The latest handset in the Gionee Marathon series is the Marathon M5 Plus. It is called the plus because it not only comes with a big battery just like other handsets in the Marathon series, but the M5 Plus also comes with a big screen of 6 inches.
M5 Plus Unboxing
Inside the box you will get the handset, SIM tray ejector pin, travel charger (5V/2A), data cable (USB Type C), premium quality earphone, screen guard, plastic case, user guide and warranty card. SAR value as mentioned on the box – Head 0.333 W/Kg, Body – 0.614 W/Kg.
Gionee Marathon M5 Plus Review
Design
Gionee Marathon M5 Plus is a big handset with a 6 inch screen but comfortable to hold and operate. This handset is a little wider when compared with other handsets. M5 Plus is packed inside a metal body with a very good build quality and finishing.
Weight with built in battery is 211 grams and dimensions are 81.36 x over 156 x 8.28 (mm).
Volume and power button are on right side along with micro SD card tray. On the left side there is dual SIM tray and at the bottom there is USB Type C port, mic and audio jack.
This is a dual SIM handset with 4G support (also supports VoLTE), you can use 2 micro SIMs + 1 micro SD card simultaneously.
There is LED notification and following sensors – accelerometer, light, proximity, gyro and magnetic.
Display
As mentioned this handset comes with a big screen of 6 inches but there’s more it’s a super AMOLED screen with 2.5D curved glass and supporting 1920 x 1080p (full HD) resolution. Colour reproduction, viewing angles and touch response are very good.
Memory, Storage and OS
M5 Plus comes with 3GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage space. On the first boot you will get around 52GB free space and 1.1GB free RAM.
This handset is running Amigo 3.1 based on Android Lollipop 5.1.
Performance
Inside the hood the M5 Plus is powered by MediaTek MT6753 64 bit octa core processor clocked at a 1.3GHz coupled with Mali T720 GPU. Performance is smooth for general operations but when it comes to gaming you will need to reduce the quality to low for better performance.
Handset does heat up with heavy usage. Maximum battery temperature I encountered was 42 degrees when using camera under direct sunlight.
Benchmark
- Quadrant – 20603
- Antutu (64 bit) – 37765 | 3D score – 4998 ; 2nd time 38132 / 5429
- Nenamark 2 – 57.3fps
- Internal storage Speed – Read (221MB/s), Write (137MB/s)
- Multi Touch – 10 Point
Gaming
I tried modern combat 5, it worked, though not very smooth but playable. At higher levels you will feel the lags. The next game that I played was the Asphalt 8. Now this game gives a much better idea. The asphalt 8 clearly lagged in higher visual quality mode. The game played much better in low quality mode. Check the video review (at end of this review).
Camera
There is a 13MP camera on the rear with single LED flash and on the front you will find a 5MP fixed focus camera. Camera quality is above average. Do check the video review for camera features. Rear camera can shoot FHD videos.
M5 Plus Rear Camera Sample
M5 Plus Front Camera Sample
M5 Plus FHD video sample
Others
Sound is loud and clear. In-call sound quality is also very good. 4G (also supports CDMA 1x:BCO EV-DO:BCO), WiFi (dual band 2.4Ghz and 5GHz), GPS, DTS sound and Bluetooth worked well without any issues. I did not face any network issues as such.
The finger print detection is pretty fast and accuracy is really good. The home button doubles up as the finger print sensor.
M5 Plus Battery
This handset gets power from a 5020 mAh battery that does a really good job. I got an easy over 2 days of battery backup with mixed usage.
Battery Performance (time / battery % drop / battery temperature).
- Running Benchmark app – 15 minutes / 2% / 36 degrees
- Played Asphalt 8 / MC5 – 28 minutes / 7% / 40 degrees
- FHD video playback with full brightness (WiFi /4G on) – 24 minutes / 4% / 37 degrees
It took me 3 hours 50 minutes to charge the handset using wall charger from 10% to 100%.
Verdict
The Gionee Marathon M5 Plus is a good handset, with a premium feel, bigger battery and a bigger screen. It is perfect for those looking for big screen with much better battery performance. Having said that this handset though can be used for playing high end games in low quality mode, it is really not recommended if you are more into gaming. And yes M5 Plus does carry a premium price tag.
Gionee Marathon M5 Plus is available for Rs. 26,999.
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