Cloudfone Next Review - The Next Smartphone in your Arsenal?

It has been over a week since I received my purchase of the Cloudfone Next from Lazada, which I feel is more than sufficient to navigate through the phone and go through the paces and see what Cloudfone’s latest flagship is capable of. The question remains, is it worthy of being labeled as a local flagship phone? This review just comes from the point of view of a user who took his chances and bought the unit when reviews were scarce and only available through an online retailer.

The Package

The Cloudfone Next comes with the standard phone-charger-cable-headphones ensemble, but they also threw in a few freebies like the jelly case, a screen protector, and a faux leather case [which I did not use], but that’s a matter of preference.

Before we go further, here are the specs:

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno 505

RAM: 4GB of RAM

Display: 5.2-inch full HD display with 2.5D glass Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 1920 x 1080 resolution

Internal Storage: 32 GB Internal, expandable via MicroSD card [up to 128GB]

Main Camera:  16-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 aperture, Samsung ISOCELL S5K3P3 sensor, PDAF and LED flash

Front Camera: 8-megapixel front camera with flash

SIM: Dual-SIM, micro

Mobile Data: 3G/HSPA+/4G LTE

Other Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, Fingerprint scanner

Battery: 3000 mAh with Quick Charge support

Android Version: Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow

Specs-wise, this is a really beefy flagship for a local phone with a nice look and feel to it. The phone has a metal back and the 2.5D glass is a nice touch. It doesn’t feel premium, the way you’d think of the iPhones, or the Note series, no. This is similar to how you’d consider the Zenfone line to be premium. In short, it has a midrange look, which is not a bad thing at all.

I have also dropped the phone once from about waist-high and I’m happy to report that it is still in one piece with no damage on the phone itself. This accidental drop test was not planned, since this is my own phone and have no intent to get it damaged, but was pleasantly surprised to a sturdy phone in that department.

Up top is the 3.5 mm audio jack for your earphones, while the right side of the phone has the volume rocker, and power buttons, respectively. Down at the bottom are speaker grilles and the micro USB port. Also, below the screen, instead of capacitive buttons, lies the fingerprint reader [more on that in a bit].

Audio and Video

The full HD IPS display on the Cloudfone Next gives it a very crisp and clear with good contrast. It has nice viewing angles, and it was a joy to go through my Facebook feed, play games, and watch YouTube videos. The audio is a bit too soft for my liking, and the speakers are a relative downer. Bring your headphones for a better experience.

Call quality is fair, nothing out of the ordinary in my experience, as the caller was audible when taking calls while I was heard fairly easily on the other end as well [cellphone signal notwithstanding].

General Usage

Navigating through the apps, and handling multiple apps at the same time is a breeze thanks to the generous amount of RAM on this model. It was smooth sailing switching between apps, and up to this point, has not triggered any lockups or lags in performance. Cloudfone used an almost stock copy of Marshmallow, just doing away with the app drawer, similar to MIUI, with their stock launcher.

Gaming

I’ve tested a handful of games on the phone and was pleasantly surprised at how smooth it was handled. From Asphalt 8, to Pokemon Go, VainGlory, NBA 2K17 and NBA Live Mobile, all these games work out beautifully. Even with a screen recording app in tow, playing on the Next was smooth, and did not show any difficulty in rendering the games even when set to their respective high settings.

See these sample videos for reference:

                                           

                                            

                                           

Camera Performance

I’m no photography expert, and I prefer to just show my samples and let you take a look for yourself on how the camera performed. For what it’s worth, it is a more than capable shooter outdoors, and in great light, and thanks to the LED flash on both front and back cameras, it is fairly decent in low light. Noise is a bit more evident on low light photos, but is definitely decent, especially in this range.

You can check out the samples on this link: Cloudfone Next Samples

 

Here's a sample video I took while on the road using the Cloudfone Next:

Battery Life

This is another area where the Next shines through quite well. While only sporting a 3000 mAh battery, it still manages to get an average of close to 8-10 hours of screen time, which is a term I use for when you regularly use the phone for social media, games, and web browsing. For the past week, I’ve been able to play with the phone, and have not been drained of battery even when I was walking around Eastwood during the Pokemon Go Halloween event [with data, GPS, and the screen constantly active].

This I feel is where Qualcomm's line of Snapdragon SoCs are still leaps and bounds ahead of the Mediatek SoC. Even when going against Mediatek's Helio X20, battery efficiency still is better on Qualcomm's end.

