[vimeo width=”576″ height=”384″]https://vimeo.com/52739211[/vimeo]
It’s been a week since Cherry Mobile launched their 5″ large Android phone, Titan. It created a buzz because it runs on 1GHz Dual Core processor but only costs PhP6,499. We’re very fortunate to receive a unit from our friends at Cherry Mobile; and I’m ready to give you my review and recommendation.
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THE FORM
The Cherry Mobile Titan, as mentioned, has a 5″ (diagonal size) capacitive TFT screen; almost the size of the Galaxy Note 1. Cherry Mobile does not want to call this a phablet. Rather, they simply refer to it as a large Android phone. I thought that Cherry Mobile has clearly defined its market for this phone especially now that bigger phones are on the rise.
The Titan’s screen is huge for a smartphone. Its capacitive TFT screen will let you enjoy playing games and viewing your favorite pictures. Even at this point, I cannot let go of my doubts that I’m holding a less-than-PhP7,000 huge android phone. That, I said, in a very positive way. Unfortunately though, the Titan has a cheaper Thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), which basically makes it inferior to the In-Place Switching TFT-LCD (IPS) screen of the much cheaper Cherry Mobile Flare.
The side bezels are just perfect; it doesn’t need wider bezels since the phone can still be held by one hand. You can find the volume rockers on the right side of the phone. The 3.5mm standard headphone port, micro USB port and On/Off switch are placed on the top side of the phone. My opinion is that it would have been a lot better if Cherry Mobile placed the On/Off switch on top of the volume rockers. Given its size, I find it quite cumbersome to reach the said switch using my index finger. The microphone can be found on the bottom side of the phone.
THE OPERATING SYSTEM
The Cherry Mobile Titan runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. Navigating through the homescreen and application drawer is very snappy, thanks to its dual core processor. I bet that this would perform a lot better if it runs on Jellybean. Unfortunately, Cherry Mobile’s Research and Development Team has not yet given us any update whether this phone can be upgraded to Jellybean.
700,000 applications are available for this mobile device as this utilizes Google Play. Log in with your Google account to open yourself to the wide array of applications. I had no problems downloading my previously purchased and downloaded apps to this phone right after logging in to my Gmail account. You can also seamlessly sync your Google contacts, calendars and Gmail on this account. Therefore, if you’re thinking of buying your very 1st very Android phone, it’s imperative that you signup for a Google Account to enjoy and maximize usage.
The Cherry Mobile Titan is not spared from occasional lags and hiccups. Viber doesn’t place with this device, and so does Android’s camera’s Panorama feature. My favorite games from my iPad – Asphalt 7 & Dead Trigger – took a bit of time to launch but perform very well on Titan. Take a quick look at our Dead Trigger quick gameplay demo on Titan.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcZ0-LvECys[/youtube]
Titan uses a 3rd party keyboard – TouchPal Keyboard – which is a fantastic replacement to the Android keyboard. I had to replace it with the Android keyboard though as I’m used to it since my Galaxy Note 1 days.
It uses Android’s stock Messaging application, which looks boring; so, I had to replace it with Messaging Metro Beta. The latter is reminiscent of Windows Phone 8 messaging UI. As for other alternative applications, check out our list below:
- Messages: Messaging Metro Beta
- Camera: Camera360
- TouchPal Keyboard: Android Keyboard (stock) or SwiftKey 3
- Stock Browser: Chrome
PERFORMANCE & BATTERY
As expected, the Titan performed pretty well in real life usage. Amazingly, its Quadrant benchmark score reached 2,766, surpassing the scores of Motorola Atrix 4G and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Please note though that benchmark scores are relative scores as benchmark applications consider the current state of devices. It is possible for our Titan to have a different score after a week or two.
As for the battery, its 2,350mAh (8.695Wh) huge battery is impressive. As of this writing, my Titan is still running with 23% juice left. Take note that I had it fully charged almost 3 days ago; and have been using it not quite often. With moderate usage, I would think that this will last around 18 hours; and with heavy usage (3G and Wifi On), the battery will not last more than 5-6 hours.
Camera
I took some test shots, and by far, the Titan’s camera isn’t its cup of tea. It takes great pictures if subjects are well lighted. Visit this link if you wish to download the original photos.
Non-modified photo taken using Cherry Mobile Titan. White haze is quite evident.
Modified photo using Camera 360 on Cherry Mobile Titan
MY RECOMMENDATION
I regard the Cherry Mobile Titan as one of the best yet very affordable Android Phones in the market today. It’s unbelievably powerful sans the problem of spending too much. It isn’t your average Pinoy Android Phone as it’s packed with lots of features, big screen and dual core processor!
If you’re thinking of buying the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or the Galaxy S3 but you don’t have the money to spare, the Cherry Mobile Titan is a great alternative.
*UPDATE – ROOTING THE TITAN: Check this link.
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
