Cherry Mobile made another huge announcement today with the unveiling of a top-specced Android phone that’s sure to shake up the local tech community. You’re looking at the incredibly powerful and incredibly affordable Cherry Mobile Flare X — which I reckon is the higher-end version of China’s JiaYu S3.
Cubix Cube is a Lazada-exclusive, octa-core phone
It turns out Cherry Mobile is also positioning itself at the forefront of the online retail revolution, alongside other players like Xiaomi, Huawei, and Lenovo. The company recently announced the creation of a new sub-brand — Cubix — whose focus is on smart devices that will be sold through Lazada Philippines’ website.
OnePlus 2 to use improved version of Snapdragon 810
Earlier today, smartphone startup OnePlus revealed new details about its upcoming — and eagerly awaited — flagship phone, the OnePlus 2. According to the company, the successor to the brilliant OnePlus One will be powered by an improved version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, which is said to run cooler than its predecessor.
The OnePlus 2 will be powered by an improved version of the Snapdragon 810 CPU, which is said to run cooler than its predecessor.
In case you haven’t heard, the first iteration of Qualcomm’s most powerful processor to date has faced a flurry of negative publicity since its launch after users complained about its poor thermal performance.
A previous report from Bloomberg suggested that Samsung dropped the Snapdragon 810 chipset from the Galaxy S6’s spec sheet due to overheating — a problem OnePlus says it has solved after working closely with Qualcomm engineers. To which I say: I’ll believe it when I see it.
All other details about the OnePlus 2 remain up in the air at this point, but the company promised to reveal more in the future. For now, we can only assume that the phone will feature some of the best components on the market, seeing that it already has one of the fastest processors available in tow.
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OnePlus One unboxing video from OnePlus’ YouTube channel
Starmobile Knight Luxe, Up HD are brand’s top sellers
It’s not often that we get a peek at how major players are faring in the local tech scene, so it’s always a welcome sight to see a company like Starmobile drop some information about its current best sellers.
According to the company, the Starmobile Knight Luxe and Up HD — both of which are fairly new releases, mind you — have become its most popular devices in 2015. In fact, Starmobile product development head Michael Chen says that both Android phones comprise more than a third of Starmobile’s smartphone sales from May to June of this year, even claiming that there’s now “unprecedented demand” for the Knight Luxe and Up HD.
What’s surprising about all this isn’t that consumers are opting to buy newer models — people prefer the latest specs, of course — but rather Starmobile bucking the industry trend of getting retail sales volume from entry-level smartphones.
Recent GfK data suggests that local brands make the bulk of their sales from selling sub-P3,000 devices — devices that typically offer subpar specs and subpar performance. The Starmobile Knight Luxe and Up HD retail for P7,690 and P4,990, respectively.
The success of both devices may not necessarily reflect how good they are, but it does seem to indicate that people are willing to spend more on phones.
The success of both devices may not necessarily reflect how good they are, but it does seem to indicate that people are now willing to spend more on smartphones. It would be interesting to know if other homegrown brands are seeing the same shift in consumer taste.
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Starmobile Knight Luxe unboxing clip from Starmobile’s YouTube channel
