Gionee’s latest flagship phone for the PH takes the form of the Elife E6. It has a full HD display, a quad-core CPU, a 13 megapixel camera paired with a 5MP front-facing snapper & a design that stands out from the crowd in a way. Does Gionee have the potential to take the local market by storm? Read on our full review to find out.
Note: To get a quick look at the highlights of the device, the flip cover & the video sample, make sure to play through the video below:
Design and Construction
When you get a hold of the Elife E6, you don’t notice the design immediately; you notice that large & beautiful display – but that isn’t to say that the design is bad. The device hosts a rectangular plastic chassis that feels very solid & premium. I can’t say that much as you really need to hold it in your hands to appreciate it. Anyway, Gionee mastered glossy plastic design language in a snap – something we still can’t say with other phones in the local scene – rebranded or not.
Five inch displays aren’t supposed to feel huge anymore in this era but this does – the capacitive buttons below the screen are hard to navigate, the power button on the top right side is hard to make up with and the whole flip cover just makes everything worse.
Speaking of the flip cover, the phone packs one in the box, and while the Elife E6 doesn’t attract that much dirt, the white flip cover does and it stains big time.
Display
If Troy had the Trojan Horse, the Gionee Elife E6 has its display. At 5-inches with 1080p resolution, the screen outclasses everyone in the race with its amazingly vibrant colors, wide viewing angles & sharp pixel density. It may seem unrealistic already for some people, but trust us when we say that you can’t get anything close even at a higher price.
Credit here probably goes to its LTPS LCD panel, something we don’t see that much in flagship phones.
OS, Apps and UI
Android 4.2.1 Jellybean gives life to the Elife E6, but it’s a sad story. They took the app drawer & the widgets away and they added a mix of inconsistent icon packs, bouncy animations and unnecessary process-intensive glitters. Upon opening the phone, you are brought to the usual lock screen. Once you get through that, your wallpaper blurs with a Gaussian effect – making it feel a lot like iOS 7. The default icons are square & colorful, adding a little taste of Microsoft into it, but since there’s no app drawer, the overall feel is Apple.
The animations are irritating to begin with. Once you scroll to the beginning or the end of one list, it bounces with a long shot that you have to wait for it to stop before you can press anything. The aforementioned blur too takes a lot of processing power, we guess, that it makes the whole experience somewhat laggy; after all, the CPU needs to push a lot of pixels as well. It would have been a lot better if Gionee kept light on the skin.
Multimedia & Camera
Unlike the other phones you can think of – packing 18 megapixel sensors with underwhelming results – the 13 megapixel shooter on the Gionee Elife E6 is amazing. The camera software is really intuitive & features like smile shot work almost without flaw. Photos produced are sharp, vibrant & not much noisy; the same can be said about the 5 megapixel front-facing one, mostly the same but different in resolution. In fact, I brought this phone to school mostly just because of its camera.
Video quality of the phone’s cameras were okay. If you amp it up to 1080p, it drops frames (just like on any MediaTek device I observe), but once you’re in 720p, it’s good. It’s not the best when it comes to color reproduction, low light & audio, but it will have to suffice for most people. Impressive tap to focus is worth noting.
The speakers on the Elife E6 were very deceptive. There are two speaker grilles on the bottom of the phone, but only the right one is working – it’s a mono speaker and the results were just average. It’s not the loudest, but it isn’t weak either. Maybe if there’s something else worth noting, it’s the music app. Just like Gionee’s other built-in apps, they were modified to look better, but they don’t necessarily function better.
Performance & Benchmarks
Even with a quad-core CPU & 2GB RAM, the phone feels very sluggish to use. Our bet is that Gionee’s Amigo UI takes too much processing & needs polishing in addition to the high powered 1080 x 1920 display. The apps were okay though, since the main problem here is the UI, the homescreen & the other stock elements such as the settings app. We tried replacing the homescreen with Nova and it magically turned smooth so we guess that confirms our thoughts.
As for the benchmarks, there aren’t much things to note. The Elife E6 got a score of 15,190 on Antutu, 4,680 on Quadrant & 34.5 on Nenamark 2.
Call Quality & Battery Life
We took calls on the Gionee Elife E6 and it was a very good experience – no dropped calls, loud voices and also clear microphone outputs on the other side of the line, even WiFi connectivity was a breeze.
Running down looped video at 50% brightness & audio volume, from a full battery, the device lasted for 5 hours & 50 minutes before reaching zero – which is in itself a good score considering it has a sleek body & a 1080p display. Other phones just have 720p displays and yet they’re still in the 6 hour mark.
Conclusion
For a price of Php18,999, a lot of people would say that it’s not worth it because for a little more, you can get something significantly better or for a little less, you can get something that almost nears it. Well, I’m here to say that most of you may be right, but some of you may find Gionee’s handset to be a great buy. It features one of the most amazing displays I’ve ever seen period, and the cameras on these thing are bosses (except video). Everything else is at an average & the Achilles’ heel of this thing is possibly the MediaTek CPU or its heavily skinned UI.
