Thanks to OLX and Quikr, second-hand gadget shopping is on the rise. As we all know, currently the hottest gadget category is smartphones. Looking at the obnoxiously priced high-end phones, you can't blame anyone for going for a pre-owned smartphone. However, the problem here is that these deals are much like the lotteries. To get more money, sellers tend to fake warranty. These folks support their claims with the help of forged bills. In India, it's very easy to get such bills (you too submit fake medical bills to avoid taxes, remember?). Thankfully, you can validate the phone's warranty status without having to step out of your house. Most of the popular brands have dedicated portals just for this. To track the details, all you require is the phone's IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity) number. It can be found under phone's battery. Alternately, you can dial *#06# to get the IMEI.

Apple
iPhone and iPad users can check their device's warranty status and support coverage on Apple's official website. Here's the exact link:
selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

Nokia
Unlike Apple's website, Nokia's webpage only informs you whether the handset is in the warranty period.
Link: www.nokia.com/in-en/support/warranty-check

Lenovo
Chinese manufacturer Lenovo lets you check warranty and support on its official portal. We wish, the company does away with that annoying captcha though.
Link: mobilesupport.lenovo.com/us/en/warrantylookup

Gionee
Apart from offering the warranty status, Gionee's website also lets you apply for review devices (if you're a blogger, give it a shot).
Link: gionee.co.in/warranty-tracker

Samsung
Unlike the portals we've covered so far, Samsung's 'Cyber Service Centre' requires you create an account to access the warranty information.
Link: cybersvc2.samsungcsportal.com/cyberservice/csc/account/login01.jsp?

Micromax
At the time of publishing this article, Micromax's support page is returning 404 (Not Found) error message. We're not sure if the service is temporarily down or the company is dropping hints about its after-sales service.
Link: www.micromaxinfo.com/support.php

Tags : Mobile Phones, Apple, Nokia, Samsung, gionee

No matter how crowded the Indian smartphone market has become, Chinese brand Gionee is determined to cement its place here. The compnay's Elife E6 was a worthy flagship. To fill in its shoes, the company has rolled out the Elife E7. The new handset packs in some serious hardware. For starters you get the same powerful chipset as that found in the LG Nexus 5. There's 5.5-inch Full HD IPS screen and 16 megapixel camera. This definitely looks good on paper, but should you be buying it over the Nexus 5 and Lumia 925?



Design And Build
If the E6 was inspired by iPhone, the E7’s back is reminiscent of the Lumia 1520. Especially the camera protrusion looks very similar. Of course, the E7 is relatively smaller, and feels less premium compared to Nokia's offering. The glossy finish makes it hard to grip.



The front of the device is covered by the scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 3. For navigation, you get three capacitive keys — Home, Back, and Menu. Gionee has done a good job at keeping the phone's footprint in check by reducing the size of its bezels. That said, with a 5.5-inch screen, the single-handed operation is out of question.

Like most high-end phones, the E7 features a unibody design. The battery is non-user replaceable. The phone lacks microSD card slot and there's a pop-open tray for a micro-SIM.

Screen
The 5.5-inch Full HD display is impressively sharp. 1080x1920 pixels in 5.5-inches make for the pixel density of 400 ppi! For an IPS screen, the colour reproduction is very good. The display also offers wide-viewing angles. The response to touch was spot on too. All in all, the screen is as good if not better than that of the Nexus 5.



Specifications
The Elife E7 is fuelled a Snapdragon 800 chipset clocked at 2.2 GHz. It's complemented by 2 GB RAM. In the 16 GB version (which we have received for the review), only around 8 GB storage is user accessible. That's one major downer considering the phone lacks microSD card slot. The 32 GB variant comes with a 2.5 GHz processor and 3 GB RAM. The phone packs in 2500 mAh battery.

User Interface
The phone runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2. The user interface has been heavily modified by Gionee. It looks a lot like the iOS 7. There's no dedicated menu, so all your apps show up on the homescreens. To reduce the clutter, you can group the apps in folders.



Amigo UI does make use of various gestures. You have to swipe up to unlock the phone. Swiping down from the edge of the screen reveals a notification bar, while performing the same gesture from the icons area will result into a screen lock. That's quite confusing for first few days, but nothing you can't get accustomed to. Gionee has done away with widgets, which is good move since it brings some uniformity to homescreens.

Performance
The biggest problem with this phone is that it stutters when navigating between the screens. Well, what's the point in having a quad-core processor when it can't assure smooth user experience?
Moving onto gaming, the E7 does an impressive job. With a 2.2 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and Adreno 330 GPU inside, you can't expect otherwise. So as fat as the gaming is concerned, the E7 is as good as Nexus 5. To gauge its performance we ran the popular benchmarks on the Elife E7, and here are the results:
AnTuTu — 34,700
Quadrant — 20,857



The phone’s music output is decent. It’s not what you expect from a 28k handset though. Moving onto video playback, the phone can handle popular file formats up to 1080p.

The phone’s Wi-Fi and network reception was great. In-call voice was loud and clear too. The only niggle here is that the SIM tray mechanism is erratic.

