Gionee has launched a bigger phone in its range, and claims that with the increase in size, also comes increase in performance. We spent a few days using one to find out if it holds true for the S7.
The craze for phones with bigger screen sizes seems to be growing by the day, and manufacturers, always looking to increase their sales, are happily catering to this demand. So, Gionee has launched the S7, which sports a 5.2-inch Super AMOLED display. Now, the first signs from the phone are pretty good, only 5.5mm thick, the S7 feels well-built and exudes quality. Featuring materials like glass and magnesium alloy means that the S7 feels quite a premium product, especially for its price. Additionally, even the back panel features Gorilla Glass 3 coating to avoid scratches.
However to get the phone to be as slim as it is, a few compromises have been made by the manufacturer, so as a result, there is no microSD card slot, and since it’s a unibody design, the battery is not user replacable. The display though is very impressive and works very well even in direct sunlight conditions, and at its price point it is one of the very best screens that we’ve seen of late. However, like many other Android phones, the colours on the screen are a bit over saturated. The touch response of the screen is very good, but do remember that with its 5.2-inch screen, it’s not really designed for single hand operation.
Powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core processor with 2GB of ram, the phone has comparable hardware to its competitors. And running on Android 5.0 Lollipop the performance of the S7 is quite commendable. Despite running multiple apps, there was no lag or bugginess and the phone performed quite well. Its 2700mAh battery is also quite good, and with moderate to heavy usage it is possible for the phone to last for two days on a single charge. The limited storage capacity though could be an issue for many users, as the absence of a microSD card slot means that storage is limited at 16GB (out of which 10GB is usable).
Equipped with a 13MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera, the S7 also shines when it comes to photography with both cameras producing good images in most conditions. They do tend suffer a bit low light conditions though, with the images getting a bit grainy, so that could be an issue. Overall though, the image quality is quite satisfactory, although the colours do tend to come out a bit oversaturated at times.
At a price point of Rs. 24,990, the S7 then is a worthy competitor offering a high-quality sleek phone, but its lack of storage expansion does count against it in what is a very competitive segment with multiple choices available.
