Photo: gizbot.com
Kathmandu
Gionee recently introduced their X line of smartphones, which is mainly targeted at the more budget-conscious consumers. Priced at Rs 19,999, the Gionee X1s is the second phone to be launched in this lineup. The phone offers a selfie-oriented camera, powerful internals and a great design. But is it the right phone for you? Should you buy it? Well, let us find out.
Design
The Gionee X1s is a good-looking smartphone with its rounded edges and faux metallic back, though having a plastic build at this price range is cause for dismay. This makes the smartphone susceptible to creaks and crackles, which is not a good thing. I would have loved to see a full-metal unibody design in a mid-tier smartphone in 2017. That said, the X1s is definitely an eye-catcher and will suit most people’s needs.
Display
The X1s sports a 5.2 inch HD IPS display giving it a pixel density of 282 PPI. The display is covered by Gorilla Glass 3 and is edged by a 2.5D glass. The 2.5D glass on this phone looks stunning and gives it that extra oomph in terms of aesthetics and design. Here again I would have much preferred a full HD display instead of what the phone offers. That said, the display itself is very good with fine details and colour reproduction. It also gets pretty bright and has great outdoor visibility. Watching movies and surfing the internet was a pleasant experience on this phone.
Performance
The Gionee X1s had no trouble keeping up with my day-to-day activities. The MediaTek MT6737T processor coupled with a 3GB RAM was able to take whatever I threw at it. Gaming on this phone with the Mali-T720MP2 GPU was also a breeze. Apps loaded quickly and I didn’t notice any visible lags or stutters. All in all, the performance of this phone is admirable especially considering its price.
Software
The X1s runs Android 7.0 Nougat with Gionee’s own custom skin Amigo 4.0 UI overlaid on top of it. The UI is highly customisable with built-in themes, a wallpaper collection and an array of widgets. I personally am not fond of Gionee’s take on Android, especially how they handle notifications. That aside, the UI is very functional and is packed to the gills with tonnes of useful features.
Camera
The Gionee X1s is a selfie-centric smartphone which packs an f/2.0 16MP front-facing camera with an LED flash. The selfies taken on this phone are amazing with high clarity and structure. To make the experience even more seamless the device packs a tonne of beautifying tools and a creative feature set. The low-light capability of the phone is also very good and left me quite impressed.
The phone also has a f/2.2 13MP rear camera which takes some spiffing photos. Its low-light capabilities, however, are not as good as that of the selfie camera. That said, it is still a very capable camera especially considering the price.
Biometrics and more
The phone has an active fingerprint scanner embedded into its back panel. It works very well as I was easily able to unlock the phone in a jiffy. The sensor additionally acts as a shutter button to take those quick selfies. There is also an infrared blaster which helps you control things like your TV, AC and other IR devices.
Connectivity
Connectivity-wise the phone offers a dual-SIM card slot and a memory card slot. The phone’s storage can be upgraded up to 256GB from its 16GB in-built storage. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, 4G and USB 2.0.
Battery
The phone packs a large 4000mAh non-user removable battery. The battery life of this phone is amazing as I was easily able to get six to seven hours of screen-on time. Heavy media consumers will be overjoyed with this feature. Binge watching your favourite TV shows over Dashain will be easy with the large battery. To top it all off, the phone also supports reverse OTG charging, enabling you to share your battery life with a friend in need.
Conclusion
The Gionee X1s is a great smartphone which is heavily focussed on selfie enthusiasts. If you love taking great selfies, then you will most definitely love this phone. That said, the phone falls short in some key areas like the build and display resolution. These however are not deal breakers and the phone will still suit the needs of many people, especially the selfieholics on a budget!
Ratings:
Design: 3.9/5
Display: 4.2/5
Performance: 4.7/5
Software UI: 4.6/5
Camera: 4.8/5
Connectivity: 4.8/5
Others: 4.8/5
Battery: 4.9/5
Overall Score: 4/5
The author is a gadget expert who runs TechnoNepal and phonesinnepal.com. He also makes tech videos on YouTube.
Source: Technology
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