The Gionee Marathon M4 is another handset in the Marathon series. Just like the other Marathon handsets this one too comes with a massive battery capacity, a 5000 mAh built-in. The hardware is powerful, performance smooth and handset has got a premium look.
Gionee M4 Unboxing
Inside the box you will find the M4 smartphone, a screen guard, premium quality magnetic flip cover, data cable, travel charger – 5V ~ 2A, OTG cable, user manual, warranty card and premium quality earphone. SAR value is mentioned on the box – 0.850 W/kg @ 1g head and 0.733 W/kg @ 1g body.
Design, Display and OS
The handset has got very good built quality. It is using a metal frame that comes with brushed grey finish with shiny silver borders that look really premium. The body feels and looks tough. Back panel though made of plastic has got a metallic finish that blends well with the overall look giving a metallic feel.
Volume rocker and power button is placed on the right side, audio jack is on the top and at the bottom you will find a micro USB port. The back is flat but it gets slightly curved around the edges.
This is a dual SIM handset you will need 2 micro SIM’s, 4G LTE (am using 2300 band) works on both the SIM slots.
The M4 weight with 5000 mAh built in battery is 177 grams and dimensions are 71.21 x 144.52 x 9.70 (mm).
The Gionee M4 sports a 5 inch AMOLED screen supporting 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. Color reproduction is very good, touch is smooth and viewing angles are good (screen visible from most angles).
There is LED notification, native video calling is not supported and handset comes loaded with accelerometer, proximity, light and magnetic sensors.
M4 is running Amigo 3.0 UI based on Android Lollipop 5.0 (64 bit).
Memory and Storage
The M4 is loaded with a good 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. There is micro SD slot too. On the first boot you will get about 10GB free space and 1.4GB free available RAM. OTG works and apps get installed on internal storage – there is no option to move them to external storage.
Performance
This handset is using the MediaTek MT6735 1.3GHz 64 bit cortex A53 quad core processor with Mali T720 GPU. No issues with performance, though occasionally you might feel a small lag when there is background activity (downloading, app install etc) but acceptable. Handset does not heat up much, max temperature encountered was 40 degrees.
Benchmark
| Benchmark App | Score |
| Quadrant | 9770 |
| Antutu (64 bit) | 1st – 28347 , 2nd – 28039 |
| Nenamark 2 | 61.8fps |
| Multi touch | 5 point |
Gaming
I played Asphalt 8 that got installed on internal storage. The game was very much playable in high visual quality mode. I also tried the Real Racing 3 game that looked great and played really well. Hardware is powerful and it can play many high end games.
Camera
The M4 is packed with 8MP AF camera on the rear with flash and a 5MP fixed focus camera on the front. Rear camera can shoot full HD videos at 30fps. Camera quality is average and it takes time focusing the subject – check the sample images and videos at the end of this review.
Others
No other issues found, sound is loud and clear (including incall sound). 4G, 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth worked well. The handset supports hotknot too.
The flip cover looks really great and gives a new look to the handset at the same time protecting the handset. There is S-View window with limited feature and a button to activate the flash light – that comes really handy. Flip cover is made of artificial leather with glossy finish and comes with its own back cover – to use this you will need to remove the back cover.
Battery
A 5000 mAh battery comes built it. It can also charge other devices, but you will need special cable for that. When you talk about the marathon it is all about the battery backup. I am getting up to 4 days of battery backup with mixed daily usage, I charged the handset to 100% before the review and as of now while writing this review, there is still 20% battery juice left.
| Performance | Time | Battery drop % | Battery Max Temp |
| Benchmark | 12 Minutes | 1% | 35 degree |
| Gaming (Asphalt 8) + RR3 | 24 Minutes | 10% | 40 degree |
| FHD movie play with full brightness + Wi-Fi on | 52 minutes | 6% | 33 degree |
| Wall Charge (on standby) | 4 hours 10 minutes | 14% to 100% (wall charge) | 34 degree |
Verdict
The Gionee Marathon M4 is 64 bit quad core powered and running 64 bit Android Lollipop. Overall performance is very good, camera is average and battery backup is excellent. If you are looking for a smartphone with premium look, powerful hardware and more importantly a handset that will easily last for over 2 days on a single charge – The Gionee Marathon M4 is the one!, but it does come for a price.
The Gionee M4 is a very good option if battery backup is your key priority.
Gionee Marathon M4 is priced at ₹15,499.
Image Gallery
Rear Camera sample
Front Camera sample
Gionee M4 video review