If you end up needing to charge, it is a pleasant surprise that this phone is equipped with Quick Charge 3.0 as well, and it goes from 10-100% from 45 minutes to an hour, 1 hour 5 minutes tops in my overall experience with it so far. The phone does get a little warm during this process, as common with a lot of phones with quick charge technology. Nothing blew up in the process.

Fingerprint Reader

The Next's fingerprint module was quick and responsive, and did not have any problems enrolling and recognizing the fingerprints enrolled. As an added perk, you can unlock your phone while the screen is off from the fingerprint module. 

Verdict

The Cloudfone Next is well-equipped to be a daily-driver phone, with decent specs, good overall performance and excellent battery life, and a fairly affordable price tag for what it offers. This phone is definitely worth a look if you are on a fairly tight budget, but want good internals that would be relevant for games and most apps for about 3-4 years. Not bad for the price.

As of this writing, it is available through Lazada, which ensures availability and you can always opt for Cash on Delivery if you're a bit skeptical about online shopping, and/or divulging any sensitive banking/credit card information online.

Links included below for reference.

Cloudfone Next
Gray: http://ho.lazada.com.ph/SHIx0s
Gold: http://ho.lazada.com.ph/SHIx2G

Are flagship phones still worth their price?

It seemed like only a few years ago that in order for one to get top-of-the-line specs and features, you'd have to really break the bank [see: P30,000-P40,000] to get it. Big time manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG, and HTC have made a lucrative business out of selling what they term as the best of the best, with various selling points: larger HD screens, more memory, higher processor, more processor cores, long battery life, better camera, etc. From hardware specs, to unique, although sometimes gimmicky features, manufacturers seem to keep on putting every bell and whistle in the book everytime a flagship is announced.

For the past year or so, though, local brands and manufacturers like Asus, Huawei, and ZTE have tilted the landscape quite a bit, by offering either a "close enough" experience to just flat out flagship experience for a fraction of the cost. From Cherry Mobile offering an annual iteration of their Flare series to myPhone countering with their Rio line, more and more people are getting the opportunity to have a great Android experience. 

For me, it started when Asus released their first Zenfone line which was received warmly and was given glowing reviews by most users. Now, even an international brand is starting the trend, and raises the question: Why break your budget when you can get this for something that would not dent your budget as much?

The Asus Zenfone 5 changed a lot of perception about mid-range priced smartphones.

This year, the argument is even more heated as other manufacturers like OnePlus, Asus, and Huawei upped their game. Even the local brands, which used to lord the budget smartphone market are in for a fight, and it seems to me that they are responding with enticing offers of their own.

As of today, Cherry Mobile has done a Lazada-exclusive release of the Cubix Cube, which I think is the cheapest smartphone in the market to sport an octa-core processor AND 2GB of RAM for only P4,490. Partner that with a discount code from Lazada [which depending on the date, may range from 200 to 500 pesos], and you can get this as low as P4,000. Really good deal, if you're not too brand conscious. Of course, there are caveats like a relatively small battery, and/or camera performance which is passable, but not eye popping. Then again, for the price, it's a tempting option.

Lazada-exclusive offer from Cherry Mobile

New brands such as SKK, Firefly and the like are releasing their own models to take their share of the smartphone market. Here are some phones which are worth a peep. Some have already been released, while some are just on the to-be-released phase, which should be within the next month or two.

SKK Lynx
Cherry Mobile Flare X
Firefly Allure 64 LTE
myPhone Rio 2
Huawei Honor 4X
Asus Zenfone 2

Surely, some of these phones don't have some "flagship exclusive" features like fingerprint readers, NFC, 4K video recording and display, but then again, these are mostly add-ons which you can live without for the most part [and even some of these features are now offered by these other brands].

Final Thoughts

While I think that flagship phones are still here to stay, with all the reveal events, press conferences, and the hype trains to ride along with, but the average joe should not feel too left out as more and more well-specced phones enter the market to grab their share of the smartphone pie. 

There is also the question of durability and quality control on these other local brands, which scares off some potential buyers. That's up to these brands to improve on, with their repair lead times, and after sales service, but for the actual devices themselves, they are looking pretty good and have caught up quite nicely with the top-tier counterparts.

How to Turn off In-App Purchases in Android Devices

1.)    Open the Google Play Store app.

2.)    Select “Menu” and then “Settings”.

3.)    Look under “User Controls” and select the option to “Set or Change PIN”.

4.)    Enter your preferred code twice and make sure to check the box next to “Use PIN for Purchases”. This would ensure that no one would accidentally spend money inside apps without knowing the passcode.