CloudFone Thrill Boost 3 is cheapest PH-branded 18:9 phone

Smartphones with wider, full-screen or 18:9 displays are all the rage today, so it’s no surprise that the wildly popular trend has trickled down to the lowest rungs of the industry.

We’ve covered this Apple iPhone X clone, which is priced at P2,999 (around $58) on Lazada’s online retail website. Then there’s this Oukitel unit for just under P4,000 ($77). More recently, we saw the Leagoo M9 with four cameras go for P3,866 ($75) on Lazada.

And now we have the CloudFone Thrill Boost 3, by far the cheapest 18:9 phone we’ve seen from a homegrown brand. Previously, that honor belonged to the Cherry Mobile Flare S6 Deluxe. The P5,999 ($116) smartphone offers better specs, such as a larger display and a more powerful processor alongside more RAM, compared to the Thrill Boost 3.

According to CloudFone, the handset, which is now available in retail locations nationwide, carries a price tag of P2,999. For the ultra-bargain price, you get a 5.5-inch, non-HD screen with a resolution of 480 x 960 pixels. It also arrives with a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, alongside 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage.

The cheapest 18:9 smartphone we’ve seen from a Philippine brand used to be the Cherry Mobile Flare S6 Deluxe. Now, that honor belongs to the CloudFone Thrill Boost 3, which retails at P2,999 ($58).

For taking stills and video, both the front and rear cameras are equipped with 5-megapixel sensors. Rounding out the key specs, you’ve got a 2,500mAh battery and good ol’ Android Nougat.

Owing to its positioning as a starter smartphone, these specifications are expected. However, it should be noted that the CloudFone Thrill Boost 3 doesn’t support the faster 4G LTE standard. That, and its 18:9 screen doesn’t offer the ideal resolution for a 5.5-inch panel. But if you simply want a trendy phone that won’t burn a hole in your pocket, then perhaps this CloudFone is worth a look.

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Ramon Lopez

Reviews editor: Ramon "Monch" Lopez has 16 years of professional experience creating and editing content for print and digital publications such as Yahoo. He headed the gadgets-merchandising division of one of the Philippines’ largest retail operators somewhere in between.