Cherry Mobile Alpha Style Price Php 2,999, Specs : Most Affordable Windows Phone Handset Currently

Last Tuesday - September 9, 2014 - at the Harbor Garden Tent of Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila, local electronics giant Cherry Mobile mounted its much-talked-about W.O.W Event where the company shocked Pinoy tech bloggers, the local media, and its nationwide dealers by launching its first line of devices - called 'Alpha' - running on Microsoft's Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 operating system.

"For Cherry Mobile, Mark, it's like going back to our roots since our very first smartphone was actually powered by Windows Mobile. We have this renewed partnership with Microsoft to continue offering a wide variety of devices at the best prices to our consumers," Mr. Lonson Alejandrino - Product Marketing Manager of CM for Smartphones and Tablets - shared.

Cherry Mobile Alpha

Cherry Mobile Alpha Style is one of the four Windows devices introduced at the event. Priced at only - get this - Php 2,999, it is the most affordable Windows Phone handset in the Philippines -- if not anywhere in the world.

Cherry Mobile Alpha

Flaunting a 4-inch WVGA IPS display, the smartphone runs Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, which features a drop-drown Action Center tab, Office Mobile Suite, Live Tiles, OneDrive, Data Sense, among many others.

Cherry Mobile Alpha

CM Alpha Style is likewise equipped with a 5 MegaPixel autofocus camera with LED flash at the back, 0.3 MegaPixel front cam, HD video recorder, Dual SIM Dual Standby capability, 3G HSPA+ support, and a 1,500 mAh battery pack, which - according to our sources from CM - delivers around 8 to 10 hours of uptime with mixed usage.

Cherry Mobile Alpha

Under the hood, the WP handset is powered by a 1.2 GHz Quad Core ARM Cortex A7 and Adreno 305 based MSM8212 chipset by Qualcomm, handles multitasking with 512 MB of RAM, and has 4 GB of internal storage that's expandable via the microSD card slot supporting up to 32 GB. For a Php 2,999 model, I'd say these innards are already quite good.

Cherry Mobile Alpha

Looks-wise, the phone - that looks a tad chunky - has a very simple design identity highlighted by the plastic back plate with high-gloss finish that gently curves to the sides of the device. Cherry Mobile Alpha Styles comes in three color options, namely, White, Black, and Red -- all glossy.

Cherry Mobile Alpha

Is it the right smartphone for you? I think this release would be great for budget-conscious feature phone owners who want to upgrade to a smartphone but aren't keen on getting one running on Android -- for whatever reason they may have. I've played with the phone and although its specifications and features aren't really what you'd call 'powerhouse', I believe Cherry Mobile Alpha Style is very capable of giving you a fine introduction to Microsoft's Windows Phone platform. Your app selection won't be as wide as that of Android but if you're looking for something different, by all means, check it out.