We unbox the Cherry Mobile Omega Infinity!

Cherry Mobile sent not one, but two devices yesterday evening during the Unbox podcast. One was their Omega Spectrum (which we’ll be talking about later in the day), while the other was the Omega Infinity, the company’s latest flagship octa-core smartphone. Today we’ll be diving into the guts of the Omega Infinity and put it through its paces in this unboxing.

• 1.7GHz MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor
• 2GB of RAM
• 5.5-inch full HD IPS display
• 32GB of non-expandable storage
• 18-megapixel camera with flash
• 8-megapixel front camera
• Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS, Miracast ready
• 3G, HSPA+
• 2900mAh non-removable battery
• Android 4.2
• Php 14,999

Packaging and contents

It looks like Cherry Mobile is really looking to improve on all aspects of its devices, including the box that they ship their devices with. The Omega Infinity ships with a nice box secured by a cardboard die-cut sleeve that shows what the Omega Infinity looks like.

Once you get that sleeve off, you’re treated to fancy box with the words Omega Infinity written in front. Classy.

Opening the box, you’ll see the device itself, along with a free semi-rigid back case, a nice pair of in-ear headphones, user manual, USB cable and charger.

Initial Impressions: Definitely a looker, thanks to its aluminum construction

Let’s get this out of the way right now: the Omega Infinity looks like an iPhone 5. We have no doubts that if Apple ever made an iPhone that had a 5.5-inch display, the Omega Infinity would be it’s identical twin, at least when you look at it from the front. The thin bezels and the spacing of the upper and lower bezels really make it look like an iPhone from the front, though one without a physical home key. Speaking of home keys, the three navigation keys are on the bottom of the lower bezel, though they only light up when your fingers swipe at them, which further increases the illusion that this is a gigantic iPhone.

The similarities with Apple’s iconic product doesn’t end there either. The volume rocker on the side as well as the power button has the same look as the one the iPhone, down to the smoothly machined feel. The illusion is only ruined when you take a look at the phone’s corners near the top of the device, where a plastic strip runs from the side to the top. Looking at the Omega Infinity from the back, the resemblance to the iPhone 5 isn’t as apparent, as the aluminum back has a small bit of plastic running along the bottom that bears Cherry Mobile’s name.

Because of the design of the Omega Infinity , you’re pretty much stuck with the 32GB of storage that it has, along with the 2900mAh non-replaceable battery in it. Speaking of battery, we really appreciate the device having a higher capacity that Cherry Mobile’s previous flagship offering, the Cosmos Z2, which means that the Omega Infinity should be able to go past the 7 hour mark that the Cosmos Z2 struggled to reach.

The overall design of the Omega Infinity may be formulaic and takes multiple pages from Apple’s design handbook, but there’s no denying it certainly looks good. The mostly aluminum back, full glass front and very slight curve of the device means that it looks and feels premium. The overall construction and build of the Omega Infinity is fantastic, which just shows that the company is keeping their momentum that they’ve built with the Cosmos Z2 chugging along as far as the design of their devices are concerned.

The similarities between the iPhone and the Omega Infinity doesn’t end when you unlock the device. Much like the Cosmos Z2, the Omega Infinity uses a custom UI that closely resembles the one present in iOS 7. While it’s not a direct clone, the similarities are obvious – no app drawer, same art style in the icons, and so on. Even that virtual home button on iPhones is replicated in the Omega Infinity , though the implementation of Cherry Mobile allows you to customize it more with different apps and gestures unlike the one present in the iPhone.

As far as performance is concerned, the Omega Infinity is certainly capable, and we experienced little to no lag while navigating the custom UI. Our initial run with AnTuTu showed that the Infinity is certainly a capable smartphone, as far as raw performance is concerned, as its 27028 score is nothing to laugh at, and is certainly higher than the one in the Cosmos Z2.

That’s it for our unboxing. Check back later in the week for a full review of the device.