CherryRoam Review - One of the best Roaming Pocket WiFi with affordable rates!

Sharing your precious moments in real time even when abroad may be more affordable than ever with the new CherryRoam.

CherryRoam

The benefits of being connected to the internet even when travelling abroad outweighs otherwise. Services like Google Maps, booking services and the like make travelling easier.

Another use is being able to share your precious moments in social media when abroad in real time.

Cherry Mobile has partnered with GlocalMe and offers the CherryRoam that provides High-speed 4G WiFi with flexible rates that can be accessed on the device or on the CherryRoam app. Payment of data packages can be bought through vouchers from authorized distributors and in app anywhere in the world via PayPal.

Let's take a closer look!

Unboxing/Accessories

Everything inside

Outside the box is full of branding and regulatory information. Inside is the CherryRoam unit, documentation and a red USB Type-A to micro USB cable.

Build Quality/Design

Back

Out of the box, the CherryRoam is immediately catches your attention because of its thicker profile because of the class leading 5,350mAh battery capacity. Most pocket WIFi's run a smaller form factor with a smaller battery.

Top

Bottom

Left

Right

The front facing side has the 4-inch display, the speaker and the LED indicator. The back is a curved polycarbonate back plate with branding and regulatory information.

In between the front and back panels is a metal frame. On top is empty while the bottom carries the USB Type-A port. On the right side are the power and volume buttons while a single micro-USB port and sim card tray are at the left.

It uses an eSIM for the main LTE connection but you can also pop-open the SIM card tray to add another SIM for connection redundancy.

Battery Life

As mentioned above, it carries a class leading 5,350mAh battery that gave us around 7 to 8 hours of LTE connection for 3 to 4 devices.

Amazing battery life!

Charging time depends on the output of the wall charger you plug the included red cable to the CherryRoam. In my case, I used a 5V 2A charger and it took under 3 hours to charge fully.

The CherryRoam unit also serves a power bank and charge other devices via the USB Type-A port.

Performance

Speed we got when in Taiwan

To set-up the CherryRoam, you need to download the CherryRoam app, register an account and pair the device with your CherryRoam account using the QR code scanner inside the app.

Speed in Malaysia

The app also allows for topping-up your balance on-the-go and pay via Paypal. You can also pick your data packages within the app and will reflect in your purchase history.

The data packages

Data packages include unlimited data for PHP 350 for some countries. There are also data packages that offer a limited amount of data for a set amount of time for specific countries.

It works nearly everywhere in the world

In our case we used the 3GB for 7 days in our Malaysia trip. We also used the PHP 350 unlimited data for 1 day in Taiwan.

CherryRoam works even on top of Taipei 101

The PHP 350 unlimited data of CherryRoam provides a nice connection, but throttles once you reach past 1GB of data.

There are other packages for other countries and regions. All are accessible inside the CherryRoam app.

In our recent trip to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to cover the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event, it is normal practice for the GIZGUIDE team to have redundant internet connection sources. Aside from the CherryRoam, we bought a tourist LTE SIM that we used as our main SIM for our phones during the trip.

Steady and reliable performance!

What surprised us was that the CherryRoam had more consistent "4G" connections than the local tourist LTE sim. In fact, we used the CherryRoam more than the local tourist SIM because the CherryRoam was more reliable. 

We did multiple speed tests in Malaysia and we were getting an average of 10Mbps connections in areas of the city we visited. We also spent a day in Malacca, Malaysia and along the expressway towards the city and in the city we were also getting similar connection speed and quality.

The quality of the LTE experience may be different in other countries. In Taipei, Taiwan, there are spots where we got around 20Mbps and there are also locations where we only got around 5Mbps.

But that is fine, at least we have WiFi anywhere we go there.

Pros - Good build and design, Robust app, Affordable data packages rates, class leading battery capacity, extra sim card tray aside from e-sim

Cons - It takes around 3 hours to charge the battery, Paypal only payment option on-the-go, up 5 devices connected at one time only

CherryRoam Specs

Display: 4-inch LCD touch screen

Chipset: Qualcomm 4G LTE MSM8909

Battery: 5,350mAh

Connectivity: WiFi, LTE, HSPA+, DO, 1X, dual SIM (nano)

LTE FDD Band: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/9/17/19/20, LTE TDD Band: 38/39/40/41

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

WCDMA Band: 1/2/4/5/6/8/9/19

CDMA/EVDO: BC0/BC1

Others: Power bank mode, hotspot mode

Dimensions: 126.5 x 65 x 19 mm

Weight: 240 g

Price: PHP 6,990

Verdict

The CherryRoam has good design and build while providing near constant LTE connections from a long list of countries in our experiences with it in Malaysia and Taiwan.

It comes with flexible rates and data packages that can be purchased via on the pocket WiFi device or via the CherryRoam app.

It also has a large battery gives it class leading longevity and the ability to charge other devices.

These make the CherryRoam one of the best roaming pocket WiFi service for countries that it supports.

We highly recommend it. Just check first if the service supports the country you are traveling to.

Build and Design - 4.25

Battery - 4.75

Performance - 4.5

Average - 4.5/5