Why is it still stuck on KitKat?
You’ve seen us unbox Cherry Mobile’s latest phone, the Flare X. We’ve also taken a close look at its camera and gaming performance as well in the past few days. One question that we’ve seen pop up time and time again is the phone’s OS, specifically, why the phone is still stuck on KitKat while its contemporaries are already sporting Lollipop.
Cherry Mobile’s Product Manager Lonson Alejandrino, let us know why exactly they opted to go with KitKat instead of Lollipop. To put it simply, Lollipop 5.0 (which the phone originally came with from their ODM) has too many bugs and software issues, to the point it would negatively affect the overall user experience. Cherry Mobile opted to downgrade the phone to KitKat (because KitKat is more stable) and then opt for an OTA for Android 5.1 later on. While this is a solid plan, the onus is now on MediaTek to provide Cherry Mobile’s ODM access to the Kernel source of the MT6752 processor used on the Flare X so they can create an update later on. MediaTek has been notoriously ornery in allowing other companies access to their Kernel source, which explains the delay of Android 4.4 KitKat updates to phones using their older MT6582 quad-core processors last year.
Do you think it’s a big issue that the Flare X is still stuck on KitKat and not Lollipop? Let us know in the comments below.
Read more about the Cherry Mobile Flare X:
Cherry Mobile Flare X Camera Samples [Updated with Low Light Shots!]
Cherry Mobile Unveils Flare X, 3GB, LTE, Octa-core Smartphone for Php 6,999
Cherry Mobile Flare X Hands-on, First Impressions: Alcatel Flash Plus Killer?
Watch: Cherry Mobile Flare X Unboxing and First Impressions Video!
Watch: Cherry Mobile Flare X VS Firefly Mobile Allure 64 LTE Initial Comparison Video
