CloudFone Thrill 600FHD Price is Php 13,999, Unboxing, Quick Review : Five Things I Like About It, Antutu Score, Sample Camera Shots

With official suggested retail price of Php 13,999 and sitting atop all current CloudFone handsets in terms of screen size and raw power, CloudFone Thrill 600FHD is definitely worthy of being called 'flagship'.

But is it really as good as advertised and can it actually give other amazing smartphones in its price echelon a run for the money when it comes to looks and relevant features?

My quick answer to that is 'Yes!' -- but let me give you give reasons why I think this incredible phablet is worthy of your hard-earned money.

1. Large 6-inch Full HD IPS OGS Display: Given all the content - photos, videos, websites - that users can enjoy on a smartphone these days, a big screen is always a plus. If you're the type who loves watching movies and playing 3D games on your handset, you'll surely fall in love with the Thrill 600FHD's clear, crisp, and brilliant display that's even protected by scratch-resistant DragonTrail Glass.

2. Simple No-Nonsense Design with Real Metal Accents: I'm a fan of the design identities of Macbook Pro and ThinkPad because they don't have unnecessary frills and embellishments. If you're like me, you'd definitely find 600FHD quite attractive with its simple black matte back plate (that's not a finger-print magnet) and CNC-prepared real metal display rim.

The device sports a heavily cornered look which gives off an air of masculinity and durability.

I like that the power button and volume rocker are located high up on the right panel so they're less likely to be pressed accidentally when you're using the phablet.

3. Good Imaging Capabilities: CloudFone Thrill 600FHD is equipped with a 13 MegaPixel autofocus camera with LED flash at the back and an 8 MegaPixel fixed focus front cam with soft LED flash allowing users to take selfies even in low to zero lighting conditions. Frankly, these shooters aren't really the best out there -- but given the affordable price of the device, I would say they're more than decent. Here are sample HDR shots taken using the main camera. (Front cam selfie shots to follow.)

4. Stellar Innards: It's one thing to be big and another thing to be powerful -- and the Thrill 600FHD is both. The phablet runs vanilla Android 4.4.2 KitKat with a 1.7 GHz MediaTek MT6592 chipset incorporating eight ARM Cortex A7 cores and a Mali-450 MP4 GPU, handles multitasking with 2 GB of RAM, and has a whopping 32 GB of internal storage, which you can somehow augment using the phone's USB-OTG capability.

These internal specifications combine to give CloudFone Thrill 600FHD an Antutu Benchmark Score of 31,233 during our internal testing. This high mark well reflects how smoothly the handset runs graphics intensive games like Injustice: Gods Among Us. This phone can pretty much take on any 3D game that's available for download via Google Play Store.

Its Antutu Score supposedly puts Thrill 600FHD in between HTC One M7 and LG G3 in terms of raw performance. Not bad for a smartphone that costs far less than those two.

5. Fairly Good Battery Life: This 6-inch phablet is powered by a rather large non-removable 3,000 mAh Li-Ion battery pack, which gives me around 1 1/2 days of uptime with regular mixed usage including updating Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, taking a few selfies and food shots, browsing blogs and websites, listening to around 10 music tracks, sending text messages, and making calls. Not bad!

Verdict: Given these five key features along with the device's quite affordable price tag, I can really say that CloudFone Thrill 600FHD is a great option for those who are looking for a powerful phablet with a big and bold display that's perfect for media consumption. Last week, we gave this release our TechPinas Badge of Excellence - for everything that it offers - and I'm now giving it my personal recommendation.

For those who are interested, this is the complete retail package:

The familiar Yellow-Black-White CloudFone Box

"Caution: Seriously Clear" -- It's true!

Warranty Card and User's Manual - for those who have time to read it.

MicroUSB to USB cable for connecting the phablet to your computer and for charging it.

USB On-The-Go Cable, which I use to quickly transfer photos and videos taken using the phone to my USB flash drive.

Pocket-friendly Travel Charger - careful with the metal prongs though.

Standard earphones with microphone for calls and tangle-resistant flat wires.

To quote CloudFone, "With over 3 years in the industry and more than 50 devices created, CloudFone has truly evolved and developed their different product lines: the Ice, Excite, and Thrill -- each series offering a range of products that have their own identities and specialization, focusing on a particular segment and behavior. CloudFone Thrill series has always been the popular kid among the crowd, a true achiever and all-around performer that constantly comes with flagship devices from this faction. From its powerful processors, high-end specs, sleek designs, and long lasting battery-life, the CloudFone Thrill series has always been known to bring the latest innovations within reach time and time again."

CloudFone Thrill 600FHD is now available at all CloudFone concept stores, kiosks, and partner retail outlets nationwide. It's out in only one color - Black - and again, it sells for only Php 13,999.