CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro Unboxing, First Impressions, and Camera Samples

CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro is now official in PH and here are our initial thoughts and first camera samples of the new entry-level smartphone.

CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro's rear design

After almost a year of mobile smartphone silence, CHERRY has finally revealed the successor to the popular AQUA S series.

The new AQUA S11 Pro's key features include the 120Hz 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, MediaTek Helio G99 octa-core processor, Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB UFS 2.2, and 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast wired charging.

At the back is the 64MP main camera, 0.3MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro camera with LED flash while in front is the 16MP selfie camera.

Other features include WiFi, 4G LTE, dual SIM support, a fingerprint scanner, and a near-stock Android 13 operating system.

In the Philippines, the phone is priced at PHP 7,999 and it is one of the most attractive in its class on paper.

Let's dive in.

Unboxing/Accessories

CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro's outer packaging

It comes in a white box with the CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro branding with a reflective diamond-like design. Around the box are the key specs, features, and regulatory information.

Box inclusions

Inside the box is the AQUA S11 Pro with a plastic screen protector, documentation, bumper case, SIM ejector tool, USB-C to USB Type-C cable, 3.5mm audio jack earphones, and the 67W wall charger.

We were surprised by the USB-C to USB-C cable included with the 33W wall charger. This is rare at this price point.

Build Quality/Design

Eye-catching rear camera module with textured back panel

The frame is made of polycarbonate while the front and rear panels are glass. The panel is frosted with a slippery surface but is resistant to fingerprint smudges.

Simple, yet sleek!

There is no word of any form of protection for either the front or rear glass panel. Thankfully, it has a pre-installed plastic screen protector.

The phone's design is immediately eye-catching. It looks so good that it looks way more expensive than its price point. It looks similar to the last generation except for the colorway and the rear camera module.

It will come in the one black colorway.

CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro's display!

The screen is a large 6.7-inch flat AMOLED screen with a 1080p+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.

Around the panel are slim bezels with the chin bezel being the thickest of them. On the upper part of the display is the punch hole that carries the selfie camera. Above the panel is the super slim earpiece.

The front panel is bright! It is readable under direct sunlight. The images produced are vibrant and contrasty. The text is decently crisp while the detail and sharpness is decent too.

Top and bottom sides

On top of the phone is the microphone port. At the bottom are the 3.5mm audio jack, microphone port, USB-C port, and the single speaker grill.

Left and right sides

On the left side are the volume rocker and the power button that doubles as the fingerprint scanner. While on the right is the SIM tray.

Both buttons have a decent resistance which gives it a somewhat satisfying feel when pressing on them.

SIM tray

The SIM tray can carry up to two nano-SIM cards or up to one nano-SIM card and one microSD card. There is no rubber gasket.

CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro's rear cameras

At the back of the phone are a 64MP main camera, 0.3MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro camera with an LED flash.

The stock camera app's modes include Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, 108MP, Beauty, Filter, GIF, Film, Pro Mode, Panorama, Slow Motion, Time-lapse, Macro and Intelligent scanning.

The Pro mode allows for controls of ISO (100-800), Shutter Speed (1/5-1/8,000 sec), EV (+-3), Focus, and White Balance.

First Camera Samples

CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro's main rear camera in daylight

CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro's main rear camera indoors

The first images were taken on a sunny 2 PM Sunday. The image produced was good. The sun was high which may have slightly skewed the contrast of the image. But the image is sharp, detailed, and with good color reproduction. 

The second image was taken indoors and because there was no bright sun, the contrast is deep while retaining what made the daylight images good too.

Daylight selfie

Selfie portrait

The selfie camera's 16MP sensor was able to produce okay. The image is more sharp than we would like. Contrast and detail could be better too. We also noticed green discoloration with areas that were normally colored black like on my hair, eyebrows, and mustache. Don't get us wrong, the image is clean from noise and is pleasing but it needs tweaking to get to great.

Currently, the results from the rear are consistently good while the selfies produced okay images that could improve with future updates.

Inside is the 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast wired charging. As mentioned above, it charges with the included USB-C to USB-C cable which is rare in this price bracket.

Other key features of the phone include a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock, dual microphone, mono speaker, GPS, LTE, and dual SIM.

Running the show is CHERRYOS based on Android 13. It's a visual refinement over the previous generation while adding the Android 13 features.

Unfortunately, there is no word yet on the Android 14 update.

CHERRY AQUA S11 Pro Specs

Display: 6.7-inch AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, FHD+ resolution

CPU: 2.2GHz 6nm MediaTek Helio G99 octa-core processor

GPU: Mali-G57 MC2

RAM: 8GB RAM

ROM: 256GB UFS 2.2

Back Camera: 64MP + 0.3MP depth + 2MP macro + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 16MP

Battery: 5,000mAh w/ 33W fast charging

OS: Android 13

Connectivity: WiFi (2.4GHz/5GHz), 4G LTE, GPS, dual SIM slots

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock, dual-mic, Colors: Black

Price: PHP 7,999

As of the moment

CHERRY AQUA S11's web surfing experience

We have to commend CHERRY for taking the time to release the successor to the AQUA series.

1080p 120Hz AMOLED, big storage, and more for less!

What impressed us out of the box was the design and build materials of the S11 Pro. The materials used and the refined assembly can compete with significantly more expensive mid-range phones.

It carries features like a 3.5mm audio jack, fingerprint scanner, mono speaker, 4G LTE, WIFI, and dual SIM support.

First images from the 64MP rear camera can carry their weight against higher-priced phones. However, we noticed that the Selfie images could get better.

It even has a large 5,000mAh battery but only comes with 33W USB-C fast charging. 

We are excited to take the new S11 Pro around with us to truly test it out.

Stay tuned.

What do you guys think?