It’s been almost three weeks now since we’ve met the Cherry Mobile Titan W500 and by this time we’ve finally gotten the feel of it. It’s currently one of the hottest smartphone in the PH market right now because of its great value for money. To know more about it, check out our full Cherry Mobile W500 review after the jump.

The Cherry Mobile Titan was first seen on CM’s Flare up event last October and since then it really made many Filipinos turn to this cheaper alternative instead of buying the products of well-known brands. Why not? This smartphone carries all the bells and whistles that you can get from a Php15k android phone. If you’re still unsure if this device is for you, then read on to know what we think of the Cherry Mobile Titan W500.

Cherry Mobile Titan W500 Specs

  • Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
  • Dual-sim / Dual Standby
  • 5.0-inch WVGA Capacitive Touchscreen, 480×800 pixel resolution
  • MediaTek MT6577 1GHz dual-core processor
  • 512MB RAM
  • 4GB internal storage (expandable up to 32GB via microSD)
  • 5-megapixel rear camera with flash
  • VGA front camera
  • 3G, HSPA+ 21Mbps
  • Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotpost
  • Bluetooth v2.1
  • microUSB v2.0
  • GPS, A-GPS
  • 2350mAh battery

What’s in the Box?

Box-Contents-Cherry-Mobile-Titan

The box contains the following:

  • Cherry Mobile Titan W500
  • Charger
  • USB cable
  • Earphones
  • Manuals

Design and Construction

Cherry-Mobile-Titan-Review

If you’ll encounter the Cherry Mobile Titan for the very first time, you might mistakenly take it as a premium device like the Galaxy Note or something from LG’s L series because of its edged curves. In fact, you will not even know that it only cost a mere Php6,499.

The body of the Titan is mostly made up of plastic especially the back cover which looks and feels really cheap when inspected closely. It seems like it will easily break off if proper care is not implemented. Fortunately, Cherry Mobile decided to include two back cases – one regular back cover and one with a smart cover. And oh, this case is very prone to recording fingerprints so it should be wiped regularly.

CM Titan Specs Price

The front panel is mostly covered by glass and the sides are designed with a smoke-black bezel which makes it give an executive look. The VGA front-facing camera and speaker grills are located on top of the screen. On the lower side of the display, we can find the three capacitive buttons namely; Menu, Home, and Back buttons. On top, several ports are located such as the 3.5mm earphone and microUSB ports along with the wake/power button.

The huge 5-inch 480×800 MVA display of the CM Titan is probably its best asset. The colors are great, accurate and sharp enough for the normal eye. It already packs a preloaded temporary screen protector right out of the box so it’s ready for usage. Beware, though, because this temporary one is a scratch magnet so you should definitely consider buying a better screen protector.

Cherry Mobile Titan W500

At the back, the 5-megapixel camera is strategically placed on the top left side of the Titan while the speaker grills is on the parallel spot beside the labels. The name “Titan” was printed on the center and the Cherry Mobile logo was just beneath it by an inch or two. The volume rocker is placed on the right side.

“It has an elegant-looking finish which can turn some heads around if you’ll show it off in public.”

Cherry Mobile Titan W500 Specs

It has an elegant-looking finish which can turn some heads around if you’ll show it off in public. The built-in flip cover also adds up to the flavor as it gives a classy look even from afar. Overall, it is kinda solid and I believe it can take some accidental bumps and the like.

Display – Oh so HUGE

CM-Titan-Reviews-Specs

Screenshot_2012-Cherry-Mobile-Titan-W500

The Cherry Mobile Titan doesn’t have an IPS display but the screen is still solid. It sports a VA panel which is just in the middle of the TFT and IPS quality. Meaning, it surpasses the low quality screen display. The colors are beautiful and accurate enough especially when “Deep color mode” is enabled. Turning the brightness to its full capacity will also make it even better and it’ll be more of a flagship smartphone. Viewing angles are not great but I’ll take it given its very low price tag.

Although it has a very good indoor visibility, using the Titan outdoors and in direct sunlight is a different story.  It’s very hard to navigate through the phone when exposed directly to sunlight because of its mediocre legibility. It’s the downside of not having the IPS, I think. Actually, it’s not that poor and if you’ll upgrade from an android phone with lower specs, you’ll hardly notice it.

“Cherry Mobile Titan doesn’t have an IPS display but the screen is still solid.”

Software, UI and Performance

 Cherry-Mobile-Titan-W500

Cherry-Mobile-Titan-Benchmarks

The Cherry Mobile Titan W500 runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and although it is not the latest, it’s still a refreshing way to scale up if you came from a Gingerbread device. The UI looks clean and very ICS. There is no real indication of modifications apart from several bloatwares so it appears to be stock from my initial impression. It is against the Cherry Mobile Flare’s obvious modified configuration and UI which looks somewhat iPhonish.

