We review the Cherry Mobile Alpha Play!
A few weeks ago Cherry Mobile officially unveiled their Alpha series, which included both Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 devices. Of the two Windows 8.1 devices, the Alpha Play caught our eye because of its price – at just Php 7,999, it’s probably the most affordable Windows 8.1 tablet out there. This device is ideal for people unwilling or unable to go with Android tablets and require a full fledged Windows 8.1 device for their needs.
Cherry Mobile Alpha Play
- 1.33GHz quad-core Intel Z3735D quad-core processor
- Intel HD graphics
- 8-inch HD IPS full touchscreen
- 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 64GB
- 5-megapixel BSI rear camera
- 2-megapixel front camera
- WiFi, Bluetooth
- 3500mAh battery
- Windows 8.1 OS
- Php 7,999
A design that’s easy on the eyes
While the Cherry Mobile Alpha Play’s overall design won’t be turning heads any time soon, that doesn’t mean it’s an ugly tablet. The bezels of the device sport an off-white finish, which contrasts nicely with the white plastic strip that surround the device. The back is made out of metal, likely aluminum. with the 5-megapixel camera located on the right side of the device (when oriented sideways) along with the speaker grills.
The right side of the device (when oriented sideways) hold all the relevant ports, including the 3.5mm jack, USB port, power socket and microSD card slot. As far as physical controls go, you’ll find the volume rocker, power key and a hardware Windows key on top of the device when it’s oriented sideways.
The display is a 8-inch HD IPS touchscreen. It has decent viewing angles and good color reproduction, considering the price tag.
It can install most Windows programs, running them is another matter
Since the Cherry Mobile Alpha Play is a full-fledged Windows tablet, it can theoretically be able to install any app or program that’s based on the x86 instruction set. This is useful for people that need specialized programs that Android tablets can’t run. For us personally, that means our handy-dandy Fastone Image Resizer that resizes and puts watermarks on the images that we take of products and events. For others it could be a custom made app that’s made for their school or business that only runs on a Windows environment. Since the Alpha Play has a mini HDMI port, you can connect it to either projectors or monitors as long as you have the right HDMI cable and if your output device has an HDMI port. If you’re a small business that have a couple of people that work on the office and go out on the field, you can pair the Alpha Play with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse along with a monitor at your office, and when your people have to go out, they can unplug the monitor and take their workstation with them.
Inevitably, people will ask if the Alpha Play can play games, and our answer is yes, but there’s a caveat. Only lightweight games can run on the Alpha Play – simple indie games, DoTA and even CS: GO has been installed by other people in the Alpha Play. Obviously this isn’t an ideal setup – space in the Alpha Play is at a premium, and there’s only a scant few GB left for users to enjoy, especially since Windows 8.1 takes up quite a bit of space. Sure, you can install it on the microSD card attached to the card slot, but unless you’re using a high speed card, the access times will be less than ideal, which will affect the quality of your game. Sadly, the Alpha Play is a device made for productivity, and the specs reflect that.
Microsoft is also throwing in a year’s subscription of Microsoft Office 365 for free, which is great news for students and mobile workers.
Okay camera
The Alpha Play comes with a 5-megapixel BSI camera and a 2-megapixel front camera. We’ve never been advocates of using cameras on tablets to take photos, but you’ll be happy to know that the one in the Alpha Play is decent enough to use when the one in your main phone craps out for some reason.
Disappointing battery life
Probably the biggest weakness of the Alpha Play is its disappointing battery life. On our standard loop test where an full HD video is played over and over again until the battery runs out, the Alpha Play only managed to stay on for around 4 hours and 13 minutes. For a tablet, that less than stellar battery life means that you’ll have to stay near a power socket if you want to get a lot of things done. Aggravating that lackluster battery life is the fact that you can’t charge the Alpha Play via a powerbank, since it uses an A/C adapter and doesn’t charge through a USB port.
Verdict: a low-cost Windows tablet for mobile workers and students
So is the Cherry Mobile Alpha Play worth the money? Absolutely, especially if you’re a student looking for an affordable Windows device. It’s not the most powerful Windows tablet out there, but then again it’s not pretending to be. While you can theoretically run games on it, it’s not designed to be a gaming machine. It’s primary function is a low-cost, Windows tablet for productivity, a role which the Alpha Play excels at. If you can overlook the less than stellar battery, the Alpha Play is a good buy for people on a tight budget.
