Chinese manufacturers have embraced the selfie formula and have ran with it, and that’s perhaps a good thing as Indian consumers are really appreciating all the attention the selfie shooters are getting off late. To further strengthen its position in the raging selfie wars, Gionee will be taking the proverbial bull by its horns with the upcoming selfie phone A1 that’s all set to launch in India on March 21. Let’s explore Gionee A1 and what it’s all about.
Gionee A1 Specifications
| Model | Gionee A1 |
| Display | 5.5-Inch, full HD, AMOLED |
| Processor | MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Internal Storage | 64GB, expandable up to 128GB |
| Software | Android Nougat 7.0 with Amigo 4.0 UI |
| Primary Camera | 13MP rear camera |
| Secondary Camera | 16MP selfie camera |
| Dimensions | 154.5 x 76.5 x 8.5mm |
| Battery | 4010mAh with fast charger |
| Others | 4G VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3.5mm, IR blaster |
| Price | Rs. 19,999 (expected) |
The Gionee A1 doesn’t contradict prevailing design trends in a big way and meanders around what we have now become accustomed to. At the same time, this is different from what we have seen from Gionee in the past.
Gionee has taken ongoing success mantra of using metal clad design in combination with 2.5D glass aesthetics up front. Right below the display, you will find the home button-cum-fingerprint sensor flanked between capacitive buttons.On the flip side, the symmetrical camera module and Gionee branding are what stand out. You also get a good quality case enclosed within the box. The company is offering it in gold, black or silver hues as of now.
Overall, There are no issues with build quality and the Gionee A1 is quite comfortable to wield through the day in spite of the beefy battery adding a few grams and an extra millimeter to the waistline, but the lack of ingenious design could work against it at this point in time.
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The 5.5-inch 1080P IPS display renders vivid and crisp colors and makes for a pleasant viewing experience. Whites are tinted with blue, but that’s what most people are accustomed to by now. The level of brightness is decent and colors pop out quite evenly. The sunlight legibility doesn’t seem to be a cause of concern as well.
The real highlight of the phone is its camera, especially the selfie shooter. The phone comes with a 16-megapixel front facing camera with a dedicated flash to capture better selfies even in adverse conditions, theoretically. Going by the specifications, Gionee isn’t skimping on rear camera hardware either. You get a 13MP camera at the back with PDAF and dual tone flash. For now, we will reserve our verdict on the cameras until we are done with our full review.
Once again, Gionee has banked upon the 2.0 GHz MediaTek Helio P10 chipset and mated it with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard expandable storage. The chipset isn’t in vogue anymore but should be adequate enough for most. With 4010mAh battery onboard we do expect at least one full day (or more) of uninterrupted usage.
Software-wise, it comes running on Android 7.0 Nougat based Amigo 4.0 OS with Google Assistant. One thing that we instantly noticed on about the phone is a number of pre-installed apps but thankfully Gionee allows users to remove them if s/he wishes so. The fingerprint sensor is embedded in the home button and it is one of the fastest scanners that we have come across.
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The selfie-centric Gionee A1 makes specifications on paper looks promising and managed to cast an overall positive first impression with good optics configuration. Since Gionee will be targeting offline market with this offering we are expecting the price to be on the higher side. It remains to be seen at what price Gionee introduces A1 in India market and whether or not the price would do it justice. Stay tuned for our review.
