Gionee Dream D1 is a quad core handset with 4.6 inch super AMOLED plus screen running Jelly Bean OS. This handset is priced at approx Rs. 15,500. The handset is available online and in retail stores in India.
D1 Box pack
The box is small but with a lot surprises inside. Along with the handset you get a screen guard, 16GB microSD card (class 6), two handset cases, power adapter, data cable, earphone, warranty card and user guide. There is no battery inside the box pack, in fact it’s inside the handset – a non removable battery of 2100 mAh capacity. The SAR value : 0.639 W/kg @ 1g (head) and 1.01 W/kg @ 1g (body).
Design and Display
The dual SIM (with dual standby) Gionee D1 handset is 8.6mm thick but the camera and the bottom base are little out (check the video review). There are no touch buttons on the front panel and hence the on screen buttons are activated. The front camera is of 1.3MP resolution. There is G-sensor, light, proximity, Gyro and magnetic sensors.
The screen is 4.65 inches with super AMOLED plus screen and Gorilla Glass 2 protection. The screen resolution is HD (1280×720 pixels) however you get 1184×720 pixels. 96 pixels are used by the on screen navigation buttons.
Memory, storage and OS
The Gionee Dream D1 runs on the Android 4.1 OS. The icons are a bit different and some of you might not be happy with it. There is the theme changer option that will change the icons though. The RAM is 1GB of which about 508MB is available. Of the 4GB internal storage, 1GB is allocated for apps of which 800 MB is available and another 1.74GB as phone storage. You also get a 16GB micro SD card free. You can install apps on external storage.
Performance and Benchmark
A quad core processor @ 1.2GHz MT6589 processor (Cortex A7) with PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU runs the show. There was no lag and performance is very smooth.
Benchmark scores
- Quadrant Benchmark : 3663.
- Anututu Benchmark : 12418.
- Nenamark2 : 39.6fps.
- Linpack : single 36, multi 89.
- Multi Touch : 5 point.
Sound and Entertainment
The sound is loud and clear. The handset can play Full HD videos. I did not find any issues with it. Speaker sound is good but the earphone sound output is much better.
Gaming
I will soon come up with the gaming video Nova 3 + MC3.
8MP camera
The camera is with 8MP resolution but the quality is not that good. You can check the sample images attached at end of article, have a look at the close up images, they are not that sharp and the background is as bright as the subject. Video recording at 1080p @ 28fps looks better.
Non-Removable battery
There is a 2100 mAh non-removable battery. You can change the battery if need be from the service center. You can change the SIM / external SD card even when the phone is switched on, but better to avoid it as it can damage the SIM / SD card.
The battery performance is very good I got over a day (nearly 2days) of usage time.
Others
3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth worked well. As for GPS it took some time for the lock (same issue with almost all MediaTek chipset). Try using the GPS test app along with the Google maps you will get the GPS working in less than 20 seconds. The handset supports OTA updates which is an added advantage, you will be able to update OS (when available) directly using Wi-Fi or 3G network.
Gionee Dream D1 review
The D1 is with AMOLED screen + Gorilla Glass 2 protection. It’s quad core with 1GB RAM and is priced at approx Rs. 15,500. This is a good option to go for instead of the Micromax A116 especially when the handset is not easily available and if it is priced at around 16K. Zopo ZP980 I feel is much better than D1, though gaming will be better on D1, but when it comes to after sales support Gionee is no doubt a winner. Moreover you will also find the Gionee handsets in local stores in your area.
Gionee already has good number of service centers in India and if you are planning to buy the D1, go ahead…
Image Gallery
Sample images
Outdoor
Indoor
Night
Gionee Dream D1 unboxing and review video
1080p video recorded using the Gionee D1 handset
Nova 3 game on Ginoee D1