After today’s announcement of the Gionee Elife S7 we were able to get a hands-on at Gionee’s booth at Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. Looking at the device itself we can see a super slick and sleek phone that’s about as thin as you could possibly imagine. At 5.5mm thin this thing is among the thinnest smartphones in the world, besting the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 by over 1.3mm. The metal frame paired with the Gorilla Glass front and back look super similar to a Sony Xperia Z series phone and exude build quality above most phones out there. While the black color is a bit of a fingerprint magnet thanks to the glass back and the reflective material, it’s certainly a beauty to behold.
Gionee’s Amigo 3.0 skin sits atop Google’s latest mobile OS, Android 5.0 Lollipop, and looks as minimal as it ever has. Most icons are flat and round, following industry trends that have been at work for some time. The battery icon is again very reminisce of what Sony uses on their Xperia Z series, which is a good thing given how minimal Sony’s skin generally is. Android 5.0 is a beautiful creation and it’s usually best to keep it as stock as possible, so it’s refreshing to see Gionee stick with that philosophy. Overall it’s a pleasantly light UI that shows a unique side but doesn’t ruin the beauty that Google has created with Lollipop.
Gionee had a mysterious Life S7 app on the home screen that launches a very colorful screen with links to apps under the Design, Photograph, PicShow, Hardware and Gionee OS categories. Again this shows the flat and colorful nature of the OS over some others out there. Lastly we look at the camera on the back which once again looks similar to an Xperia Z series phone, and holds a 13-megapixel sensor inside of the small circular lens. A single LED flash adorns the shiny back of the phone along with a microphone right next to the flash for superior audio recording during video. Overall Gionee’s latest is an impressive device that’s just begging for a longer review.