Camera
The Elife E7 boasts of a 16 megapixel rear camera and 8 MP front-snapper. That's the highest megapixel count you get in Android at this price tag. The images contain plenty of details in daylight. They look sharp on the phone’s screen, but on PC, you can see all the noise that’s there. Moreover, in low-light conditions, the camera tends to introduce purple tint in photographs. Click here to view view the image sample.

The E7 can record Full HD (1080p) videos at 30fps. The camera is good at locking focus. The videos offer smooth playback and good amount of detail. In all, the E7’s camera is better than that of the Nexus 5, but not really a threat to the GALAXY S4 and Lumia 925 in the photography department.

Battery
The phone comes with 2500 mAh battery. With normal usage, the juice lasts easily over a day and half. Looking at the phone’s screen size and processor, the battery performance is quite good.

Verdict
The Elife E7 sports an impressive Full HD display. Its multimedia performance is good too. However, it falters at basic task of providing smooth user experience. The 16 megapixel camera is good, but doesn’t live up to the hoopla surrounding it. The biggest problem with the handset is its Rs 28,000 price tag. For this much money, you can get the Nexus 5, GALAXY S5, and Lumia 925. At least for now, Gionee doesn’t stand a chance against biggies such as Samsung, LG, and Nokia.

Features: 4/5
Design And Build Quality: 3.5/5
Performance: 3/5
Value For Money: 2.5/5
Mojo: 2.5/5

Overall Rating: 3/5
 

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

Gionee's Elife E7 has landed in our office. Priced at Rs 28,000, this handset competes with the LG Nexus 5, Samsung GALAXY S4, and Nokia Lumia 925. The Chinese brand has packed its flagship handset with some serious hardware. For starters you get a beautiful 5.5-inch Full HD IPS screen. The pixel density is whopping 400 ppi. In the 16 GB version (which we have received for the review), only around 8 GB is user accessible. That’s disappointing considering the phone lacks microSD card slot. The phone comes with 2500 mAh battery, which isn’t user replaceable.

For scratch resistance, the front of the device is covered by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3. For navigation, you get three capacitive keys — Home, Back, and Menu. With a 5.5-inch screen, single-handed operation is out of question. The handset sports a glossy finish on its back, which makes it hard to grip. The camera lens placement and protrusion is very similar to what we’ve seen on the Lumia 1520.



The handset has thin bezels.



The Elife E7's back looks similar to that of the Lumia 1520.



The Full HD display is impressively sharp.



The IPS screen offers wide-viewing angles.



The handset comes with a free flip-cover.

The Elife E7 boasts of a 16 megapixel rear camera and 8 megapixel front snapper. That's the highest megapixel count you get in Android at this price tag. The phone ships with Android Jelly Bean 4.2 OS. The company hasn’t shed any light on its Kitkat update schedule. Like every Gionee handset, this one comes with the colourful Amigo UI. The Elife E7 is powered by the Snapdragon 800 chipset clocked at 2.2 GHz. It’s the same processor found in the LG Nexus 5. To gauge its performance we ran the popular benchmarks on the Elife E7, and here are the results:

AnTuTu — 34,700
Quadrant — 20,857.

The numbers look promising. To find out whether it’s worth the Rs 28,000 price tag, keep an eye out for the review.

Tags : Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

Announced at the MWC 2014, Gionee has finally brought its premium handset Elife S5.5 to India. Touted as the world’s slimmest handset, the S5.5 is only 5.5 mm thick. The Chinese manufacturer claims that the phone is built using magnesium alloy frame. Good to see such companies bring fresh aesthetics to the table, when biggies such as Samsung are still stuck with done-to-death design and materials.

The Elife S5.5 packs in a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED Full HD display with a protective and scratch-proof layer of Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz "true" octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor . We wish Gionee should have opted for Snapdragon chipset, as Qualcomm processors offer better stability compared to their MediaTek counterparts. Gionee has done a great job at squeezing in a 2300 mAh battery in the slim S5.5. The phone has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage. However, there's no microSD card slot.

In the photography department, this Anorexic phone comes with a 13 megapixel camera. The 95-degree wide-angle lens is reportedly made by the Japanese electronic giant Sony. The camera offers Full HD (1080) video recording. The phone comes with a 5 megapixel front-facing camera, which should be more than enough for selfies.

The Elife S5.5 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, with Gionee's signature Amigo UI on top of it. For more details on the Amigo UI, check out our Elife E6 review.

The Gionee Elife S5.5 is priced at Rs 23,000. It's expected to hit the stores in a couple of weeks.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

After unveiling what’s touted to be the world’s slimmest handset at the MWC, Gionee finally announced that its premium offering would reach Indian shores by the end of March.
Invites have been sent out asking us to set the date for the 30th of March as Gionee gets all geared up for the launch of the super-slim Elife S5.5 in India. The handset sports an anorexic 5.5 mm waistline and somehow manages to maintain it all over the body, which is again built over a magnesium alloy frame.

Slim does not mean that this handset is a slouch. The Elife S5.5 packs in a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED Full HD display with a protective and scratch-proof layer of Corning’s finest Gorilla Glass 3. Inside is a 1.7 GHz true octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor coupled with a large serving of 2 GB RAM which should make it quite a contender for most flagship devices in the benchmarks game.

