Gionee A1 – An impressive all-rounder – Review
It has been a while since we reviewed a Gionee mobile at Gadgetdetail. It has been a while since Gionee released a review-worthy mobile in the market and now we the Gionee A1. Thanks to the extensive “Selfiesthan” campaign by Gionee, you must be familiar with the A1 mobile by now. Gionee was the pioneer in making slim mobile and also battery mobiles. With the A1, Gionee has combined both these elements and added the season’s favorite seasoning, “Selfie”. So let’s get on to Selfiesthan and see, if there is a worthy “sthan” (place) for the A1, in our Gadgetdetail recommendation list.
Design
The Gionee A1 has a curved metal body with matte finished back. The matte finish and the curved back gives it some grip. It is a 5.5 inch phablet, but it does not feel wide due to the thin bezels. It is slighly bulky owing to its large battery capacity. Redmi Note 4 also has 4000 mAh battery, but it feels thinner and lighter than the A1. At the back is the camera, but below it is a dimple with Gionee logo, which deceptively looks like a fingerprint sensor. But the fingerprint sensor is on the front, below the 5.5 inch 2.D curved display. I like what Gionee has done with the design here, but it is not as stylish as the S series mobiles from Gionee.
Display
Gionee A1 has a 5.5 inch AMOLED display with Full HD resolution. The display is brilliant. Color saturation, white balance and brightness was perfect under all light conditions. The text and images are crisp with rich details and sharpness. It has 401ppi and it is without any doubt, a very crisp and clear display. The viewing angles are also great. Overall, I would say that the A1 has got the best display in this segment.
Hardware and Performance
The MediaTek processor Helio P10 MT6755, is a much better processor when compared to the MT6750 used in most of the mobiles in this price segment. Along with the P10, the A1 has a Mali T860MP2 for graphics. It has 4 GB or RAM and 64 GB of internal storage, which has now become a standard for many mid range mobiles. Memory can be expanded, but only with a hybrid SIM tray. The fingerprint sensor is fast, sensitive and accurate. It supports 4G VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, OTG, FM Radio and 3.5 mm audio jack.
The performance of the Gionee A1 is impressive. It can handle all the resource intensive games and apps thrown at it. I found no lags or heating issue with the mobile. There was no frame drops or stuttering noticed while playing games in high graphics mode. However the graphics rendering quality could have been better. Also the mobile started heating up after 20-30 minutes of continuous gaming, which is normal. The temperature rise was about 4 -5 degree. The 4GB RAM helps in efficient multi-tasking. Gionee A1 does an impressive job in the performance department.
Call quality was good. Network latching was spot on. The loudspeaker is loud and offers good quality sound. As mentioned earlier, the fingerprint sensor is fast and accurate.
Camera
The rear camera on the Gionee A1 is 13 MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture. It had dual flash. The front camera has a 16 M sensor with single LED glash and f/2.0 lens. The front camera is one of the major selling points for the A1. I am personally not a selfie person, so let me talk about the rear camera. You get good quality shots when you have good light. When the light falls, the quality falls as well. It focusses fast and the pictures looks sharp. The rear camera is good for casual shots. The front camera offers impressive selfies with great skin tone and details. The flash does help, but not to great extent. The camera on the Gionee A1 is decent for casual shots and nothing more than that.
Check out the camera samples posted on our Facebook page, below
Software
Gionee A1 runs on Android 7.0 with Amigo 4.0 skin on top of it. I am happy that the A1 runs on Nougat out of the box. Most devices running on Mediatek processors rarely get major updates. The UI is fast and has good user experience. There are a few bloatware in the mobile. The UI also offers a few tricks and a bunch of features which are helpful. The software on the A1 is sensible, smooth and slick.
Battery
Gionee A1 is powered by a 4010 mAh battery. On a regular usage, the mobile lasted for more than a day and still had about 40% of battery left at the end of the second day. On heavy usage, the mobile lasts for a day. It has 18W fast charging support and can charge from 0 to 100% in about less than 2:30 hours. Battery performance on the A1 is impressive.
Verdict
Gionee A1 is a pretty good device Rs 20k can buy for you. It has a great AMOLED display, smooth performance, decent camera and a robust battery performance. It runs on Android Nougat and has good selfie camera. It is slightly bulky and heavy to handle. Redmi Note 4 is one mobile that is a good alternative for the A1. But it does not have AMOLED display and is available only online. In the offline stores, Oppo and Vivo has some pretty strong presence. The newly launched Oppo F3 and Vivo V5s are direct competitors in this segment. But the Gionee A1 is a better mobile than these two. The V5s clicks better selfies, but overall the A1 is a better mobile. If you need a great display with long lasting battery life and a good selfie camera, go for the Gionee A1. It does get on to our recommendation list for being a good choice under Rs 20000.