Gionee E8 Review: One step forward, one step back

At the fag end of 2013 Gionee stunned some of the then big brands with what they called "the best Android shooter". The successor to the 16MP Gionee Elife E7 has taken almost two years to arrive and Gionee believes it is the smartphone camera to beat. The E8 takes over the baton as the Chinese brand’s flagship and is the first mobile shooter (24MP) with ‘Lossless Zoom’. It’s also the first Gionee device with a Rs 30,000 plus price tag. Is this the best Android shooter out there?

If ‘larger than life’ devices are not your scene look elsewhere. The E8 is for deep pockets (we’re not just talking price here) and large hands. It’s almost half an inch taller than Samsung’s Note 5 and, at 210g, about 40g heavier. If you can make your peace with the ‘king size’ form factor you will notice the device is quite well built. The removable back (the battery is sealed though) might be plastic but has a refined finish. The design is elegant and minimal – clean lines, with the volume rocker and tactile power button located on the right spine. There’s also a camera ‘hot key’ located on the lower end of the right spine. We really like the dedicated camera button and wish more serious mobile shooters would keep this in the mix. 

A fingerprint reader is located just below the camera and dual LED flash on the rear. We were mighty impressed with the speed and accuracy of this unassuming fingerprint reader; it’s easily one of the best we’ve seen on any mobile device. The generous 6-inch display is the other big plus – 2560x1440 at 490 ppi, clearly enough beef for all that HD Content. And when you throw in the E8’s powerful speaker, it makes for quite the entertainment package. 

At the heart of the E8 is a 2GHz Mediatek octa-core processor (Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10) that teams up with 3GB of RAM. It’s clearly enough for all the steam the device works up. Multi-tasking is a breeze and the device’s performance on our benchmark tests was quite solid – 45595 on AnTuTu and 4903 on PCMark (work performance score). The E8 features 64GB of onboard memory with support for Micro SD cards up to 128GB. Alongside the Micro SD slot under the back panel are two Micro SIM slots that support 4G SIMs. 

The 24MP shooter is the E8’s headline feature and it delivers on multiple fronts. First it’s the lossless Zoom. Any pro will tell you that using the zoom feature on your mobile shooter is akin to zooming in on an image in your gallery. Not with the E8; the device features lossless zoom (up to 3X). We put this to the test and the results were impressive. The E8’s puts up quite a show in lowlight scenarios too. We won’t go as far as calling this the best Android shooter, given how quite a few flagships have upped their camera game, but it’s certainly one of the best mobile cams out there and is lightning quick. The 8MP selfie cam has enough going for it too. 

One of the Gionee E7’s biggest strengths was its stellar battery life (2500 mAh). On paper the E8 has a more formidable 3500 mAh battery but we were disappointed by the results. We were almost out of juice after 10 hours of somewhat heavy usage – a mix of 4G and Wi-Fi, WhatsApp, about 20 minutes of camera usage, 20 minutes of low-intensity gaming and a half hour of videos. You could still get through a full day at work with moderate usage.
Gionee’s custom UI – Amigo (the E8 runs Amigo 3.1) often draws sharp love or hate reactions. We are not big fans of this heavily layered OS that adds clutter to the Android (5.1 on this device) experience. Gionee gets most things right in an effort to create a competitively priced flagship, compared to pricier devices in the 45,000 plus price band. The display is gorgeous, the camera walks the talk and the hardware spec sheet ticks most boxes. Aside from the average battery the device’s unwieldy size could turn off potential buyers. At Rs 34,999 Gionee is keen to make a statement that it can take on the mighty flagships, a lot will ride on the device’s much hyped camera.