$99 Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt gets performance boost with firmware update

The Cherry Mobile Fusion Bolt caught our attention for being an affordable Jelly Bean device. After all, for just $99, you get a 7-inch tablet running a quad-core Cortex A9-based processor clocked at 1 GHz with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. Sure, that’s nothing to phone home about for hardcore Android fans, but for the price it’s a good buy — good enough that Cherry Mobile stores reportedly had very long lines during launch day.

Read also: Cherry Mobile unveils Fusion Bolt tablet: quad-core power and Jelly Bean for just $99

But what’s quite disappointing for the Fusion Bolt is the performance, as some have noted lags and delays, especially when playing games. Even the benchmark results were a bit disappointing. However, tweakers might have their excitement rekindled, as the Fusion Bolt can actually get a stellar performance improvement with a firmware upgrade.

YugaTech was able to flash an updated firmware from the Ainol Novo Venus Lite, which was the OEM device the Fusion Bolt was based on. The result: an increase in Antutu score from 5,985 to 11,053, and an increase in Quadrant score from 2,722 to 2,802. And it’s not just about benchmark scores. The tablet is “now noticeably smoother and faster,” notes contributor Louie Diangson. Early reviewers of the Fusion Bolt say their firmwares were pre-release and some retail versions might already come with an updated firmware.

Yet another reason to get excited about this inexpensive tablet?