Let’s not forget though that this is Gionee’s initial entry into the PH market – and it’s awesome! I will have to end with this: Gionee can take the Philippines by storm. The successor to the E6 is yet to come, and that is expected to come with what is claimed to be one of the best cameras & a Snapdragon 800 CPU. We’re guessing that those things will surely solidify Gionee’s stand in the competition, but for the meantime, the Elife E6 is here & it’s good.
Gionee Elife E6 specs:
5-inch hull HD LTPS + OGS LCD @ 1920×1080, 441ppi
Mediatek MTK6589T Turbo 1.5GHz quad-core
PowerVR SGX 544MP graphics
2GB RAM
32GB internal storage
13.0 megapixel rear AF camera, F2.2 aperture, LED fash
1080p/30fps video recording
5.0 megapixel front-facing ,F2.4 aperture
Single-SIM (microSIM)
GSM/WCDMA
WiFi/GPS/Bluetooth 4.0
FM Radio
non-removable 2,020mAh battery
Amigo OS (Android 4.2.1 Jellybean)
142.5 × 69.4 × 7.9mm (dimensions)
128g (weight)
Black, White colors
What we liked about it:
What we didn’t like about it:
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cris says:
WARNING: SCAM ALERT! BOYCOTT GIONEE!
POOR PRODUCTS & POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
JAN 2015 – Bought a brand new Gionee S5.1 (not cheap!)
FEB 2015 – Gionee S5.1 died and no power and returned it to retailer. Retailer refused to accept phone saying it would take long to fix. Called up Gionee they they will pick it up but they didnt
April 2015 – still no pick up. Gionee sent me bac to retailer and said they will pick it up.
May 2015 – Still no update regarding my phone
June 2015 – after 2 months phone was ok for pick up. Great news: phone was still broken!
After hours of debate and stress they said they would replace it and deliver to my house.
PRESENT: No replacement phone. They will return the REPAIRED PHONE. And they are asking me to pick it up at a mall 2 cities away!!!
BE WARNED STAY AWAY!!!!! THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT CUSTOMERS!!!!! BOYCOTT GIONEE!!!!
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len says:
i open one day my phone and i cant find the camera icon. when i go to gallery and tap the camera there. it says can not connect to camera. what happen? can i bring it back? my phone is gionee elife e6
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RAJSEKHAR KOLEY says:
I already have gionee e6,but oneday I minutely observed that one speaker was working.I thought that was the problem of my phone.But when I sharched in internet,there was many review on different site but I could’t find my answer.Finally in this site I have got my answer,and there is no problem in my phone,that is the feature of my phone…so thanks yugatech..YUGA TECH IS BEST SITE FOR REVIEW OF ANY MOBILE PHONE..THANKS
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robson says:
Hahaha I own this phone and its amazing..Nbli ko ng 16850 same memo xpress…it runs smooth and naman laggy oover all I rate it 8.5/10 haha ..the only thing n d ko trip is the back camera..masyado maraming noise Pero OK nmn kse I used my galaxy note 3 on pictures..he he..over all dbest ang
Gionee..I’m looking forward to buy elife 7 or elite 5.5 ….
hanz says:
To abuzalzal: Ikaw ang TANGA!!! naiinis ako sa katulad mo na walang ibang alam kundi manira!!!bakit sinabi ba sayo na bumili ka ng Gionee huh???atleast ang Gionee kaya nilang gumawa ng sarili nilang smartphone,di tulad ng mga local brand na puro rebranded!!!!!!! You’re so arrogant abuzalzal,watch you’re mouth,nabubulok na hahahahaha
james says:
Balang araw gagamit dn kau ng gionee pustahan at magi2ng singsikat dn kami n samsung at pag ng yari un tatawanan ko kau bt dnyo subokan mag apply sa gionee para maranasan nyo ang insentive na pang pamilya
james says:
Ano mga pinag sasabi nyo alam nyo b ang cp wag kc mag marunong cherry mobile mataas nga specs ang tanong totoo b ung specs gamitan nyo ng cpu-z para malaman
hanz says:
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james says:
Dnaman kau pinipilit bumille sa my mga pera lng yan d katulad nyong pulubi tska d naman kasing rupok ng cherry mobile yan bitch
aizen says:
If someone gives me Php19,000 and tells me to buy a smartphone, I’ll look at my options on LG (Optimus G Pro or Nexus 4), Samsung (S4 Mini/Zoom/Mega), Sony (Xperia Z is actually a great choice here) and HTC (One Mini) first, and then probably consider Lenovo (the P780 and S920 looks solid– and are at Php14k) and Huawei (Ascend P6). Those are already a lot of WELL KNOWN AND RELIABLE BRANDS and HANDSET MODELS that Gionee Elife E6 has to compete with its ridiculous price, and we’re not yet even talking about options on CM, O+, Star Mobile, Nokia Windows Phone, HTC Windows Phone and even the BlackBerry Z10.
