By Jaime Misalucha
Mobile games have become more popular this year probably due to the quarantine restrictions brought about by the recent pandemic. As the whole nation was in lockdown inside their houses, people turn to their gadgets to keep them company and as their window to the outside world.
Although mobile games can run on just about any smartphone, you can’t help but worry that your smartphone might not be able to keep up with the demands of mobile games. This is why many phone brands have created gaming phones that have the necessary specs to be able to perform well while playing. But specialty smartphones such as gaming phones come with a hefty price tag.
But fear not! A Philippine phone brand has created a gaming phone that is right within budget!
Enter, the Cherry Mobile Aqua S9 Max.
This premium-looking jade green smartphone will make you take a second look as it looks more expensive than its P9,999 price tag.
Out of the box, it comes with earphones, Type-C cable and 18watt charging brick, a user’s manual, and a tempered glass screen protector apart from the already installed screen protector on the phone.
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You will find on its right side the volume rocker and a textured power button. At the bottom of the phone, it has a 3.5mm audio which sadly, is starting to disappear on smartphones these days. Beside it is the main microphone, Type-C USB port, and a single downward-firing speaker that is loud enough to hear your phone alerts and the sound from your mobile games. On the left is the sim card tray for two sim cards and a dedicated memory card slot. This is generous in my opinion because many smartphones out there have their second sim card tray double as memory card tray as well and you can only use it one at a time.
You can unlock the Cherry Mobile Aqua S9 Max through its dedicated fingerprint scanner located at the back or facial recognition using its 32-megapixels front camera.
It runs with the latest Android 10 with a dark theme option and has an Helio G90T processor with liquid cooling technology with 4GB + 128GB Memory that is expandable up to 256MB.
We put Cherry Mobile Aqua S9 Max to a gaming test and installed Call of Duty and League of Legends: Wild Rift mobile games.
Its frame refresh rate is surprisingly smooth and fast. It was also able to render well the games’ graphics including the god rays or sunbeams that usually gets pixelated on some smartphones. The graphics on screen partnered with its good sounding speaker gives gamers a very immersive feel that will really get you into the groove of gaming.
In terms of phone heating due to overuse, you will only feel a slight heat somewhere at the back-center of the phone, and it is not the type of heat that gets you worried or painful to touch.
Apart from gaming, photography is one of the strong suits of the Cherry Mobile Aqua S9 Max. It has a Quad rear camera that consists of a 48-megapixel IMX582 main camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 2-megapixel depth sensor, and 2-megapixel macro camera.
It also has a non-removable 5130mAh battery with 18w wired charging which is enough to give you hours of game time and stand by time.
Whether you are a hardcore gamer or just someone who wants to play games to kill time while waiting or doing nothing, the Cherry Mobile Aqua S9 Max can be your smartphone. With its top of the line processor and premium look, who would think that it is just P9,999? Its Quad Camera is also something worth mentioning as it can compete with most flagship camera phones in the market.