The passing of the Galaxy Note7 left a void in the mobile ecosystem and now, lots of device makers are trying really hard to take advantage of the situation by offering alternatives.
But none have been as straightforward as relatively obscure Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Elephone. The company is currently offering a phone for pre-order, called the Elephone S7 that looks like a combination between the dearly departed Galaxy Note7 and Galaxy S7 edge.
The device has obviously been built to be a premium phone. It features a metal frame and has glass on both sides. And the front glass panel is curved pretty much in the vein of the current Galaxy flagship.
Elephone reminds of us Samsung yet again, by advertising the S7 as “explosion-proof”. The company claims that the battery powering the phone has been extensively tested, so customers don’t have to fear for their safety.
Apparently three layers of safety are employed to protect against possible explosions including an explosion-proof membrane and an explosion-proof TPU shell. Honestly it sounds like all this fancy tech has just been made up for marketing purposes. There are tons of non-explosive phones on the market right now and none of them boast such ridiculous “anti-explosion” features.
Anyway moving along, the Elephone S7 might look like a premium Galaxy phone, but its spec sheet isn’t really on par. There are two version of the S7, one coming with a 5-inch display and another with a larger 5.5-inch one. Both displays features only 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution.
As it’s the case with many budget-minded Chinese smartphones, the Elephone S7 takes advantage of a MediaTek chip. In this case we’re dealing with a top of the line chipset, the Helio X20 – a deca-core CPU with ARM Mali T880 GPU.
The silicone piece works in concert with 2GB of RAM/3GB of RAM plus 16GB/32GB of internal storage. For those who want more, Elephone offers a version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
On the imaging front, the S7 takes advantage of a 13MP main camera with 5MP selfie shooter. The phone also has a microSD card slot, dual-SIM, NFC chip, Android 6.0 Marshmallow (don’t expect Android 7.0 Nougat anytime soon) and a 3,000 mAh battery.
As for pricing, the 2GB/16GB version is available in gold and only costs $139.99. So if you want to get a phone with the Galaxy S7/Note7 vibe, the entry-level Elephone S7 is all you need.
The 3GB/32GB variant in gold costs $169, but there are a few other color versions available: midnight blue ($189.99), black ($199.99) and green ($209.99). Last but not least the 4GB/64GB version will be sold in gold ($199), blue ($299), black ($239.99) or green ($249.99). Oddly enough S7 prices vary depending on color for no apparent good reason.
At least visually, the Elephone S7 seems like a very good deal, but what else could you be getting if you had $250 or so laying around? Here’s three alternatives:
- 5-inch display with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution
- Octa-core MediaTek Helio X10
- 4GB of RAM
- 32GB of internal storage
- 16MP/5MP camera combo
- Fingerprint sensor
- 16MP camera
- Price starts at $261
- 5-inch display with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution
- Snapdragon 801
- 3GB of RAM
- 16GB of internal storage
- 13MP/8MP camera combo
- Price starts at $239
- 5-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution
- Snapdragon 616
- 3GB of RAM
- 16GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD to 256GB)
- 13MP/8MP camera combo
- Price starts at $250
Incredible device. Elephone is becoming a great brand
Died the elephone s7 work on the sprint network
I prefer choose Bluboo Edge.It have a better appearence.
looks like we share the same opinion.
If you are looking for a phone for the elder, choose vkworld, they have some featured phone, up to 28% off at Christmas sale, and price as low as $25.