Full Review: Gionee ELife E6

Android smartphones are getting cheaper and cheaper everyday. Most of them pack decent specifications but a lot of the compromise happens with the materials of the chassis. Majority of the mid-range to even flagship models of local brands carry plastic bodies. This is where Gionee is trying to improve on with the Gionee ELife E6 smartphone. Launched a few months back, the Gionee ELife E6 is their flagship device for the Philippines. More than the specs what makes it stand out is the design and aesthetics of the phone. However it is considered VERY pricey since it retails for Php18,999 (whoaaa). Is it worth your hard earned cash? We’ll try to answer that question with this review.

Before anything let’s quickly take a refresher on the specifications.

>>> SEE ALSO: Gionee ELife E6 Unboxing and Initial Hands-on

Gionee ELife E6 Spec Sheet

• 1.5GHz quad core Cortex A7 MediaTek MT6589T processor
• 2GB RAM
• 32GB internal memory, no expandable storage
• 5.0-inches Full HD LTPS LCD display (1920 x 1080 resolution) 441 ppi
• 13.0-megapixels rear facing camera with autofocus, back side illumination and LED flash
• Dual Mic Noise Cancelling Technology
• 5.0-megapixels front facing camera
• HSPA+, WiFi, Bluetooth, WiFi Direct, WiFi hotspot
• GPS, A-GPS
• 144 x 69 x 7.7mm
• 2,020 mAh battery
• Android 4.2 Jellybean

Design and Build Quality

The Gionee ELife E6 definitely takes inspiration from the iPhone 5 of Apple. However instead of aluminum it uses some sort of polycarbonate material. The form though is very similar. The device itself is thin, lightweight, and sturdy. The 5.0-inch display is stretched vertically (again just like the iPhone). That said, it’s still one of the most well-built devices we’ve seen coming from a Chinese brand.

What truly shines the most about the Gionee ELife E6 is the display. The 5.0-inch Full HD LTPS screen is absolutely stunning. Colors pop out and the detail of the images are fantastic. Viewing angles are also good and we were also surprised to find out that the screen could hold itself against direct sunlight even at just 70% brightness (usually you’ll have to jack it up to 100% and you’ll still have some problems).

Over-all we’re pretty happy with the hardware and the chassis design/build of the Gionee ELife E6. It’s really like a polycarbonate iPhone 5S with a 5.0-inch display, hehe.

Software and Performance

Based on Antutu benchmarks, the device scored 15,264 which is normal for turbo quad core processors clocked at 1.5GHz. On day to day use the phone was generally zippy. We noticed some minor lags mainly due to the heavily skinned UI on top of Android 4.2 which mimcks the iPhone. The UI does not have an app tray like other Android phones which we think is a love or hate thing. Many iPhone users who are looking for a bigger display may find the UI appealing but we are really not a fan of it. To those who may not like the UI, you can download the Nova launcher free on Google Play store. Minor lags also disappear when we downloaded a launcher.

All the games we downloaded including new titles like Dead Trigger 2 and Plants vs Zombies 2 ran smoothly even at higher levels. The turbo quad-core processor and the 2GB RAM combo is definitely potent and is powerful enough to power a 5.0-inch full HD display. Two

Given the performance with the demanding games, it’s safe to say that the phone can handle everything else you throw at it from the most basic tasks to the more complicated ones.

Camera: Generally Good, Needs to Be a Little Sharper

Another notable feature of this phone is the camera. The 13-megapixel camera takes pictures pretty well even in different lighting situations. It does takes some time though to focus. They also have built-in smart camera features like “Smile” and “V Gesture”. Here are some sample photos for your reference:

Battery: Surprisingly Okay

You may think that the 2,020 mAh battery will not last you a day. We are happy to report that the battery lasted 10 hours of moderate to heavy usage (Wi-Fi on, heavy gaming, intense calls and texts via Viber, watching live TV news feed for hours). On light usage, the phone can last for two days on a single charge. Ah… the benefits of not having LTE, lol.

Verdict: It’s Awesome… But there are Equally Good Phones for Much Less

The Gionee ELife E6 offers great hardware, competitive internals, a great camera, and a fantastic 5.0-inch Full HD display. However a lot of phones way below Php18,999 also offer that. Given the premium price, Gionee should invest heavily in either customer service or a branding campaign. Without both the ELife E6 will have a hard time in the local market. If they added LTE though it would have been a completely different story.