The Cherry Mobile Titan runs Android ICS with a dual-core MTK6577 processor clocked at 1GHz each and is partnered with a large enough 512MB of RAM. It runs all the usual android tasks fairly fast and I haven’t really experienced notable lags and unnecessary hiccups in my three weeks usage so far. The Titan can run all of the apps and games that I throw at it and it’s doing it with ease. There are tons of apps and games that you could choose from which means there is almost always something for every little thing you need. If you just want a simple past time, just go to the top 100 list in the Play Store and from there you can pick one that fits your taste.

The only culprit to Cherry Mobile Titan’s overall performance is the inferior 2-point touch support. But don’t worry, Cherry Mobile already announced that they will be releasing an update on the Titan so that it can support up to 5 fingers.

Gaming:  Play HD Games as you wish

One of the reasons why people tend to switch to android is its capability to render cool and high quality games at a very low price. If you’re already an android user, you surely know what I’m talking about. With the Titan, these cool games get even better with its large 5-inches display. Time will absolutely fly as you enjoy the fun and interactive games that can be found on the Play Store.

Cherry-Mobile-Titan-Games
NBA 2K13 on Cherry Mobile Titan W500.

For advance gaming freaks, CM Titan can handle your needs as well. It can run NBA2k13 smoothly but there are instances that it shows some signs of its not so good resolution. It’s not an issue or anything, just pointing that out in case you might mistakenly take it as a problem. The NBA2k13 is very graphic intensive so we could leave it at that performance.

Multiplayer gaming on Titan
Multiplayer gaming on Titan with Guerilla Bob.

Other HD games like Modern Combat 3, Six Guns, the Amazing Spiderman, Wild Blood and Dead Trigger are all working like a charm. Can you believe these games run on a Php6.5k smartphone? Yes, it does run. At first it’s kinda surprising but hopefully we’ll see more affordable handsets with top-notch specs early next year. The local brands are taking over the android game in the Philippines!

Internet Connectivity / Web Surfing

Internet-Settings-Cherry-Mobile-Titan-W500

If you’re a social junkie, you’ll surely love the Titan for its full range of connectivity to the web. It supports HSDPA and it can be assigned to either of the two SIM cards in just a few clicks. That’s really helpful because switching SIM locations is very tiring to do especially if you just need a couple of minutes of fast browsing. It also has a pre-installed Facebook app that’s ready for socializing with your friends!

Camera / Video Recording

Camera-Cherry-Mobile-Titan

Since it’s just Php6,499, we could all expect some shortcomings on this device. The camera is the most evident example of the sides that were cut. Yes, it’s a 5-megapixel shooter but don’t think that more megapixels will give you better photos. In fact, it is simply not the case.

The Cherry Mobile Titan’s camera is not bad that but it’s not good either. Taking shots on good lighting conditions will produce passable images but it’s limited to that. Using the camera indoors (low light conditions) will just give you a photo with a lot of noise and if you’ll ask me, it’s not worthy of being uploaded on your favourite social networks.

To have a clearer look on the Cherry Mobile Titan W500’s camera, check out some sample photos below.

“Since it’s just Php6,499, we could all expect some shortcomings on this device. The camera is the most evident example of the sides that were cut.”

Cherry-Mobile-Titan-camera

IMG_20121109_163457

Sample-photos-Titan

The VGA front camera is fine and can be used to video chat on Skype. It works well but you need to be in a well-lit area before you can produce acceptable quality.

Dual-SIM / Dual-Standby / Telephony

Screenshot-Titan-Cherry-Mobile

While there are a bunch of dual-SIM powered android phones right now, what separates the Titan is its ability to switch 3G connectivity to either of the two networks. The management of two SIMs for calling and texting is not that hard because an option to switch between them is always present on the notification bar though I prefer to have two ‘Send’ buttons while texting to have a faster response time. Anyway, you can effortlessly preset which network works on Voice call, Messaging, and Data Connection.

When it comes to receiving calls on the CM Titan, I’m not that impressed. I found the speakers to be really weak as I had a hard time talking to someone while I was on a slightly noisy environment. I can barely hear my friend and sometimes my last resort is to just cut the call and text them my message.

Multimedia / Video Viewing Experience

Since a huge 5-inch display probably teases you to watch videos on the Cherry Mobile Titan, I’m pleased to inform you that it plays videos very well. It can play up to a 720p HD video quality so keeping a copy of your favorite movie will be just as handy because you can watch it anywhere and anytime using this smartphone.

A notable feature on Cherry Mobile Titan is the Pop-up Play which lets you to minimize and continue watching the video while doing something else! Talk about multi-tasking functionality. Cool, eh?

