Chinese smartphone manufacturer Gionee has announced eight new smartphones — all featuring a "FullView" display. Gionee had earlier this month sent out invites for the launch event on November 26 in its hometown Shenzhen.
The company has unveiled over half a dozen smartphones at the event: Gionee S11S, S11, M7 Plus, F6, F205 and Steel 3. The brand also showcased the Gionee M7 and M7 Power, which were originally unveiled in September in China.
Out of the eight smartphones showcased at the event, Gionee S11, which the company says is its flagship device for the overseas market, will be headed to India in the next couple of months, while the M7 Power was launched in India earlier this month.
Gionee S11S and S11:
Gionee S11S was the first device launched at the event. It sports a metal + glass construction, featuring a "shiny" finish at the back with optical nano coating and a special 3D-curve design on the edges, which makes it easier to hold.
The device houses a 6.01-inch AMOLED display with "FullView" 18:9 aspect ratio and FHD+ (2160x1080 pixels) resolution.
Gionee S11S features dual camera setups both on the front and the rear — with a combination of 16MP+8MP sensors at the rear and 20MP+8MP at the front. Both the front and rear cameras come with real-time bokeh effect and an advanced beautifying feature called Face Beauty 4.0.
The front camera lenses also have a wider field of view of 105 degrees.
Further, the phone is capable of creating "3D photos" by stitching together multiple images. The rear-mounted fingerprint scanner can be used to trigger the selfie camera or different apps.
Under the hood, Gionee S11S packs a MediaTek Helio P30 processor coupled with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The S11A is fuelled by a 3,600mAh battery that comes with 18W (9V/2A) fast-charging support. The handset also features NFC support.
Price: Gionee S11S has been launched at CNY 3,299 (approx Rs 32,250).
Gionee S11 shares the same design as the S11S and features dual front and rear cameras, but the specifications are a little scaled down. The S11 houses a 5.99-inch display (vs 6.01 inches on the S11S) and 16MP+8MP setup at the front and a 16MP+5MP setup for the rear. It also has noticeably thicker side bezels.
The device is powered by a Helio P23 SoC along with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Both the S11S and S11 come with the option to expand the storage further via a microSD card (up to 128GB).
The battery too takes a slight hit, and is a 3,410mAh unit instead. Nonetheless, this smartphone will be arriving in India soon, so take a look at the price.
Gionee S11 Price: Gionee S11 has been priced attractively at CNY 1,799 (approx Rs 17,500), and if Gionee launches the phone at this price, it will compete directly with the Honor 9i, which also houses four cameras.
Gionee M7 Plus:
Gionee M7 Plus is the most expensive smartphone launched at the event. Apart from the luxurious look and feel, it comes with a host of advanced security features.
The M7 Plus houses a "dual security encryption chip" that can be used to encrypt contacts, photos, and messages. It also features a live fingerprint ID scanner, which is literally capable of checking for a live fingerprint by analysing such things as blood flow, in addition to pattern matching.
The premium-looking device comes with a calfskin leather cover at the back that's has been treated with a 105-step quality process, according to Gionee. The frame is made out of metal — stainless steel to be exact — with 21K gold coating on top.
In terms of specs, Gionee M7 Plus boasts a massive 6.43-inch FullHD+ (1080x2180) display with an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 86 percent. It is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 660 chipset mated to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
The M7 Plus features a dual camera setup at the rear with a 16MP+8MP combination and a single 8MP camera at the front for selfies.
The handset packs a 5,000mAh battery with 10W wireless charging support, which makes it Gionee's first device to feature wireless charging technology.
Price: The 21K gold-plated Gionee M7 Plus carries a price tag of CNY 4,399 (approx Rs 43,000).
Gionee F6 and F205:
Gionee added two more members to its mid-range F-series line-up, called Gionee F6 and Gionee F205.
Gionee F6 comes with a 5.7-inch HD+ (720x1440) LCD screen, and is powered by a Snapdragon 435 processor along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage. The F6 also sports a dual-camera setup at the rear featuring 13MP+2MP sensor and an 8MP front-facing snapper.
The modest hardware (barring the screen) of Gionee F6 is juiced by a 2,970mAh battery.
Price: Gionee F6 is priced at CNY 1,299 (approx Rs 12,700).
Coming to the most affordable smartphone launched at the event, Gionee F205 is an overall lower mid-range affair.
It packs a smaller 5.45-inch HD+ (720x1440 pixels) display and sports a single 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera.
The device is powered by a MediaTek 6739 chipset along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, which can be expanded via microSD card up to 128GB.
The handset is fuelled by a 2,670mAh battery and runs Gionee's Amigo OS 5.0 based on Android Nougat, just like the rest of the devices.
Price: The F205 has been launched at an affordable price of CNY 999 (approx Rs 9,750).
Gionee Steel 3:
The last new phone announced at the event was Gionee Steel 3. As the name suggests, the Steel 3 sports an all-metal design and packs a 5.5-inch HD+ (720x1440) display.
The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. The memory can be expanded further up to 256GB via microSD card.
On the photography front, the phone boasts of an 8MP sensor on the rear as well as the front. The device also sports a speaker on the back which is backed by AAC11511. It packs a beefy 4,000mAh battery and runs Android Nougat-based Amigo OS 5.0.
Gionee Steel 3 will most probably be marketed as the M7 Mini in most countries.
Price: The Steel 3 aka the M7 Mini is priced at CNY 1,399 (approx Rs 13,650).
Gionee also announced that the Gionee M7, which was originally unveiled in Beijing in September, will now be available in Maple Red and Amber Gold colour options.