Gionee’s custom skin called the Amigo UI 2.0 runs atop Android Jelly Bean version 4.2. Also included is a 13 MP sensor from Sony with a 95 degree wide-angle lens on the back and 2300 mAh battery to power it all.

Such specs will surely make even the iPhone go on a diet (dimension-wise that is). However, what remains to be seen is how the phone performs in hand, as the E6 certainly failed to impress us last year.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

After the M2 and the Gpad G4, Gionee has announced the Elife S5.5. Touted as the world’s slimmest smartphone at 5.5 mm, the phone also flaunts some impressive hardware.

The phone runs the android-based customised Amigo OS, which reminds us of Xiaomi’s MIUI. The phone is powered by a 1.7 GHz quad-core processor. 2 GB of RAM ensures that applications open swiftly, while 13 megapixel camera unit on the back delivers quality imaging. Packed into the thin waistline is a large 5 inch screen that draws power from a 2,300 mAh battery.

The Gionee Elife S5.5 will be arriving in June on LTE in China and the company expects a global release in 40 countries soon.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

For those who may have not heard of Gionee, it's a Chinese smartphone maker that started off building quality devices for the masses. The brand has already making its presence felt in the market dominated by  domestic brands such as Micromax, Karbonn, and Lava. With the launch of the Gionee M2 and the GPad G4, the company is planning to heat-up the competition in mid-range segment.

The GPad G4 is a 7.95 mm slim device powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor allowing it not only deliver when it comes to opening processor intensive apps, but also consuming very little power while accomplishing the same. It sports a large 5.7 inch HD (1280 x 720 pixel) screen which is based on the OGS technology and an attractive aluminium unibody design, which also packs in the Digital Theatre System (DTS) audio capabilities of the device. Inside, along with the quad-core processor comes 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of built-in memory which is somehow lacking a micro SD Card slot.

The Gionee M2 packs a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory which can be expanded to 32 GB via a micro SD card slot.  Designed to be a media device, the M2 features an 8 MP auto-focus primary camera and 2 MP front-facing camera. Also included is a large 4200 mAh battery which can deliver up to 24 hrs of talk time on 3G.

The GPad G4 comes in Graphite Black and Silver with a 3200 mAh battery and is priced Rs 19,000. The road-warrior M2 comes in Black and White and is competitively priced at Rs 11,000. Both devices feature Dual SIM and dual standby.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

Review: Gionee Elife E3
Street Price: Rs 14,300

Considering the success of Indian brands that sell Chinese rebrands in India, many Sino OEMs have now started to directly enter our market. For instance Huawei and ZTE are well known in the Indian market. And now we have new a kid on the block, Gionee (which apparently sounds like a Sindhi brand). Their recently reviewed Elife E6 was promising. Is their new budget handset E3 just as good?

Design And Hardware
Unlike most budget Android phones, the Elife E3 comes in colours. You get to choose from Pink and Blue, apart from the usual White and Black. While I appreciate Gionee for offering colour options, I didn't like the shades they've gone with.

Although it's made of plastic, the phone has a slight rubberised feel to it which helps with the grip. The phone is quite compact, so the single-handed usage is possible. Another thing worth mentioning is that the phone is quite thin at 8 mm. The phone has few rough corners, and the seams are uneven at some places. So the precision built is not there yet.

The phone sports a 4.7" HD IPS screen. With 1280×720 pixels, the display is one of the sharpest screens at this price point. The colour reproduction is impressive. I also found the brightness levels and viewing angles to be great. In all, the display is one of the high-points of this phone.

The Elife E3 is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6589, and PowerVR Series5XT GPU. Then there's an 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 MP front-facing snapper, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, and 1800 mAH battery. It's equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 3G connectivity. All the connectivity features work well. More importantly, the call quality is good. One unique thing about this dual-SIM phone is that it features one micro-SIM and one mini SIM slot.

Software And Performance
The phone comes with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and for further updates Gionee has OTA in place. If I have to describe the interface in one word, that would be ‘garish’. Guys at Gionee have used every colour in this world for icons and other in UI elements. It’s so colourful and gaudy that it can make Samsung’s TouchWiz look sober in comparison.

The lock screen features a camera shortcut, which is a good thing.  The phone comes loaded with a few useful apps such as Kingsoft Office Suite, WhatsApp, WeChat, and UC Browser. However, the phone doesn’t feel smooth during the usage. The transition effects are jittery, and there’s a noticeable delay in opening video files too.

Coming to the subject of gaming, titles such as Temple Run 2 and Angry Birds: Star Wars covered, Dead Trigger are covered. The phone clocks in 13,420 in AnTuTu. Its Quadrant score is 3948. These numbers are standard for MT6589 chipset.

Multimedia And Camera
The phone’s music sound quality is good. There are plenty of audio settings to play around with including virtual DTS effect. Gionee has also given decent quality earphones. Speaking of video playback, the phone can handle most 1080p files. However, for MKV files, you’ll have to grab MX Player.