As an android phone, it can take almost all video formats that you throw at it but be sure to install an app like MX Player. If you’re more on listening to music, you just need to put an extra micro SD card storage to carry your music library with you. One thing that bugged me when using the Titan to accompany my music needs is that I had a hard time finding a compatible pair of earphones because most of my earphones (Samsung earphones, etc.) were not compatible.

Battery Life – Lasts so long!

If you’ll ask me what makes the Cherry Mobile Titan very appealing to me, I’ll answer it in a heartbeat – the battery life. For a power user like me, it’s such a blessing to have a smartphone that could stay up for more than a day with heavy usage.

A 2350 Li-Ion battery powers the Cherry Mobile Titan which is considerably huge for a 5-inch android phone. Actually, it’s just 150mAh below the 1st generation Galaxy Note’s 2500mAh battery. With regular usage on texting, calling, and occasional web browsing, the Titan can stay up for two full days. And sometimes, it even has something to spare!

battery-life-of-Cherry-Mobile-Titan-W500
Screenshot courtesy of Mr. Giancarlo Viterbo.

“With regular usage on texting, calling, and occasional web browsing, the Titan can stay up for two full days.”

Our friend, Mr. Giancarlo, recently posted a screenshot of the battery life of his Titan on Facebook. Can you imagine how long did his Cherry Mobile Titan W500 last? A mind-blowing 7 days! Of course, it’s barely used and he said he just used it to respond to text messages and calls from clients and some random Wi-Fi usage which sucked the battery considerably. But still, having two days usage on moderate-heavy usage is a sure WIN isn’t it?

Verdict

Cherry-Mobile-Titan-W500-Review-Specs-Price

The Cherry Mobile Titan W500 holds a good overall power to run all the basic and advance android needs that you might want and you can get all that at a very low price. For only Php6,499, it carries a lot of weight that only the sub-Php15k smartphones can provide before. Now, Cherry Mobile has extended their reach to give Filipinos a great android experience even on a tight budget.

Local android phones running on a Dual-core 1GHz processor and 512MB are still smooth and I don’t see any problem with them when 2013 comes although we’re pretty sure that quad-core phones will be more eminent in the said year.

Given its large 5-inch screen, it’s very easy to write some random word documents and stuff because of the extra real estate. As for me, I mainly enjoyed it when I’m using it in browsing the web on the go and checking some emails, news, and Facebook and Twitter updates.

A smartphone like the Titan doesn’t come very often but I’m hoping that it will only be the start from Cherry Mobile. I’ve been looking at the Cherry Mobile Flame and Skyfire’s features and I think the Titan is still the local king this holiday season. Without a doubt, this android phone is a steal.

How about you? Which feature of the Cherry Mobile Titan do you like most?

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236 Comments

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  1. hi… bakit po hindi na nag fufull charge yung battery ko tsaka kapag nag chacharge aq kpag disconnect na yung charger lowbat pa rin ako.. my phone is cherry w500..

    1. We have the same problem, ng makabili akong battery, bilis nmn ma drain, charging for 4 hours, then 1 hour use lang.
      WTF, san nakaka bili ng original CM 9A , hnd MSM H.K CM 9A -_- Green Power Source.

      1. boss buy mo battery ko d ko n ksi mgmit ung cm titan ko ksi sira board pero buo p lcd ts at battery txt me 09091073751

  2. Pahelp naman di kc ako makasign in sa playstore using my titan gumamit na ko ng ibang account at gumawa ng bago account sa google kaso coul’dnt sign in pa din lumalabas sa device ko..ano kaya pwede pa gawin ko?

  3. pls help sir.. i dont know how to move my apps to sd card my fon is titan w500 the only options der is mov to internal and move to phone

  4. Please help me I upgrade my phone w500 titan into jelly bean after that all my contacts in simcard are gone. But I insert my sim into other phone all my contact in sim are shown. What should I do?

    1. Go to contacts, tap un left na capacitive button. Select contacts to display then selct show all.

  5. pahelp po how to open my cm tital bigla nlng nag off at ayaw na pong mag open phelp plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  6. guys ask ko lng how much mga battery ng cm titan now?nakiapg meet kc ako kagabe then defective pala ung bat d ko nman kc ncheck i charge nung nasa meeting place bali dlawa ung bat ung isa ayaw mag charge pero nagamet ko ung isa nman nag stock sa 60% pag chinacharge sa mga cherry mobile stores ba sm may na bibile xtra battery sana may mag rely thanks

  7. Guys bale po kase me ka’deal ako na trade daw kame sa myphone A888 ko and sa CM titan nya.. should i deal with it?? please reply po kayo.. salamat. pkitingin nlang din po ng specs ng myphone A888 kung hindi nyo po alam un. :)