In 2009, the Cherry Mobile P1 was surprisingly one of the hottest mobile phones the local mobile phone brand has sold that year.
Most of them couldn’t believe that a simple but cheap call and text phone would sell faster than any hotcakes on the planet. Filipinos bought the P1 for all sorts of reasons. Phone for their parents or grandparents, phone for their yayas, secondary phone or backup phones, I thought I’ve heard them all. Students and call center agents used it as a fashion statement by attaching a lanyard to the phone and wearing them (there’s a reason why, but that’s another story). One friend of mine even went as far as using the P1 as a keychain, and that must be the most expensive keychain I’ve ever seen.
Fast forward to 2013, Cherry Mobile decided to bring back the P1 with additional features even non-Cherry Mobile Android users might consider to buy. The Cherry Mobile P1 2013 can let you use it as a remote control to your smartphone! Yes, you read that right!
How does it work? Simply pair it with an Android smartphone via bluetooth and the P1 can be used to make or receive calls from the paired smartphone. Amazing! While the phones are paired, the phonebook found on the Android smartphone are also shown on the P1’s phonebook under Bluetooth contacts. You can even send and receive SMS with the paired Android phone!
I took a video of the P1 and paired with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The video below will show you that while the P1 was paired to my Note 3, I was able to place a call to my friend’s phone. Note in the picture above that I do not have any SIM card installed on the P1.
That. was. AWESOME!
You know what I’m thinking? If you are taking public transportation or in a public place where you don’t feel comfortable bringing out an expensive smartphone, you can use the P1 in those situations while your main phone is safely kept inside your pants pocket or bag. It’s a perfect decoy!
And if you are going to consider buying the Cherry Mobile P1 2013 edition as a secondary phone, you’ll be very happy to know that it is still priced like the original P1 5 years ago at Php 799.00!
