firmware then download mo antutu benchmark hanapin mo ang tab ng phone details makikita mo 4 cores dun, di tama ang binibigay ng task manager mo.
pa help po . . bat ang bilis ma drain ng battery ko ?
tapos pag nag charge ako hangang 57 . .ang tagal pa po
4000mah ang battery tanong mo sa cm costumer service pra di syang.. :)
HELP!!!
paano mag-install ng games sa CM FuBo,?
naglagay kasi ako ng games sa
Micro SD Card kaso ‘di binabasa ;c
punta ka es file manager, then click mo si favorites, andun me link papuntang memory card mo
mga dre thumbs up or thumbs down dito sa cm na ito????
Asko ko lang yung mga bumili ng Fusion Bolt may screen protector na ba yung Fusion Bolt nyo nung nabili nyo ito???
mine has na yung nabili ko.