The onboard 8 megapixel camera offers multiple options to take a snap. For instance, you can click a picture using Gesture shot, Touch Shot, and Smile Shot mode. There are manual controls for EV and white balance. Then, there are a bunch of useless Instagram-like filters and crappy photo-frame effects. Compared to most Android phones in this price bracket, the camera does a good job in well-lit conditions. Low-light pictures are a strict no-go. The phone can record 720p videos at 30 fps. The quality is decent, but the dated 3GP encoder is a downer. Seriously, who uses 3GP in 2014?

Battery
The phone comes with 1800 mAh battery. With normal usage, the phone hardly lasted for a day. So if you end up buying this phone, you’ll have to grab a charger before signing off for the day.

Verdict
Available for Rs 14,300, the Gionee Elife E3 flaunts an impressive screen. It's compact and thin. The sound quality and camera are good. Conversely, the interface is sluggish and I bet many will find it too gaudy for their liking (except a certain blingy gaudy-liking crowd). So if a great display is your priority, go for the Elife E3. On the contrary, those hunting for all-round smartphone should consider the Nokia Lumia 720.

Features: 4/5
Design And Build Quality: 3/5
Performance: 3.0/5
Value For Money: 3/5
Mojo: 2.5/5

Overall Rating: 3/5

Specifications:

• 1.2 GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6589.
• 1 GB RAM, 16 GB storage, microSD card slot.
• 4.7" IPS HD Display
• 8 megapixel camera, 2 MP front-facing snapper.
• Dual-SIM support, 3G, WiFi.
• Android 4.2.1.
• 1800 MAh Battery.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

The relatively-new entrant, Gionee is really upping the smartphone ante. Not only was their recent flagship E6 launched with high-end hardware, the E7 takes this even further.

Gionee’s latest and greatest Elife E7 comes with a faster 2.2 GHz snapdragon processor, more RAM at 3 GB (my office PC has 2 GB), a bigger screen at 5.5 inch (1080x1920 pixels), tougher Gorilla Glass 3, and a better camera at 16 MP (so they claim).

What’s so special about this one?
Gionee seems to have learnt from the best (Nokia Lumia 1020) and has improved their camera app significantly, to include both a “professional” and “Normal” Photo interface, this means you have a lot more control on the photo than before. How this really performs, remains to be seen compared with the Nokia Lumia 1020 that we loved using. However, considering that the E6’s (F2.2 aperture) camera is quite good, we are expecting E7 to better it.

Small Screens Forever!
Every man loves three BIGs in his life, BIG cars, BIG money, BIG wom**, err we won’t go there. But there is a limit to the ridiculous sizes that phones are coming with, apparently it is what consumers want and therefore manufacturers provide it. In any case, Gionee is smart enough to launch their E7 mini, which is a humanly comfortable to hold at 4.7 inch screen size, 1.7 GHz octa-core processor (MediaTek MT6592 chipset), 1 GB of RAM. It features a 13 megapixel swivelling camera, 16 GB of inbuilt storage, dual-SIM support and the usual set of connectivity options. Interesting indeed.

Pic courtsey fonearena.com

Pic courtsey fonearena.com

The flagship E7 is expected to cost Rs 27,000 (16 GB) and Rs 30,000 (32 GB) with availability only from January 2014. While the E7 Mini hasn’t been officially announced here, but is expected to cost around Rs 20,000.

Related Reads:
Review: Gionee Elife E6 — A Promising New Kid On The Block

TAGS: gionee, Mobile Phones, Android

Gionee Elife E6
Street Price: Rs 21,000

Who should buy it?
- If you want a smartphone with a brilliant screen
- If you want a spec-heavy phone that’s elegant and affordable too
- Those looking for a phone with GALAXY S4-like features at almost half the price
- Those willing to put their trust in a product than a brand

Who shouldn’t?
- Those who like/want a pure Android UI
- Those who are brand conscious
- If you are looking for a phone with long battery life

For the past couple of years, the Indian smartphone market has seen an attack of clones. Far too many manufacturers have invaded this space, most claiming to be Indians, but in reality, these are more Chinese than the Chinese food we get here. So when a colleague introduced me to Gionee Elife E6, my first reaction was – not one more, please! But when I had my first glimpse of this handset, it got me curious enough to ask, who’s Gionee.

Now, the good part is that Gionee doesn’t pretend to be Indian, though it does sound a tad Sindhi. They are supposedly the third largest manufacturer of mobile phones in China. And they have decided to get their flagship offering, the Elife E6, to India in the upper mid-range segment that still has some breathing space, unlike the entry-level flea market. So let’s jump straight into the action and see if this handset stands a chance to make a name for itself here.

Design and Build
The moment you hold this phone in your hand for the first time, you won’t be blamed for thinking that it belongs to the Sony Xperia series, especially its resemblance to the Xperia Z. This was vindicated by the multiple “Which Sony Xperia is this?” queries that I had to endure during the course of the testing. Some of the design elements have also been borrowed from the iPhone 5, especially the speaker grille at the bottom. But despite the multiple inspirations, I must say that this phone looks fairly elegant with its all glass front and the black matte back. It looks much better than what we have seen from our domestic manufacturers.