It’s not that I can’t afford to buy the phone (heck, with the way you speak, I’m pretty sure na tax ko pa lang eh sweldo mo na at wala pang kaltas ng tax), but a lot of consumers like me tend to be more practical with what we’re paying for with our hard-earned money.
Point remains that the Gionee Elife E6 is in a tough position to compete in the market. I’m not saying it will fail, but they have to do a great job in marketing to sell this phone. They also need to highlight a feature that the other phone models I mentioned doesn’t have.
Cool? Cool.
abuzalzal says:
Hi Gionee sales rep.
Happy new year!
Justin says:
Bob! Anak ng teteng. When will you learn to take your videos in a controlled audio environment? I alredy commented on your other video and I have the same comment on this video. Yes, your voice is clear, but can you PLEASE remeber to shoot in a place na tahimik at walang mga ibon na nag-iingay at asong tumatahol. It degrades your video. Nag-mumukha tuloy syang homework assignment ng isang grade school student. Constructive criticism lamang.
Bob Freking says:
Apologies. I didn’t forget about that. I’m really trying my best to be as professional as possible, but for now I have no such environment with both proper lighting and soundproofing. Once we get the right equipment, we’re surely going to work on YugaTech video.
aizen says:
Php18,999? This is definitely D.O.A.
With that money I can buy a brand new Nexus 4 and still have enough for other cool stuff (like a Superlux headset, Final Fantasy: Lightning Returns (when it arrives the coutry), a cheap tab, or whatever). Sure, it’s a little over a year old, but it still screams topnotch performance. Or just add Php2k++ and you’ll get a Nexus 5.
If Gionee wants to penetrate the market, never EVER go beyond the Php12k price. You gotta respect Cherry Mobile for their strategy– they’re like the Pinoy version of Samsung but for lower tier phones. They just throw spaghetti against the wall and see which sticks. Risky, but it worked for them (Oh and please don’t argue that CM is not making those phones, unlike Samsung. I know that. My point is that like Samsung, they release a lot phone models, that sometimes, it looks absurd).
Perhaps if Gionee still wants to compete on the higher tier category, they should probably stick to vanilla Android, so that they can maximize whatever specs they throw in. Developers and on-a-budget-Android-enthusiasts love vanilla Android. Normal consumers will appreciate a fast and smooth UI.
Just some thoughts.
robson says:
The amigo ui of the gionee is smooth…no lags and it runs smooth on gaming.the display is gorgeus…its worth buy naman.NBli ko same memo xpress ng 16850php…..
prinnydood says:
yeah… they should stick to the vanilla or create their own less hungry ram eater ui
abuzalzal says:
Yup…If you can’t beat them join them.
Kung ipagpipilitan nila ang kanilang ”arrogant pricing”, they might not survive the market for the next two years or so. Wala ng maipa-sweldo sa tauhan eh, alsa-balutan na kasi hindi na rin nakaka-break even at bumalik na kung saan mang lupalop ng China nanggaling ang mga ito.
bliss says:
exactly my sentiments…
abuzalzal says:
At sinong TANGA naman ang bibili nito???????????
Php18,999 ?! Congrats Gionee, you already sent your product to the tech morgue kase D.O.A. na ito….ang ta-tangaaaa ninyo bakit ganito kamahal ‘to
Sulputan na ang mga kaliwa’t – kanan ang mga Mediatek Octa huy!!! mukhang wala kayong kamuwang-muwang sa nangyayari sa paligid, lol
bliss says:
mas tanga yung reviewer na nag recommend nito…
jujuju says:
Grabehan na presyo ngayun a, feeling ko kaya tong ibaba ng 13k, tapus palitan ang UI madami naman stock na aosp, o kahit anung stock rom. Nalimutan ng gionee at o+ na hndi pa phase out ang nexus 4 at optimus G, hahaha toinks*
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Jio Barretto says:
How po ba ito and near of pasay na store malapit? ??
Zobel says:
Oh, great. The Kapalmuks triumvirate is completed (Alcatel, O+ and Gionee.)
RAM lang lamang nito sa CM Cosmos Z. Mangutang ka na lang ng 8k pandagdag para LG G2. Yourself will love you for it.
bliss says:
3k lang pag sa kimstore ka bibili…i wonder how could a reviewer in his right mind recommend this and more so considering that it’s laggy…
joi says:
lol… b0b0! alcatel and gionee are decent manufacturers with good products. yung o+ lang kapalmuks jan
jejefrek says:
Taenang video yan oh! Hahahahahaha! Napaka dork talaga! Hahahahaha
wew says:
@jejefrek taena mo rin!