It’s unfortunate that sometimes we have to sit and watch China get phone goodies we wish we would.   I am sorry to say that the recent news from Chinese phone manufacturer, Gionee, won’t help. They’ve just launched two devices, very compelling in their own ways.
Elife E8
The Gionee Elife E8 is meant to be a super competitive flagship beast.  It resides in the phablet territory with its huge 6-inch screen.  The camera also takes the spotlight here, with a whopping 24 megapixels.  Here’s a rundown of the loaded spec list:
- 6-inch QHD display (~490 ppi, AMOLED panel)
- MediaTek MT6795 (octa-core, 2 GHz, PowerVR 6200 GPU)
- 3 GB RAM
- 24 MP rear (OIS, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED) and 8 MP front cameras
- 64 GB of internal storage
- 3500 mAh battery
- Dual-sim and LTE support
- Fingerprint scanner
- Android 5.1 Lollipop
It is said that the camera app launches in just 0.8 seconds and the phase detection allows for autofocusing within 0.08 to 0.2 seconds.  Also, the rear camera can actually produce images of up to 100 MP, offering lossless zoom at 3X.  Pretty darn impressive, huh?
Marathon M5
The Gionee Marathon line takes a different approach, priority being on battery life.  The allure of the M5 is that packs two 3,010mAh batteries, for a total of 6,020mAh.  I know, insane!  It utilizes dual-charging chips to charge both batteries at the same time, fast charging, and is rated to last four days of heavy use on a single charge.
With the huge focus on battery, the rest of the phone wasn’t given much attention.  We’re looking at fairly midrange specs:
- 5.5-inch 720p display (~267 ppi, AMOLED panel)
- MediaTek MT6735 SoC (quad-core, 1.3 GHz)
- 2 GB RAM
- 13 MP rear and 5 MP front cameras
- 16 GB of internal storage with microSD expansion
- Dual-sim and LTE support
- Android 5.1 Lollipop
You might be wondering how two batteries would affect the thickness of the M5? Â It is at a manageable 8.5mm. Â And to further battery life even more, Gionee threw in some software optimization tweaks, such as background app management and smart power consumption.
The Elife E8 is said to be priced at CNY 3,999 ($645 USD), with availability on July 15th.  The Marathon M5 is more affordable at CNY 2,299 ($370 USD) and available sooner, on June 25th.
Did Gionee leave you yearning for these devices make their way overseas?
