Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus hands-on

Midrange smartphones, especially those in the sub-Php10k category, are easily some of the best-selling smartphones on the market today. These devices deliver capable performance and a decent set of features without breaking the bank.

Cherry Mobile, the biggest local smartphone brand, will attempt to get a piece of the pie as they introduce the new Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus. The company is yet to announce the official price, but judging by its specs and features, it will most likely be in the Php10,000 to Php13,000 range.

One of its most distinctive features is the design. The Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus’ 6.18-inch Full HD+ screen has a display notch on top, just like every other midrange smartphone in town right now. Although since it uses an LTPS panel, it has a noticeably thicker bezel on the bottom, much like what we saw on the new iPhone XR.

The back panel also looks really premium. It’s hard to tell if it’s made with plastic or glass, but it feels like the latter. We’ll see how it holds up against hairline scratches and everyday usage in our full review.

In addition, the Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus feels a bit heavy, which I immediately noticed from the first time a held it. It weighs around 200g, which easily makes it heftier than most devices, which has an average weight of 160g.

Another thing to love about the Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus is its processor. It comes with a 2GHz MediaTek Helio P60 octa-core chipset, with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. That’s the same processor found on the OPPO F9, which is significantly more expensive at Php17,990.

We’ll see how it performs with the Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus as we put it through its paces. Based on my initial tests, the interface feels fast and smooth. Applications load fast and it can also take pictures in just a snap.

Speaking of which, the initial images that I was able to capture with it looks decent. The 16-megapixel rear camera produces pictures with acceptable colors, the contrast and dynamic range are also good. And since it uses a pixel-packed sensor, the sharpness and details are on point.

On the other hand, the front 16-megapixel front camera of the Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus can also take good images. Although its entire capability, together with the rear cameras, shall be tested out in different shooting scenarios in our full review.

The Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus also has a secondary 5-megapixel depth-sensing sensor, which we’ll be taking a closer look at in our full review. Also, the local smartphone company has joined the bandwagon and introduced the FlareMoji on this device, their take on Apple’s Animoji. In addition to that, the Flare S7 Plus now has AI Scene detection, which we’re also excited to test out extensively.

Other than its cameras, another thing to watch out for is its wireless charging capability. You can also charge its 3,050mAh battery via its USB Type-C port.

Probably the most disappointing part about the Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus is the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack. But thankfully, Cherry Mobile still got us covered as it will come with a USB Type-C to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter out of the box.

As stated earlier, the official pricing and availability of the Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus are yet to be announced. We definitely expect to hear from Cherry Mobile this coming October, so watch out for that.

That’s it for now. Make sure to stay tuned as we’ll be dropping the full review of this device in the coming weeks.

Cherry Mobile Flare S7 Plus Specs

• Android 8.1 Oreo
• Dual SIM, Dual Standby (Hybrid)
• 6.18-inch FHD+ IPS Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Display, 2246 x 1080 pixel resolution, ~403ppi
• 2.0GHz MediaTek Helio P60 octa-core processor
• 4GB RAM
• Mali-G72 MP3 GPU
• 64GB internal storage, expandable via microSD up to 256GB
• 16-megapixel front camera
• 16-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual rear cameras, BSI, LED flash
• Bokeh Mode, FlareMoji, AI Selfie
• Fingerprint scanner, Infrared Face unlock
• HSPA+, 4G LTE, VoLTE, VoIP
• WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, WiFi hotspot
• Bluetooth 4.2
• GPS, A-GPS
• USB Type-C
• Dimensions: 155 x 75.5 x 7.85 mm
• Weight: 200 g
• 3,050mAh non-removable battery, wireless charging