Cherry Mobile ME Vibe REVIEW!

Cherry Mobile ME Vibe is the talk of the town cheapest octa-core available in the market today. Available online purchase at LAZADA.

With a boasting specifications:

• 5.0-Inch qHD IPS Display (540 x 960 Pixels, 220 ppi)
• Android 4.4 Kitkat OS
• MediaTek MT6592M Chipset
• 1.4GHz Octa Core Cortex-A7 CPU
• Mali-450 MP4 GPU
• 1GB of RAM /8GB Internal Storage
• 13.0 Megapixel Autofocus Main Camera with LED Flash
• 2.0 Megapixel Front Camera
• Expandable Up to 32GB via MicroSD
• Dual SIM/Dual Standby
• 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE and GPRS Networks
• Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Hotspot
• Bluetooth 3.0
• GPS with A-GPS
• FM Radio
• USB OTG Support
• 3.5mm Audio Jack
• Accelerometer
• Proximity Sensor
• Ambient Light Sensor
• Customizable Back Covers
• 14.5 x 6.8 x 0.69 mm @ 150 g
• 1,800mAh Li-ion Battery

I purchased one as gift to my 8 year old son for his birthday, since I am former GSM technician in profession I decided to put a review for buyers sake and of course for them to decide. There is a lot of promo in LAZADA if you purchase just check their website from time to time to get some discounts, like app discounts, or one day discounts promo. So lets start to review this cheapest and affordable octa-core from cherry mobile. 

Here are the items included in the package. You can also personalize your back cover, just follow instructions on the scratch card. 

My son is a basic gamer, since he is not that expert yet to play online games but he is a big fan of CLASH OF CLANS, (I don't even understand that game!), I notice him that it last 2 to 3 hours continues playing before he looks for a charger.Normal use of the phone seems ok, I didn't see issues on battery life considering that it is just 1800mAH only, possibly Kitkat firmware help to minimize it. I didn't hear any complain of lags or slow as he said "buffering". Good also for other games, I am not a gamer so I just listen to his feedback. 

Display

5″ qHD IPS- good for the price, It was huge compare to the first unit CM Flare S that he used to play before, beside from 5.0 display the screen resolution is at best for qHD. 

Android Kitkat was smooth since I am also on this version on my HTC 610, but interface are just classic and not really presentable unlike my HTC. 

Rom/ Ram

Satisfying on this part, 8gb is good enough for the price. 

Camera

Here's the catch, although it was declared 13MP with auto focus, but it was not satisfying for me, I was able to compare it on my HTC 610 with just 8MP auto foucs camera, my HTC seems to perform well than this ME Vibe, take a look on some test picture. 

Compare to 8MP of HTC 610, this shows more detailed and vivid colors. 

Front camera is good for your daily selfies need, although it looks watery but by applying some camera app you will still look good. 

WIFI MAC Address 

Here is the issue , my connection at home was set to filter MAC address for safer wireless connection, the problem with this unit is every time you turn it off or your unit suddenly shutdown due to low battery, your WIFI MAC ADDRESS changes. It's so annoying that I need to configure the mac address in my router, it's a big bug and pain in the ass, I am seeing a lot of complain from some user and seems that cherry mobile has no fix on it. Someday if I have available time possibly will do some rom upgrade or any modification that may fix the issue, I'll keep you posted. 

Touch Screen

Touch on the upper part is responsive but issues on HOME, Option, Return touch buttons sucks. Its not responsive that you need to touch it firmly before it will response but the upper part is fine, another issue is there is no light on those buttons that you need to be kin on at night. Daylight use is fine since it shows printed symbols on it. 

It's for you to decide, for someone who want to upgrade it for better screen and no lag gaming this is for you, consider issues like wifi mac address consistently change after power off, touch buttons on the bottom part and camera. 

Overall, unit looks elegant, easy to grab no matter of its size. Good buy for the price, so cheap. For me I would rate it 7 out of 10.