Also, its build and the materials used in its construction are top notch. Not a creak was heard even when I gripped it hard. In fact, I would go to the extent of saying that its overall build quality is way better than that of not just the domestic manufacturers, or its compatriots like ZTE, but also some tier 1 manufacturers like Samsung. It should easily be able to survive a few falls, as long as you don’t drop it on the screen. Incidentally, my review unit seemed to have suffered a fall before it reached my desk, as there was a tiniest of dents just below the screen, if one looked closely. Despite its solid build, the phone is fairly light and just 7.9 mm thin.

The only real complaint I had regarding its construction is that it’s a smudge magnet, and not just on the screen. Yes, you may not find the situation as bad as that of phones with glossy bodies, but despite its matte finish, the smudges are fairly visible. You will see finger prints all over the screen and it needs to be cleaned from time to time.

The back panel is non-removable and hence, the battery is not user-replaceable. The Power/Lock button is placed at the top but worry not, you don’t need to stretch your finger all the way there to turn the screen on. The volume down key placed along the right edge can also be used to switch on the display.

Display
The Gionee Elife E6 has a 5-inch Full-HD IPS screen with pixel dimensions of 1080x1920. It has an OGS display, which reduces the space between the screen and the protective glass. This is one of best screens I have come across in smartphones. Though it’s not an AMOLED screen, the colours are absolutely vibrant and the picture quality is brilliant. The sunlight legibility is just above average though. The screen is very responsive and I have nothing to complain about in that department. However, since the side bezels are quite thin, expect a lot of accidental key-presses/touch inputs. It resists scratches thanks to a layer of Gorilla Glass 3 on top. So you need not put a scratch guard and dilute the image quality, though the company has bundled a couple of them in the package.

Hardware
The phone has a Mediatek quad-core processor at its heart, with each core clocked at 1.5 GHz. Graphics and gaming are handled by the PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU, which is more than decent for casual gaming, but expect no miracles in high-end games. There’s 2 GB of RAM to take care of multitasking. The handset doesn’t have a microSD card slot but does come with 32 GB of storage space, of which about 25 GB is user accessible. That should suffice for most of the users but a provision to expand it further would have been nicer.

On the connectivity front, the phone covers almost all the bases. There’s 3G, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, Micro USB, and the works. Detailed specifications can be found here.

Software and User Interface
The phone runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2.1 out of the box with heavy customisation on top. Now this is a part that you would love or hate. Gionee has tried too hard to make the user interface look a lot like iOS7. So much so, that even the Apple’s application removal interface and animation can be found here. Yes, that one where you touch any icon on the screen for a few seconds till all of them get shaky with a small ‘X’ on top. Yes, that! While the best of iOS and Android sounds super-cool at first, in reality it is not. If you are habituated to the standard Android interface, things tend to get irritating after a while when you can’t find certain elements in their usual spots.

The UI makes extensive use of swipe gestures, starting with Swipe Up to unlock the screen and Swipe Down to lock it. The trouble with the second gesture is that you often end up locking the screen when trying to pull down the notification bar. These are still minor niggles that you can get over. There are two major issues though. Firstly, all this visual jazz makes the interface sluggish despite the quad-core processor and 2 GB RAM. And secondly, there are a lot of pre-installed apps that you just cannot uninstall. An unnecessary wastage of memory, storage space, and screen space too.

I so wish Gionee would have given an option to have a stock Android interface. With its hardware, the phone would have been a lot smoother.

Camera
The Gionee Elife E6 comes equipped with a 13 megapixel rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash. The company claims that there are 5 layers of blue glasses in there. Well, let’s not bother too much about what they do and focus on how the camera performs. If I have to sum up its performance in a word, I would say it’s temperamental. The image quality varies between sharp and grainy, depending upon the lighting conditions and distance of the subject from the camera. Generally, one would assume that the quality would deteriorate in low light, but that’s not the case here. The camera actually performs quite well in low light conditions as compared to other phones in its price range. It does pretty well in well-lit environments too, provided the subject is not too close or too far from it.

Low-light sample shot.

But all this goes for a toss if you have shaky hands. The image stabilisation here is below par. I know it’s a phone after all and not a camera, but there’s certain degree of motion compensation that one has come to expect in phones that flaunt a 13 MP sensor and a 20K+ price tag. However, if you can keep your hands steady, the captured shots are really impressive with a great degree of detail and accurate colours. Click on the image samples for the untouched shots.

There’s a touch-to-focus option but the camera just cannot capture enough details in objects that are placed more than 10 feet away, even in well-lit conditions. To sum it up, if you have steady hands, and if you stick to clicking object that are located between 1 to 10 feet from you, the camera on this phone is very impressive. However, if those conditions are not met, the camera is average at best.

OK, What exactly do I focus on?

A special mention for its 5 MP front snapper. Figures like 5 MP for the front camera are often marketing mumbo-jumbo and meant to be taken with a pinch of salt. But the one on this phone is as good a front snapper as I have seen on any Android device thus far. It is a fixed focus camera and touch-to-focus doesn’t work here, but in bright natural lighting, it captures a great amount of detail. In indoor lighting, it doesn’t do too badly either. For those who love selfies, this camera can shoot some real good ones (provided the subject is presentable).

