If you recall the history of Gionee, it is amongst the first list of Chinese smartphone brands to enter the Indian market. But with the emergence of brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, Gionee has lost its place in the market. Especially, Oppo and Vivo didn't allow Gionee to settle down with their aggressive marketing and even captured its place in the top five smartphone brands list.
Gionee has tried different things in the market since losing the momentum; it introduced Gionee S range of smartphone for selfie lovers; endorsed big starts such as Alia Bhatt, Virat Kohli, but nothing went accordingly. Then entered the Gionee A series, which focussed on both design and selfie department.
Now, the company went back to its roots where it began. Gionee recently launched the Gionee M7 Power, which offers a big battery and this time around on design as well. The M7 Power is also the company's first smartphone to sport an 18:9 display, much like several budget smartphones releasing these days.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjfqut3lIso]But for the offering specifications, the price of the smartphone seems to be on the higher side. The Gionee M7 Power is priced at Rs 16,999, that's almost the price of the Honor 9i and more than the Xiaomi Mi A1. Does the Gionee M7 Power has enough the survive the threat from the competition? Here are my first impressions of the device.
Design and Display
The Gionee M7 Power is a good looking smartphone, thanks to the 18:9 display on the front. However, the bezels of the M7 Power are not minimal as the ones seen on the Honor 9i. The chin of the smartphone has the Gionee logo printed on it. The smartphone feels bit heavy in hands because of the massive 5000mAh battery inside.
The back of the phone has a textured finish to it, which makes the device feel good in hands. Nevertheless, the device is extremely slippery when taken into hands. The overall in-hand feel is decent, and it feels compact too.
The fingerprint scanner is present at the back of the phone, which is quick in unlocking the device. But at times, it fails to recognise your finger.
As I said, the USP of the M7 Power is the tall 6-inch display on the front. The resolution is limited to 720 x 1440 pixels, but at first glance, I thought it to be a Full HD+ panel. The display is punchy with excellent viewing angles, and you can easily read the text under bright sunlight. The display has a 2.5D curved glass on top and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
Hardware and Software
The M7 Power is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 SoC, clubbed with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. I have been using the smartphone for over 36 hours now, and so far, the performance is good. The Amigo UI 5.0 has tweaked accordingly, and it looks more polished in the M7 Power than it was on the Gionee A1 Plus. It's based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat.
The M7 Power is an overpriced product, but Gionee has made a habit of overpricing their products in recent times. It is also the second costliest Snapdragon 435 SoC smartphone in India, next to the LG Q6+.
Camera
The Gionee M7 Power rocks a single camera on the front and back. Sadly, there are no dual cameras. A 13MP primary camera is present at the back with f/2.0 aperture, autofocus, and LED flash, along with an 8MP selfie camera with f/2.2 aperture. Here are the some of the samples shot with the M7 Power in my quick time with the phone.
Battery
The M7 Power caters to the company's Marathon range of the smartphones, and undoubtedly, it comes with a massive battery on board. The M7 Power has a beefy 5000mAh battery, which as per Gionee will deliver 625 hours of standby time on the 3G network and up to 56 hours of talk time on 3G.
I received the device with 62% battery, and as of this writing, the phone has 35% juice left. However, I have been using the device with Wi-Fi connection and not on mobile connectivity.
Conclusion
The Gionee M7 Power, without any doubt, is an overpriced product. However, the phone looks to be solid in terms of real-life usage. There's no fact denying that the M7 Power's 720p display is one the best one on any mid-range smartphone. Nevertheless, the M7 Power faces stiff competition from Honor 9i, Moto G5S Plus, and Xiaomi Mi A1. All the smartphones mentioned above pack a much better chipset and cameras. But they lack a solid battery and display.
We will be bringing out the full review of the Gionee M7 Power in coming days. So, stay tuned for that.
