Gionee launched the Elife E8 that comes loaded with a 24MP camera on the rear and the handset is powered by 2GHz Helio X10 octa core processor. E8 is running Lollipop out of the box with 3GB RAM and 64GB storage.
Elife E8 unboxing
Inside the box you will find the handset, premium quality flip cover, screen guard, user guide, warranty card, NFC tags, data cable, travel charger (5V ~ 2A) and premium quality earphones. SAR Value as mentioned on the box 0.26 W/kg @ 1g (head) and 0.90 W/kg @ 1g (body).
Design
The Gionee Elife E8 is a big handset and heavy. Weight with battery is 204 grams and dimensions are 83.37mm x (over 154mm) x 8.95mm. The handset is big but it also comes with a bigger screen – 6 inches.
Build quality and finishing is very good, I got the gold colour handset for the review. It is using a metal frame and rest of the body is made of plastic. E8 has got a curvy body and it gets amazing slimmer towards the edges (considering the size). It is comfortable to hold though because of the size it will not be easy operating it with a single hand.
Power button and volume rocker is on the right side along with a dedicated button for the camera. Audio jack is on the top side and micro USB port is at the bottom. There are dual mics.
This is a dual SIM handset, there is a micro SIM slot 1 and a micro SIM slot 2 plus a micro SD card slot that supports up to 128GB external cards.
Native video calling is not supported (you can however use 3rd party apps like skype etc), there is LED notification and following sensors – accelerometer, light, proximity, magnetic, gyro and hall.
Display
This handset comes with a big 6 inch screen supporting 2560 x 1440 pixels resolution. The screen also comes with gorilla glass 3 protection. It is sAMOLED screen, colour reproduction, viewing angle and touch response are very good.
Memory, Storage and OS
The E8 is packed with 3GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage space. There is micro SD card slot too that supports up to 128GB external cards. On the first boot you will get about 1.2GB free RAM and 52GB free space.
OTG is supported and the good part is that the apps are getting installed on the external storage.
Elife E8 is running Amigo UI 3.1 based on Android Lollipop 5.1 (64 Bit).
Performance
This handset is using Mediatek Helio X10 MT6795 octa core chipset cortex A53 64 bit clocked at 2GHz coupled with PowerVR Rogue G6200 GPU. Performance is very smooth, lag free. The handset does heat-up when using heavy apps. The max temperature I encountered was when playing games – temp rose to 44 degrees.
Benchmark
| Benchmark App | Score |
| Quadrant | 31567 |
| Antutu (64 bit) | 1st – 48664 , 2nd – 47538 |
| Nenamark 2 | 59.1fps |
| Internal Storage speed | Read – 179MB/s, Write – 114MB/s |
| Multi touch | 10 point |
Gaming
I played Asphalt 8, interestingly it got installed on the external storage. Game Play was very smooth in the highest visual quality level. Powerful handset that can play many high end games and best part is most of the games can be installed on external storage.
Camera
The key highlight about the Elife E8 is the camera. A 24MP AF on the rear and an 8MP on the front. Both front as well as rear cameras are auto focus. So when it comes to selfies you can get DSLR kind of blurriness in the background.
The 24MP primary camera can also shoot images in 120MP printable output mode using ultra Pixel option. Rear camera can shoot videos in 4K resolution. However there was some problem uploading those 4K videos on youtube, hence I shot a 1080p video sample and it uploaded without issues on YouTube.
Now how is this camera?
If you are going to use the Auto Mode then the camera output quality will be above average for most shots. But if you switch to manual mode and tweet the settings as required you can get really awesome (excellent) quality pictures.
Do check the sample images and video at the end of this review.
Dedicated Camera Button
The button comes really handy when you want to instantly shoot. Just double tab the button when the screen is off (phone in standby mode) it will switch on, load camera app and will capture 5 shots instantly (check video review).
Others
The loudspeaker sound is very loud and clear – there are dual speakers (mono). I did not find any issues with network strength and in-call sound quality. No issues with WiFi, 4G, 3G, GPS (instant lock), NFC. I did find some issues with Bluetooth, initially it was able to connect but later it failed, probably a software issue.
For NFC there are 3 tags provides you can program each of those tags and place those tags where you need it. For example you can program a tag to switch on the car Bluetooth, switch on GPS, Switch on Data. Then place this tag in your car. Next time you enter the car use NFC (should be switch on) and just bring the phone close to the tag that you have placed in your car, the settings will automatically be applied.
There is touch ID based finger print scanner is also the key highlight, you can unlock the phone by placing your finger on the scanner and hold. The phone will unlock within 1 to 2 seconds and there is no need to press the power button.
The Magnetic Flip cover changes the look completely it’s also golden colour and comes with S-View window.
Battery
There is built in battery of 3500 mAh capacity. You can expect about 3 to 7 hours of continuous moderate to heavy usage on a full charge.
| Performance | Time | Battery drop % | Battery Max Temp |
| Benchmark | 12 Minutes | 4% | 38 degree |
| Gaming (Asphalt 8) | 18 Minutes | 10% | 44 degree |
| 4K movie play with full brightness + Wi-Fi on | 17 minutes | 4% | 38 degree |
| Wall Charge (on standby) | 1 hour 45 minutes | 46% to 100% (wall charge) – from 0 to 100% estimated less than 2 hours 30 minutes. | 37 degree |
Verdict
The Gionee Elife E8 is no doubt a very powerful handset with an impressive camera though you might want to go manual for excellent output. Performance is smooth, however the handset does heat up. The max temperature I encountered was 44 degrees.
Elife E8 is a big handset with a 6 inch sAMOLED screen, finger printer scanner and very good build quality. There is plenty of storage space. E8 is not that cheap and it does come for a price.
Gionee Elife E8 is available for ₹34,999.
Image Gallery
Rear Camera Sample
Rear Camera Sample (Manual Pro Mode)
Front Camera Sample
Video Review
Skins for Gionee Elife E8
This skin was provided by Skin4Gadgets, you can find more skins on skin4gadgets.com.