Performance
The overall performance of the phone is satisfactory barring a few UI-related hiccups. As I mentioned earlier, Gionee’s UI layer makes the experience a bit laboured, especially when navigating between screens. But apps open pretty fast and aren’t as laggy. The gaming experience is pretty decent too as long as you stick to the casual games such as Angry Birds: Star Wars/Go or Temple Run 2. Games such as Dead Trigger are also playable with the odd frame skipping. But anything more graphics intensive struggles on this device. Real Racing 3 wasn’t zippy enough to be enjoyable. The phone also tends to get warm from time to time, but never reaches alarming levels. For number junkies, check the benchmark scores below.

Talking about its multimedia performance, the video playback is smooth even for HD content. Full HD videos do stutter a bit occasionally but not as much as SRK to be a deal breaker. Anyway, why would you really want to play Full HD content on a 5-inch screen, except for those captured by its camera? When it comes to music, it’s a mixed bag. Though the bundled earphones are in-ear type, the quality is nothing great. The biggest drawback here is the volume level, which isn’t loud enough even at peak volume. This issue can be fixed by using third party earphones. I tried using my Cowon EM1 with this phone and the sound quality was way better than what the bundled set could manage. It was noticeably louder too. However the loudness is just about right only at peak volume when you are outdoor. Another weird part about this device is that the sound fades out when an email arrives and it takes about 10 to 15 seconds to return to the original loudness level. That’s a bit too much respect for an email alert, don’t you think?

This phone supports gesture controls, and believe it or not, they actually work. I have come across several phones this year that boast of this feature, starting with the Samsung GALAXY S4, but it’s always been a ‘hit and miss’ case. In case of the Gionee Elife E6, you can browse through image gallery with a hand gesture, or pause a video when you look away from the screen. Yes, they work here, and better than the way they do/don’t on the GALAXY S4. The only catch is, you need to hold the phone at least a foot away from you for gestures to function properly.

Basic functionality such as calling leaves no scope for complaints. The call quality is excellent. It is loud and clear. No issues there. However, the loudspeaker on this device is quite weak, and you are bound to miss a few calls if the phone is not in the same room as you.

Battery Life
The phone packs in a non-user-replaceable 2000 mAh battery that keeps the phone running for about 30 hours of standard usage, sans heavy gaming. That is if you spend better part of the day connected to a Wi-Fi network and about 4 to 5 hours on EDGE or 3G. For that much data usage on your GSM network, the battery life stays close to 30 hours irrespective of whether you use 3G or a slower data connection. With Wi-Fi off, the phone stays up for about 16 to 18 hours on a 3G network. The battery life can be termed as average. But given that it has a Full HD screen, which needs quite a bit of juice for all those extra pixels, these numbers are acceptable, though not impressive.

Verdict
The Gionee Elife E6 is available for Rs 21,000. At that price, it takes on some of the established players in the upper mid-range segment such as the Google Nexus 4. While the price may seem a bit too ambitious for a lesser known brand in India, it is just about fine for what it offers. A price tag tad under 20K would have been more apt both economically and psychologically.

Should you buy it? It is not a bad option at all if you are willing to trust a new brand. I do not know much about its aftersales service yet but as far as this device goes, it is certainly better than what any of our domestic brands offer in this price bracket or for that matter, the watered-down hardware that some renowned brands throw at you in this budget. The screen is its standout feature by far and is comparable to what some phones twice its cost offer. Other than that, the phone looks stylish and elegant enough to be carried around, if you are afraid of being judged on the basis of the phone you use.

All and all, a pretty decent offering and a good introduction to the brand, Gionee. If you are willing to look beyond the cons that I have mentioned, it is a good handset. Most of the shortcomings aren’t too serious, and if Gionee is listening, these can be fixed with a software update. If brand name matters to you, or if Full HD screen and UI modifications seem nothing more than a gimmick, the Google Nexus 4 would be the perfect alternative for you in this price bracket.

Features: 4/5
Design And Build Quality: 3.5/5
Performance: 3.5/5
Value For Money: 4/5
Mojo: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

Gionee is all set to launch its next flagship handset, the Elife E7 in India on Christmas Eve. The phone had been launched in China a couple of weeks ago.

The Elife E7 seems to be one of the most powerful smartphones with 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor. It runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.2 OS. The phone has a 5.5" full-HD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It boasts of a 16 megapixel rear camera and 8 megapixel front camera. This smartphone will be available in 16 GB and 32 GB versions. The 16 GB variant will have 2 GB RAM and the 32 GB model will have 3 GB RAM.

Both variants will get the Adreno 330 GPU. It also packs in a non-removable 2500 mAh battery. Connectivity options include LTE/3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and NFC. Elife E7 weighs 150 grams only.

Pricing in China is $443 for the 16 GB version and $574 for the 32 GB option. In India, we expect the pricing to start at Rs 25,000. Anything higher and it will end up too close to the Nexus 5 for it's own good. We quite liked Gionee's Elife E6 handset, and will look forward to reviewing the E7 shortly.

