We review Cherry Mobile’s Selfie!

Many companies have already made their own interpretation of the “selfie” phone – basically a phone with a front facing camera that’s equal in both megapixel size and camera quality to its rear camera. Cherry Mobile’s Selfie camera isn’t unique, as both local and international phone brands have already released their own selfie-centric smartphones in the past. Cherry Mobile’s interpretation is obviously aimed at women as evidenced by the overall design and beautification features contained within.

Cherry Mobile Selfie specs

• 1.7GHz octa-core processor
• 2GB of RAM
• 4.7-inch HD IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection
• 16GB of storage expandable via microSD
• 13-megapixel Sony IMX135 F2.0 aperture front and back BSI cameras
• Dual SIM
• 3G, HSPA+
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS
• Android 4.4 KitKat
• Php 9,999

Unique, feminine design

In a world of rectangular smartphones, the design of the Selfie is really something else. The phone uses a hexagonal design instead, which certainly makes it stand out from the pack. Unfortunately, that means that the selfie is rather taller than other smartphones that use a 4.7-inch display. It’s actually taller than LG’s G3 Beat, for instance, which packs a 5-inch display. The hexagonal design also means that the top and bottom bezels of the Selfie pretty huge, which is a lot of wasted space, in our opinion.

On the top of the selfie you’ll discover the power button and 3.5mm jack, while the volume rocker rests on the left side of the phone. Since Cherry Mobile is marketing the Selfie, as a, well, selfie phone there’s also a dedicated hardware shutter on the right side of the device. Turning the phone over, you’ll see the 13-megapixel rear camera, surrounded by what looks to be a large metal ring, with glass in between. The camera is flanked by two LED flash units on both sides. We’re kind of stumped why the camera would need such a large module surrounding it, especially considering that the actual camera bits are pretty small.

The front of the phone is dominated by a 4.7-inch HD IPS display, protected by Gorilla Glass 3. While it’s not obvious, there’s a small front facing flash flanking the rather large 13-megapixel front camera. Down below are the capacitive Android keys that light up when you touch them. A white strip of plastic on the bottom bezel acts like a chin of sorts for the selfie.

While the design of the Selfie is certainly unique, there’s a serious issue with it. We know that we mentioned it before, but it’s worth mentioning again – the Selfie is a rather tall smartphone, considerably larger than most 4.7-inch smartphones, and is taller than most 5-inch phones out there. Because of this, ladies may have a bit of a rough time reaching the power button located on top of the phone one handed because of their small hands.

Can get through everyday tasks quickly

We’re quickly getting inundated by MediaTek’s 1.7Ghz octa-core processor in different Cherry Mobile SKUs, and the Selfie is no exception. But unlike the regular octa-core smartphone that’s usually paired with 1GB of RAM, the Selfie has 2GB of RAM which should allow it to make short work of normal, everyday tasks and apps. That it does – with robotic, almost boring regularity during our time with it. The hardware combination in the Selfie means that there’s literally zero lags when navigating the UI, and the phone’s rather powerful innards mean that it’s capable of running demanding apps and games smoothly. The 4.7-inch IPS display is also one of the nicest we’ve seen, and while it’s only an HD panel, it has good color reproduction and viewing angles overall.

Good image quality from both 13-megapixel cameras, but there’s a catch

The main appeal for the Cherry Mobile Selfie is the two 13-megapixel Sony IMX135 sensor toting cameras on both front and back that has both flash and BSI and a generous f/2.0 aperture. In theory this means that the Selfie is capable of taking really good shots even in low light, and that’s true – the photos that came from the camera are rather pretty, and selfies taken even in harsh lighting look pretty good. We did notice that the camera had an annoying habit of overexposing photos just a tad, which may be a problem in brightly lit environments.

The problem, if you haven’t noticed, is that the photos are all in 4:3 aspect ratio, and not the regular 16:9 aspect ratio that we’re all familiar with. It’s certainly a big issue, especially if you want to take photos of things outside of the square aspect ratio. You can remedy this by installing a new camera app like Google Camera, but the problem now is that you’re not shooting in full 13-megapixels and are limited to just 9.6-megapixels. Hopefully this can be fixed via software update further down the line.

That doesn’t mean that the stock camera app isn’t any good. Just like any self-respecting selfie phone, the Selfie has software enhancements that allow you to magically remove wrinkles on your face and beautify it depending on your taste. Both front and back cameras can take advantage of this feature, and there’s several beautification levels to choose from.

Good battery life

The selfie may have a 1.7GHz octa-core processor, but its paired with a relatively low power 4.7-inch HD display compared to other full HD 5 and 5.5-inch smartphones in the market.. That, combined with the 2300mAh battery, means that the Selfie has enough juice to last you the full working day with moderate use. We recorded around 12 hours on a full charge, so you’ll be able to get around a day’s use from the Selfie once you pull it out of the charger in the morning before you skip to work.

Verdict: potentially kick-ass, powerful seflie phone for women, but Cherry Mobile needs to fix the camera issue

As the name suggests, Cherry Mobile’s Selfie phone is a great smartphone that want a selfie machine that has great cameras and a powerful processor. Unfortunately the camera issue mean that the Selfie is going up against other selfie-centric smartphones with quite a big handicap. Hopefully Cherry Mobile sends out an OTA to fix the issue – until then, if you really want it you’ll have to settle with the 4:3 aspect ratio or take photos using a separate camera app on a lower resolution.