The Elephone M2 is a better and more powerful version when compared with the Elephone M1. The M2 is powered by Octa core processor and loaded with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. It’s dual SIM sporting a 5.5 inch screen – priced at $179.99 (approx ₹11,900).
M2 Unboxing
The M2 is packed inside a black box. Apart from the M2 handset you will also find screen guard, user guide, data cable, SIM tray ejector pin and travel charger (5V ~ 1A).
Design
Like the M1 the Elephone M2 is also using a metal frame. M2 is made of 85% metal body. The handset is available in Silver, grey and golden colour options. I got the Grey coloured handset and it looks awesome.
Weight with built in battery is 163 grams and dimensions are 76.93 x 154.82 x 7.14(mm). power button and volume rocker is on the left side. SIM tray is on the right side. Audio jack + secondary mic on the top and micro USB port along with speaker out vent and primary mic at the bottom.
This is a dual SIM handset Micro SIM Slot + Hybrid slot (Micro SIM or micro SD card). Handset supports 4G however 2300 band is not supported.
There is LED notification and following sensors light, accelerometer and proximity.
Display
M2 sports a 5.5 inch IPS screen with full HD resolution (1920 x 1080p). Colour reproduction is very good and so is the viewing angle and touch response.
Memory, Storage and OS
There is 3GB RAM and a good 32GB of internal storage space. On the first boot you will get around 25GB free space and 2.2GB free RAM. OTG is not supported. There is micro SD card slot, apps are getting installed on the internal storage by default.
M2 is running 64 Bit Android Lollipop 5.1 out of the box.
Performance
M2 is powered by MediaTek MT6753 64 bit octa core processor clocked at 1.3GHz coupled with Mali T720 GPU. Performance is smooth, lag free and handset does heats up with heavy usage but battery temp is well under 45 degrees.
Benchmark
- Quadrant – 21227
- Antutu (32 bit) – 1st time 34015, 2nd time 33945
- Nenamark 2 – 57.2fps
- Internal storage Speed – Read (177 MB/s), Write (110 MB/s)
- Multi Touch – 5 Point.
Gaming
I was able to install the Asphalt 8 however the game did not work because of controller issue, it was looking for a keyboard rather than using the accelerometer or providing other options. I then installed the Real Racing 3 and it played really well. Hardware is powerful and it can play many high end games. Apps / Games are getting installed on the internal storage by default.
Camera
There is a 13MP AF camera on the rear with flash and 5MP camera on the front. Camera quality is average, do check the sample images and videos at the end of this review. Rear camera can shoot FHD videos.
Others
Loud speaker sound is very loud, in-call sound is also very good. Handset supports 4G however the 2300 band that is used in India is not supported. No other issues found – 3G, WiFi and GPS worked well.
There is touch ID based finger print scanner on the front that doubles up as the menu button. Accuracy is good and processing speed is decent. You can directly unlock by placing the finger on the button and wait for few seconds (no need to press the button).
Battery
The Elephone M2 houses a 2600 mAh built in battery that does a good job. You can expect 3 to 5 hours of continuous moderate to heavy usage.
Battery Performance
- Ran Benchmark for 11 minutes battery % dropped by 5 and battery temp was 38 degrees.
- Played Real Racing 3 for 17 minutes battery dropped by 12% and temp was 43 degrees.
- Watched FHD video with full brightness (WiFi on) for 13 minutes battery dropped by 5% and temp was 36 degrees.
- Handset charging (wall charge) 2 hours 49 minutes from 10% to 100%.
Verdict
Another beautiful looking phone the ElephoneM2 is not only powerful but also loaded with good features including finger print scanner. To sum up, performance is smooth, camera quality and battery performance is average.
Another good buy for a price tag of $179.99.
Also check the Official Elephone website.
Image Gallery
Rear Camera Sample
Front Camera sample
Video review