Specifications:

• 5.5" FHD display.
• 4G/3G compliant.
• NFC, A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC.
• 16 MP rear camera and 8MP front-facing camera.
• 16 GB and 32 GB internal storage.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

Gionee has announced its latest P3 smartphone in India. The handset sports a 4.3" capacitive touchscreen with 16M colours. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and runs Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean). It has a 5 megapixel rear camera with autofocus and LED flash, along with a VGA front camera. Additional camera features include gesture recognition, face detection, smile detection, geo-tagging, eraser functioning, panoramic view, and touch-to-focus. The dual-SIM, dual standby smartphone is supported by 1700 mAh battery.

P3 supports face unlocking and guest mode for extra security. The phone comes with an inbuilt video player that supports multiple formats in full screen. You can control volume and brightness by vertical movement of finger on screen. It packs in 4 GB internal storage, 512 MB RAM, and microSD card support for up to 32 GB. Pioneer P3 also supports OTA (Over the Air) software upgrades.

Gionee P3 will be available in Black and White colours, with a price tag of Rs 7500.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, Multi-SIM, gionee

Thanks to the the spec-heavy handsets from domestic players such as Micromax, XOLO, and Karbonn, Indian smartphone buyers are spoilt for choice in the budget segment. To compete with these Sino-Indian companies, the International brands too have started rolling out featured-packed phones that don't cost a bomb. In this article, we're going to look at five sub-15k smartphones that are truly worth your money.

XOLO Play T1000
Price: Rs 14,000
XOLO is known for well-built devices, and the Play T1000 is no exception. The phone flaunts a vibrant 4.7" screen with pixel dimensions of 720x1280. The phone’s NVIDIA Tegra based quad-core processor is clocked at 1.5 GHz, and is coupled with a 12-Core ULP GeForce GPU. This makes the XOLO T1000 one of the few sub-20k smartphones to render the graphics-heavy games such as Real Racing 3 and Dead Trigger in full glory. Other key features include an 8 megapixel rear camera, 1 GB RAM, 4 GB internal storage, microSD card slot, and 2000 mAh battery. The only downer here, is that the phone is still stuck on Android 4.1.1. Read it's in-depth review here.

Nokia Lumia 720
Price: Rs 14,500
The Lumia 720 is one of the best looking handsets you can get without crossing the 15k mark. The handset features a 4.3" WVGA IPS screen with ClearBlack tech, which is known to offer deeper blacks. The 720 packs in a 1 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with Adreno 305 graphics, which offer a fluid Windows Phone 8 experience. The 6.7 megapixel autofocus camera offers incredible low-light photography. Other hardware features include 8 GB internal storage, microSD card slot, Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, NFC, and 2000 mAh battery. To further sweeten the deal, the Finns have thrown in Nokia Music (free music download for a year) and Nokia Drive (maps). Check it's review here.

LG Optimus L9
Street Price: Rs 15,000
LG may have ditched the Optimus series, but the Optimus L9 is still one of the best Android phones under under 15k. It sports 4.7" IPS screen with 960x540 pixels. It features a 1 GHz dual core processor (Cortex A9), coupled with PowerVR SGX540 GPU. There's 1 GB of RAM to aid the device's multitasking capabilities. The 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash is capable of recording HD videos. Other features include Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS. 3.5 mm jack, 4 GB of internal memory, microSD card slot, and 2150 mAh battery. The Optimus L9 was released with ICS, but the Jelly Bean update is out and runs quite well on this phone. Though it doesn't feature a fancy quad-core processor, this phone is still a very smooth operator.

Gionee Elife E3
Price: 13,800
The Chinese manufacturer Gionee has been churning out quite a few good phones for a while, and the E3 is no exception. The phone sports a 4.7" IPS screen with 1280×720 pixels. It's powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex A7 processor, and PowerVR Series5XT GPU. Then there's an 8 megapixel rear camera, 2 MP front-facing snapper, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, and 1800 mAH battery. It's equipped with the dual-SIM support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 3G connectivity. The phone comes with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and for further updates Gionee has OTA in place. Much like Nokia's Lumia series of phones, the E3 comes in Blue, Red, Black, and White.



Samsung GALAXY Grand Quattro
Price: Rs 14,800
If XOLO or Gionee doesn't cut it for you, here's one Android handset from the world's biggest smartphone-maker, Samsung. The Grand Quattro features a 4.7" TFT LCD screen with 480x800 pixels (don't they love that low resolution screen?). It's the cheapest quad-core phone from Samsung's stable. But it has a Snapdragon 200 chip with dated A5 cores and Adreno 203 GPU, so don't get your hopes too high. Moving along, there's a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with an LED flash. Other specs include 1 GB RAM, 8 GB of internal storage, microSD slot, and 2000 mAh battery. The phone runs Android Jelly Bean out of the box. There's nothing new in the design department. But on the bright side, it looks much like the S4, so it does have some flaunt value doesn't it?

We included this one specially for the brand conscious buyers. Though it gets most of the job done, don't expect miracles from it just because it's a Samsung. However, it's a much better buy than the bigger Grand from the same company.

