Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 with VR Glass Review

With the up rise of technologies such as Virtual Reality, it looks like the smaller tier brands are beginning to venture into this gimmick, and this is what Cherry Mobile is starting to do with the release of their new 6-inch phablet, the Touch XL 2 which is priced at 3,499 pesos. It is indeed affordable considering the fact that it comes with its own VR headset, but how did it perform?

First, you may want to check out our editor’s unboxing of the device and the included VR Glass.

Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 is a big slab of phone that boasts a 6-inch HD screen. Its size is similar to Cherry Mobile Flare Mate and the Infinix Note 2, which we recently talked about on this link.

The device sports 3 capacitive buttons below its screen. Its earpiece is placed above the screen as usual, and sitting beside it are its light sensor and 2mp camera.

Speaker grills are located at the bottom, and beside it is a microphone, which may be used for calls and to capture sound. MicroUSB port and 3.5mm headphone jack are found above the the phone.

The device also boasts a rear 8-megapixel camera with auto-focus and LED flash. I’ll talk more about it later.

One thing that I liked about this phone is its display. Since I’m a big Youtube viewer, I think it’s an upside when I can enjoy a video through a phone with large display and good quality resolution. The Touch XL 2 did the job.

Another thing that I liked with this phone is its speaker. I think it’s always a good thing when phones have their speakers underneath the unit. This usually lessens sound blockage, whether the phone is on its front, back, or side. Plus, the output wasn’t bad at all. They were loud but not unclear, or what we Filipinos call “sabog”. Cherry Mobile XL2 delivered excellently on this aspect.

One of the things that I didn’t like with the Touch XL 2 was its constant unresponsiveness. For the first few uses I think the phone was performing perfectly fine, but that was when I didn’t install apps like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. you know, the essentials.

Once all these apps were installed, the phone was, from time to time lagging whenever I browsed social media. I had to restart the phone twice or thrice because it began to freeze, which is a little disappointing. Despite this little but manageable letdown, the phone works well and still definitely worth trying.

The device registered an Antutu Score of 23,599, which I find already acceptable for its price. It isn’t the fastest among phones with similar price point – PhP3,499 – but it sure is packed with the necessary specifications to enjoy VR applications and even AR apps like Pokemon Go.

The smartphone packs all the needed sensors to make your most favorite games work. Its accelerometer sensor works flawlessly. It also has gyroscope, and during my tests, it was able to detect rotational motio. Pitch, yaw and roll were detected properly.

Touch XL 2 was more positioned as an entertainment device. The fact that there’s a free VR headset clearly markets itself as the go-to device for VR-enthusiasts. Fortunately, this is another aspect that the Touch XL 2 quite excels, thanks to its 1.3Ghz quad core processor and 1gb RAM. Also, when you first try to use the VR headset, the phone will automatically prompt a gyroscope calibration to make it fully functional in the VR plane.

The VR headset provides a basic VR experience, and somehow reminds me of Google Cardboard without the magnet button. The lack of the said button somehow diminishes the full VR experience, so I highly suggest that you get yourself a bluetooth VR controller. We spotted one at Datablitz for less than PhP400; and it works on both Android and iOS.

Google Cardboard app works, and there’s an available preset for Cherry Mobile’s VR glass/cardboard – VsunVRGlass. There’s one caveat though when using Google Cardboard – since the VR glass does not have a magnet button, it is virtually (pun intended) impossible to control the application.

Its 8 megapixel camera takes photos at poor to fair quality. Most of the photos I took outdoors and even indoors have too much noise. Some details of the photos are a little washout.

Its LED flash works as you can see on the photo below, but the sensor isn’t good enough to capture light without producing too much noise.

There are camera modes available, but there is no easy way to access it. Tapping the gear button gains you access o the modes. Unfortunately, there is no manual mode available, but at least you will be able to modify exposure, ISO and white balance levels.

In conclusion (at least on this quick impressions), is the Touch XL 2 worth your money? Yes.

Is it something that stands out from any other Phablet? No. But it sure is a bang for your buck, especially if you’re on a tight budget. At PhP3,499, this clearly is one of the better lowed budget 6-inch phablets available in the market right now.

Cherry Mobile Touch XL 2 Specs

6.0-Inch HD IPS Display (720 x 1280 Pixels, 245 ppi)
1.3GHz Quad Core Processor (MT6580); Mali 400-MP GPU
1GB RAM
8.0 Megapixel Autofocus Main Camera with LED Flash, 2.0 Megapixel Front Camera
8GB Internal Storage
Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS
Expandable Up to 64GB via MicroSD
Dual SIM (micro)
3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE and GPRS Networks
Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0
Others: A-GPS, FM Radio, MicroUSB 2.0, Accelerometer, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Gyroscope