“The brand has also announced that all its smartphones to be launched next year priced above Rs 10,000 will be LTE compatible”
Chinese smartphone maker, Gionee has showcased a bevy of devices at the PLUGGED IN event in Bengaluru. While two of its offerings fall in the entry-level segment, it’s also entering the LTE smartphone category with two more devices. All the smartphones will be going on sale next month and have Android 4.4 KitKat as their underlying OS.
The Gionee P4S is a budget smartphone with some high-end features such as a windowed flip cover. The window in the cover readily displays weather, date and time to the user. The device also has support for motion control gestures to wake up the phone or put it to sleep. The handset features a 4.5-inch display with FWVGA resolution. The other entry-level offering in the brand’s portfolio is the Gionee P6, which is built around a 5-inch display. The screen bears a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 196ppi. The smartphone sports a semi-transparent design, lending it a unique look.
Both the smartphones share the same internals and come powered by 1.3GHz quad-core processors complemented by a gigabyte of RAM. In terms of memory, they offer 8GB in-built storage that can be further extended up to 32GB via microSD cards. The camera department includes a combination of 5MP and 2MP snappers. The P4S sips power from an 1,800mAh unit, while its sibling draws power from a 1,950mAh battery. Sadly, the company hasn’t divulged any details about the pricing of these handsets.
More exciting devices in Gionee’s new lineup are the V6L LTE and P5L LTE, which as their names indicate, come with support for Indian LTE bands. The devices are priced affordably, making them part of the very few options in the budget segment with support for the next-gen cellular technology.
The Gionee P5L features a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. Its guts include a MediaTek MT6582 quad-core processor, with each core running at 1.3GHz and a gigabyte of RAM. For storage purposes, it offers 8GB of flash memory along with an option to extend by another 128GB via a microSD card. On the camera front, it offers 5MP and 2MP snappers. The phone sips juice from an 1,800mAh battery. The P5L is priced at Rs 10,000, making it the most affordable smartphone with LTE connectivity in India.
Its sibling, the V6L sports a thin profile of 6.9mm and comes with a slightly larger 5-inch display featuring HD resolution. The phone is powered by a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 SoC, which has four Cortex-A7 cores ticking at 1.2GHz. The chipset is mated with 1GB RAM. In the memory department, the device gets 8GB onboard storage with room for expansion, thanks to the availability of a microSD card slot. For photography, it’s equipped with an 8-megapixel camera at the back and a 5MP front-facing shooter. A 2,000mAh battery is tasked with keeping the smartphone up and running. The Gionee V6L carries a price tag of Rs 15,000.
Also at the showcase were the brand’s recent launches – the svelte Gionee Elife S5.1 (first impressions), the long-lasting Gionee Marathon M3, along with the LTE variant of the Elife S5.5 (review | FAQs). Gionee has also announced that all smartphones to be launched next year in its portfolio priced above Rs 10,000 will be LTE compatible.