Tags : Mobile Phones, Android, Windows Phone, Nokia, Samsung, LG, gionee, xolo

After unveiling the E6 on Indian shores a few months ago, Gionee is back with its latest new flagship Smartphone ELIFE E7. But this time around, the handset has been launched in China. It runs on an Android-based operating system with the AMIGO 2.0 UI, and is powered by a QUALCOMM snapdragon S800 chipset, on a 2.2 GHz quad-core processor. It packs in a 16 MP rear camera and 8 MP front camera (crisper selfies, anyone?), and boasts of "Largan M8 lens solution".

It features sports a 5.5" FHD (JDI) Display with 1080x1920 pixels at 401 ppi, protected by third-generation Gorilla Glass, which is twice as durable as the second generation of Gorilla Glass. The first version of the AMIGO voice assistant will support the Chinese language. The ELIFE E7 comes in both 3G and 4G variants. ELIFE E7 3G has a quad-core processor and it’s the world’s first smartphone to be equipped with the Qualcomm 8974AC version 2.5 GHz quad-core processor. E7 3G comes in two versions — WCDMA and TD-WCDMA. The GIONEE ELIFE E7 is likely to be available in India by early 2014. Gionee will also be launching E7 mini with a Mediatek octa-core chipset soon.

Specifications:

• Single SIM.
• 5.5" LTPS Ultra Bright display.
• 2.2 GHz quad- core Processor.
• 16.0 MP AF+8.0 MP AF camera.
• Android OS, V4.2.
• Internal storage: 16 GB / 32 GB
• RAM: 2 GB / 3 GB
• Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, FM Radio, G-sensor.
• Non-removable 2500 mAh Battery.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

After the grand launch of its flagship smartphone Elife E6 in India, Gionee has now unveiled the GPad G3 smartphone. The GPad-G3 is 9.8 mm thick and is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor. It comes with a 5.5" display and runs Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) out of the box.

Gionee Gpad G3 sports a 5 MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash. It boasts of additional features such as skin tone enhancer, gesture shot, smile detection, and HD video recording. This is accompanied by a 0.3 MP front-facing camera. The dual-SIM, dual Standby handset is powered by a powerful 2250 mAh battery.

While things look impressive at first glance, a deeper inspection reveals that this handset has just 512 MB of RAM, which means the phone will struggle with multitasking. Also, its huge 5.5" display has a fairly low resolution of 854 x 480 pixels which will result in not so sharp picture quality. A display that size should ideally have a resolution of at least 1280 x 720 pixels.

Gionee GPad-G3 will be available in Black and White colours, with a price tag of Rs 9,500. This handset will face stiff competition from the likes of the Karbonn Titanium S5 and Micromax A110Q, which sell for a few hundred rupees more, but have 1 GB of RAM and 8 MP cameras.

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, Multi-SIM, gionee

After launching the fancy Elife E6, Gionee has revealed its budget handset GPad G3 in India. What's so special about this device? Well, it's probably the only sub-10k 5.5" phone available in the Indian market. Fans of large screen handsets might want to hold their horses though, as the device has pixel dimensions of 854×480, which is very low for a 5.5-incher. However, if you have drooled over the Samsung GALAXY Grand, and secretly aspired to own one, you won't be complaining.

The G3 is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6589 chip clocked at 1.2 GHz. The camera is backed by a 5 megapixel sensor. Moreover, you get a VGA front-facing camera, 1 GB RAM, 4 GB internal storage, microSD card slot, and 2250 mAh battery. And of course, the G3 packs in two SIM slots to please Indians. In terms of software, it comes loaded with Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean).

The Gionee GPad G3 is available in white and black, and comes with a 1 year manufacturer's warranty. It's the best bet for those who aspire to buy a Note II like device for 1/3rd its price. However, do keep in mind that you'll have to put up with a pixelated screen. If that doesn't bother you, then go ahead get yourself one for Rs 9700.

Specifications:

• 5.5" TFT LCD screen with 854×480.
• MediaTek MT6589 chipset, 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU.
• 5 megapixel camera, VGA front-facing camera.
• 1 GB RAM, 4 GB internal storage, MicroSD card slot.
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS.
• Dual-SIM (GSM), Supports 3G.
• 2250 mAh battery.
• Android 4.2.1 (Jelly Bean).

TAGS: Mobile Phones, Android, gionee

Gionee's flaghship — the anorexic Elife E6 gets a new life here in India with its first official launch today in New Delhi.

This made in China, by China, and for Ch...err Asia phone arrives at a affordable price of Rs 23,000. Many online retailers have already been selling this for around Rs 22,000.

The "Slim-Jim from Chin" has loaded specs under the hood. It has a 5" Full HD display with a super slim 6.18 mm unibody design. It has a 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 processor (Mediatek chipset) with 2 GB of RAM with 32 GB internal memory. The battery is a 2020 mAh while weighing only 128 grams.

The camera is no slouch either, it is 13 MP Auto focus rear camera, which includes a second generation BSI sensor, along with an LED flash. The front camera sports 5 megapixels with a 28 mm wide lens. Both cameras support can record 1080p videos.

Elife E6 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with company's custom Amigo UI layer. For those who believe Rs 23,000 is a little too much, check out a similarly-specced phone, the Xolo Q1000S, which is equally slim and costs just Rs 15,000.

TAGS: gionee, Mobile Phones, Android