Cherry Mobile Titan TV Review: All in One Phablet

Cherry Mobile Titan TV with SRP

Cherry Mobile Titan TV is one of the most anticipated mobile TV phablet.  This one is considered as a "phablet" or phone tablet because of its enormous 6-inch capacitive screen.  After its successful release last month.  I had the privilege to own and use one for almost a week.  Cherry Mobile Titan TV is the second installment of the first Cherry Mobile Titan without the TV on it.  Being priced at 6,999 pesos in the market, let us now check the full review of this if it is worth a try to own one.  Here are the specifications of the Titan TV:

Cherry Mobile Titan TV Specifications

• 6-inch WVGA (800x480) capacitive display
• 155ppi with 5-point multi-touch feature
• 1GHz dual-core MT6577 processor
• Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Dual Sim / Dual Standby
• PowerVR SGX531 GPU
• 1GB of RAM
• 4GB of internal storage
• 8.0-Megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash
• 720p HD video recording
• 2.0-Megapixel VGA front camera
• Gesture Mode Function
• microSD support up to 32Gb
• microUSB ver. 2.0
• 3.5-mm audio jack
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• WiFi Hotspot
• GPS with A-GPS support
• Bluetooth ver 4.0
• FM Radio
• Mobile TV with detachable antenna
• Dual Speakers
• Dual Mic with Noise Cancellation feature
• GPRS/EDGE GSM 900/1800 (Dual Band)
• 3G/HSDPA capable (UMTS 2100)
• Accelerometer / Light Sensor / Proximity Sensor
• 2,500 mAh battery
• Dimensions:  166 mm x 91 mm x 10.5 mm
• Weight:  200g
• Color:  Black and White
• Suggested Retail Price:  Php 6,999

Physical Feel & Screen Quality:  Solid and Clear Resolution

Cherry Mobile Titan TV

Cherry Mobile Titan TV has the same sturdy feel as the first released Titan.  CM Titan TV is a China rebranded phone.  This is a Karbonn A30 / VSun i1 unit in China.  The front face of the phone contains the usual capacitive buttons in front.  The micro USB slot is located at the bottom of the phone, power lock / button on the right side of the it, the 3.5-mm audio jack / detachable antenna port and on the left side is the volume rocker.  Cherry Mobile Titan TV is an all black finish both front and back.  On the back part or back plate, you can see the Titan TV logo in the middle and the Cherry Mobile logo on the bottom part.  You can also see the 2 speakers on the bottom of the Cherry Mobile logo.

Cherry Mobile Titan TV

Cherry Mobile Titan TV comes with a free flip cover, same as the first one, but this time, it is not attached in the housing totally - you have to do it on your own.  The cover comes with the double sided tape.  You have to stick this one on the back housing itself, therefore it is irreversible.  Well it is up to you if you really want to stick this one or you have a better alternative for this, just in case you don't want to ruin the back cover itself.

Cherry Mobile Titan TV FREE Flip Cover or Casing

Cherry Mobile Titan TV Double Sided Tape of the Flip Cover

Cherry Mobile Titan TV Unit with the Casing

Titan TV also comes with a stylus that is later on used as an antenna for your TV viewing pleasure.  I will discuss this as we go along the review.

The only notable thing minor problem that I encountered is the sensitivity of the 4 capacitive buttons below the screen.  It takes several seconds before it respond, and you have to put some effort or a couple of milliseconds before it responds.  Cherry Mobile Titan has a faster response compare to Titan TV.  But overall, everything is responsive, this will only be an issue for those who are used to the capacitive buttons that responds fast like Samsung or HTC with capacitive below.

Software Performance

Cherry Mobile Titan TV was was checked using AnTuTu Benchmark 3.1.1.  The benchmark result showed a rating of 7,022.  This makes this device at par with LG Optimus 2x which is priced at roughly Php 12,000.  Such a good deal given that this phone is only 6,999 pesos only - you get to save 5,000 pesos from that.  Not bad at all!

Cherry Mobile Titan TV AnTuTu Benchmark 3.1.1 Result

Cherry Mobile Titan TV Ranking Among the other Smartphones in the Market

Multimedia Performance:  All-in-One Entertainment and MORE!

Cherry Mobile Titan TV is a superb device since it is the screen is big enough for the movie buff in me.  The movie played flawlessly without lags at all and the sounds are really loud.  Titan TV has 2 speakers at the back that really means a lot for multimedia enthusiast like me.  You may want to download good apps at the Google Store for this one like PowerAmp for better sound performance.

