Using the Cherry Mobile Android One

I was up for a loyalty incentive from Sun Cellular and I decided to upgrade my plan and avail of their Android One promotion.

(image from http://www.semicurrent.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Smart-and-Sun-Cherry-Mobile-One.png)

Before i give my official review of this product, let me say that I wasn't really expecting much from the device since my previous experience from Cherry Mobile and and other Android Phones is that batteries do not last very long.  True enough, I have to charge this baby every night so that i will not run out of power in the middle of the day. This problem is especially true when I use the phone to play games and go online.

With that expectation out of the way, I tried out my new toy, the Cherry Mobile Android One. Over all, I was happy, not giddy but happy.

First, it's a Google device. This baby has a lot of features courtesy of Google. On the downside, you have to be online to use them. On the upside, the apps are pretty cool. My favorite is the dictation tool. It cuts my texting time immensely. I also get to enjoy other Google Apps in it without major hitches. The only limitation is the screen size; but hey, it's a friggin' phone, not a tablet or a laptop.

Second, I don't have to keep checking it's screen to find out if a text or any other notifications are up. It has an indicator light that blinks green when I get something -- a text, an email an FB notification, an incoming chat, a calendar alert, etc. The screen remains black but I still know I got something.

Third, it runs on Android Lollipop! Need I say more?

On the downside, here are some things you have to watch out for:

1. Better make sure you download the Google USB driver at:
https://dl-ssl.google.com//android/repository/latest_usb_driver_windows.zip. Other wise, your phone will be a read-only drive.

2. There is no Phone Suite for this model... yet. (I'll update this part if one comes out.)

3. The speaker and vibra alerts have quirks I have yet to figure out. Sometimes I get the notifications by sound and feel, sometimes I don't. Good thing they have the light alert.

4. If you ever remove your SD card from it and you put it back in, all the links from the processes to the files in that card get severed. So, again, make sure you install the driver (see #1) so you don't have to do this.

5. I have yet to figure out how to reconfigure the save settings for the camera and downloads so that they would go to the SD card instead of the internal memory. The internal memory is only 8gb, so I am wary about this. If you know how to do this, please tell me via the comments here.

Would I recommend this? Hm... yes and no. It really depends on how you use a device. I am not (yet) a heavy android user so this works for me for now.  I do miss the palpable keypads of my previous devices though.