Gionee has been known to make very classic mid-range and high-range devices. Some of their mobile phones like the M5 and M5 plus are famed for their outstanding battery performance.
However, the Gionee M6 is a game-changer for the China-based company. Since its release in September 2016, the M6 has stood out as a premium choice for Android users. At first glance, the M6 allures you with its polished metallic unibody design. The device features flagship level specs and tops it up with an amazing 5000mAH battery to make sure you get to enjoy your phone without being close to a wall socket always.
Body
Metal Unibody design. 180g weight
Sim
Dual SIM (Micro-SIM dual stand-by)
Display
5.5-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen.1080 x 1920 pixels, 16:9 ratio
OS/Software
Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with Amigo 3.5 UI
Front Camera
8-megapixel, f/2.2, 1/4″ sensor size
Rear Camera
13-megapixel, f/2.0, phase detection, autofocus, LED flash
Check out the specs of the Gionee M6 below.
Design and Hardware:
The Gionee M6 has a metal unibody design, with nice finishes on the side and the back. The front of the phone houses the 5.5” 1080p display, home button, capacitive buttons, camera and sensors. The left side of the phone just has the memory card slot, while the right side holds the volume buttons, power button and SIM slot. Top of the phone has the 3.5mm audio jack and infrared sensor, and the charging port and speaker grills lie below the phone.
Image credit: Latro studio
Antenna lines run across the back with Gionee logo, which everyone thought would be the fingerprint sensor. The camera, LED flash and the name ‘GIONEE are also behind the device.
The device feels very premium and solid in the hand. At 180g, it’s a bit heavy and uncomfortable in the pocket but still feels really great to hold.
Display
The M6 has a 5.5” 1080p display. Colours are vivid and pictures look sharp. It might not be an overkill like Samsung QHD displays, but it does a good job, especially for a 5.5” screen. Using a 1080p display also reduces battery consumption from the display, helping the battery last longer.
Visibility under daylight isn’t great, a lot of graphic details are lost once you take your phone outside under bright sunlight. Nonetheless, you can still use your phone efficiently.
Connectivity
The device possesses a dual SIM slot for cellular with 4GLTE available on all slots. You can switch which SIM you want to enable mobile data on in the settings. Other connectivity essentials like WIFI, Bluetooth, radio, infrared (for remote control) are onboard. The phone still uses USB 2.0 which can be pardoned considering it was made last year. The device also allows reverse charging, i.e. you can charge another phone using your M6, when you connect both devices with an OTG cable. All that 5000mAH isn’t for nothing.
Software performanceAndroid 6.0 marshmallow laced over with Gionee’s Amigo UI gives you a cool experience on the M6. The device comes with carefree launcher, but you can replace that with any android launcher from playstore (like Nova launcher which I use). The notification centre isn’t much. You can set priorities for app notifications. Quick toggles are not merged with the notification slider like on other Android devices, instead, you access the quick toggles by swiping from down up. That’s one of my favourite features.
The UI is fast and fluid, features lots of cool customizations, and doesn’t lag. Apps open pretty swiftly and run smoothly. The UI also has colour themes that you can change the chameleon app – which mimics colours that are available in your immediate vicinity through the phone camera.
There’s also a shake gesture that closes all open apps when you open the recent apps list and shake the phone. A pretty intuitive feature could be obstructive too.
Memory/Ram
The Device has 4GB of RAM, which means it can handle a good number of apps running simultaneously in the background. Although Gionee’s software and battery optimising will freeze an app in the background to save power, which means the app may have to refresh again when you open it from the recent apps list instead of resuming from where you left off.
64GB of internal storage caters for your multimedia needs, although the software takes about 10GB out of that for smooth operation. The device still offers microSD expansion.
Camera
Armed with an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 13-megapixel rear camera, the M6 does a fairly good job when it comes to photography. Both cameras perform well under good light and in outdoor shots, but once lighting conditions are poor, images turn out badly. There’s no optical image stabilisation in the camera, so you have to keep your hands steady when taking pictures.
The camera app offers a wide range of options and sceneries. There’s night mode, HDR, professional mode if you don’t want to use the camera auto settings, panorama and so on. There’s also time-lapse which lets you create short videos that replay at fast speeds, and you can make your own GIFs from the camera too.
Battery Life
This is where the M6 wins flawlessly. The huge 5000mAH battery capacity, coupled with battery optimizations in the software ensure that your device is always on and available when you need it. The battery can take you all through the day and still have enough juice for another day when used moderately. Heavy usage will still take you through a full day. Although all that battery makes the device will be a wee bit heavy.
Fast charging is available to fill up the 5000mAH battery tank in time for your use. Enabling fast charging will make the device hot while it’s charging, but this is nothing to be scared of as Gionee acknowledges says it’s safe. It takes roughly 2 hours 30 mins to charge the battery from 0 to 100%, and about 45mins to reach 60% from 0. You shouldn’t let your phone get to 0% before you charge it. For the M6, even if you don’t charge it to 100%, the battery will still last you a pretty long time before your next charge.
What’s missing?
No NFC.
No Wireless charging.
No water/dust resistance.
No OIS in camera. Poor performance.
No Android 7.0 update released since last year.
What’s in the Box?
In the Gionee M6 retail box (which is awkwardly huge) you will find the Gionee M6 phone, screen protectors, Gionee charger with fast charging technology, protective flip cover, earphones (great sound), SIM tray ejector pin, warranty/user manual.
Pricing & Availability
The Gionee M6 is available in most online stores. The price ranges from N92,000 and N100,000.
Also, check your local store for availability.