The good side of this phone is having an on-the-go TV without your traditional pullover antenna on the side, because it has a detachable antenna that can turn as a stylus also.  This antenna can be attached at the 3.5-mm audio jack above.  Another good side for this one, TV clarity is superb with the antenna (I thought that I am connected on a cable TV) but even without the antenna itself, you can already watch it clearly.  Another plus for this device is that you can take a snapshot or a screenshot of a scene in TV while you are watching.  Sounds nice huh?!  Then you can share it through several social networking sites afterwards.

This is how the stylus is transformed into an antenna that can be used for TV viewing. 

Titan TV Stylus that is transformed into antenna - This is the 3.5-mm jack side

You have to pull the other side to expose the antenna

This is how it looks like if you put the stylus/antenna in the 3.4-mm audio jack

Quick Boot Options:  A PLUS!

Titan TV has this unique quick boot option that you can switch if you want to skip the whole, long booting process.  This is not fairly present in your Cherry Mobile Flare.  You can do this through the settings menu under the Accessibility the bottom part of that one you can see Quick Boot.  If you are an on-the-go person you can use this fairly.

The Quick Boot Option that is present only in Titan TV

Camera and Video Quality:  Good for an 8.0-Megapixel

Titan TV has an 8.0-Megapixel rear camera and a 2.0-Megapixal VGA front camera.  Picture quality was good enough and the camera is able to handle low light situations since it has a LED flash at the back of it.  Macro shots are very good using the camera of this phone.  It can give good details of the subject, just like the picture below.

Macro Shot taken from Titan TV

Another camera feature that is quite notable on Titan TV is the HDR Mode (High Dynamic Range) that is normally seen in Adobe Photoshop CS5 and CS6.  It also have adjustments as to what resolution you like - 8MP, 5MP or 3MP.  It also has a panoramic mode that can be used for landscape photography.

Titan TV HDR (High Dynamic Range) Mode for Camera

As for the video, it has a 720p quality with 3GP file format.  

The front camera was functioning very well especially when used for video calling like Skype.  I tested this one since some of the models of Cherry Mobile are having problems with the front camera in terms of video calling usage.


Internet Experience:  FAST loading!

The internet browser that comes with Titan TV is the Opera Mini for Android.  And as expected, the browsing experience, loading experience is really fast.  Even the application download using the Google Play Store was really fast enough.  You have a full access of the Play store and are free to choose whatever apps you like.


Gaming Experience:  Superb and NO lags at all!

Cherry Mobile Titan TV gaming experience was superb since it has a 6-inch screen.  I can say that I was satisfied with the outcome.  I have tested this with the usual basic games like Temple Run 2, and the accelerometer is very responsive as I take turns.

Temple Run 2 Sample

As for heavy graphic games, I tested Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K13 and Heroes of Order and Chaos, which is an online game.  The games loaded pretty fast especially for the online game and I experienced no lags at all during the game.  Another plus was the audio quality since you have 2 speakers at the back, you really have a good gaming experience rolled into one.

Heroes of Order and Chaos on Titan TV

Take note that I have used a Class 10 MicroSD card for this one and my internet connection, based on speedtest.com is 0.85 Mbps Download and 0.53 Mbps Upload.


Battery Life:  Making the most of it

Cherry Mobile Titan TV battery capacity is the same as the first released Cherry Mobile Titan, rated at 2,500 mAh.  For light and moderate use, basic telephony, checking of facebook and twitter from time to time and some sound tripping on my way home, it took me roughly 2.5 days usage.  While for heavy usage, this includes heavy graphic gaming, internet and TV / movie viewing, it took roughly 20-22 hours of usage for me.  I have a friend also that have the same unit and he just used it for SMS and the battery lasted for 6 days.  This unit has a good battery capacity just as long as you take care of the charging time - in short, don't overcharge it as much as possible.

The only thing that I found notable was the back of the phone was quite hot.  But not as hot as the Cherry Mobile Titan.


Verdict:  WORTH YOUR MONEY!

Cherry Mobile Titan TV was reviewed based in the performance in parallel to its price as well.  So far so good and I can personally recommend this phone especially if you have the 6,999 peso budget.  This unit is already comparable to the other smartphones priced 15,000 pesos up.  You get what you  pay for in this unit and more and you can have a phone and tablet in one.  An all-in-one entertainment gadget.  Lags were not encountered and no problem with the interface in general, so this one is a bang for the buck.