Gionee Elife S7 Hands-on, Initial Impressions

Gionee Elife S7 is the new slim beauty from Gionee, having a thickness of 5.5mm, which is similar to the Elife S5.5 that was launched last year by Gionee and received a lot of attention. Oh, and this isn’t the only slim phone with excellent looks available in the market. There are some worthy competitors – Vivo X5 Max and Oppo R5, and Gionee’s own Elife S5.1, all the three of them having some factor to be praised for. But, will the Elife S7, with a much better spec-sheet and not the slimmest-of-all design, be able to stand tall in contention?

All the slim phones look good, and there is no exception about the Elife S7, which looks classy and bold. Slim phones again, area always regarded as the ones for those who prefer style over everything else. But given the way Gionee has managed to pack in some top-notch specs within the slim chassis, this looks like a device that might impress even the power users, adding the advantage of beautiful looks to it. A 5.2-inch display, and this is the third device that gives the users a choice with a different screen size, with Elife S5.5 having a 5-inch display, and the Elife S5.1 having a 4.7-inch one.

The aircraft grade stainless steel adds to the rigidness of the device, and it is what makes the frame of the Elife S7. There is a groove in the centre of the frame, running all around the device. The reason is more about the buttons not getting accidentally pressed, as they are recessed into the groove. This stunning slim chassis is able to hold two SIM card slots, though there isn’t a MicroSD card slot and that could be the only issue with the device, i.e. limited storage.

The black one actually retains fingerprints on the back, and the white one is a winner in that case. But, the black looks as a better unit overall. What might be interesting more for the users thinking of OS over anything else, is the Android 5.0 Lollipop with Amigo 3.0 OS, which although retains the same design, there are many new features, gestures and enhancements. It, indeed, seems perfectly smooth and quick with transitions and opening apps. The credits for that might be shared by the internal hardware as well, as the Elife S7 is powered by Mediatek MT6752 chipset (64-bit octa-core) along with 2GB of RAM.

One of the big noticeable features of the device, is its 2750 mAh battery. It is quite an achievement for such a slim body, and it looks gorgeous with the numbers, though it is early to say how well it will last. The camera on the front is said to be the same as the one in Gionee’s previous flagship Elife E7, and it does a very decent job of selfies, though we’ll have to take the device for a run on different light conditions before commenting about the 13-megapixel rear camera.

So far so good! This slim beauty from Gionee is a killer. It isn’t for anyone or everyone, and it should target a particular set of buyers, who are more into looks than anything else. But, the makers here have managed to give the Elife S7 enough power to keep the performance at its best, and we’re sure looking at something that can go for a kill against the likes of Oppo R5, Vivo X5 Max and the Galaxy A7 (6.3mm is quite slim, isn’t it?).