The Gionee Marathon M5 is the latest Smartphone in the Marathon series that was just launched in India. This handset comes with more stamina, thanks to the 6020 mAh non-removable battery. The Marathon M5 also sports a 5.5 inch AMOLED HD screen and quad core processing power. Is it worth it? lets find out.
M5 Unboxing
Inside the box you will find the M5 handset, screen guard, data cable, travel charger (5V ~ 2A), user guide, warranty card, premium quality flip cover and good quality earphone. SAR – 0.320 W/kg @1g head and 0.479 W/kg @1g body. The screen comes with gorilla glass 3 protection and the same is mentioned on the box.
Design
With a 6020 mAh battery one would assume that the handset would be bulky, but its not, weight with battery is 209 grams and dimensions are 76.16 x 152.04 x 8.63 (mm). The M5 is using a metal frame and has got a nice attractive and premium body with a metallic finish. It is available in Black, White and Gold colour options. Build quality and finishing is very good. There are shiny gold border on the sides and matte gold finish all over.
Power button and volume rocker is on the right side along with micro SD card slot. On the right side there is a dual SIM slot that supports 4G and slot also supported CDMA networks (CDMA 1X&EVDO:BCO). Audio jack is on the top along with IR blaster and at the bottom you will find a micro USB port. There are dual Mics for noise cancellation.
4G works on both the SIM slots. There is LED notification. Native video calling is not supported but you can use SKYPE. There are following sensors – accelerometer, light, proximity, gyro and magnetic.
Display
This handset sports a 5.5 inch AMOLED screen with 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. Colour reproduction, viewing angles and touch response are very good. Screen comes with gorilla glass 3 protection.
Memory, Storage and OS
The M5 is packed with 3GB RAM (1.5GB free RAM) and 32GB storage (22GB for users on first boot). OTG is supported and apps are getting installed on the external storage card.
Amigo 3.1 based on Android 5.1 runs out of the box.
Performance
M5 is powered by MediaTek MT6735 64 bit quad core processor with Mali T-720 GPU. Performance is smooth and handset does not heat-up much. Max battery temperature I encountered was 36 degrees.
Benchmark
| Benchmark App | Score |
| Quadrant | 13431 |
| Antutu (64 bit) | 1st – 28954 , 2nd – 28768 |
| Nenamark 2 | 59.4fps |
| Internal Storage speed | Read – 188MB/s, Write – 134MB/s |
| Multi touch | 5 point |
Gaming
I played Asphalt 8 that got installed on external storage. Game was playable in high visual quality mode. Game play was smooth but at higher levels you will feel it lagging a bit occasionally.
Camera
There is 13MP AF on the rear with LED flash and a 5MP on the front. Camera quality is above average and it comes with a lot of modes as seen on other Gionee handsets, including pro (professional) Mode.
Rear camera can shoot FHD videos. Check the sample images and videos at the end of this review.
Others
Sound is very loud and clear, speaker vent is on the rear side. In-call sound quality is also very good. I did not find any network issues as such. 4G, 3G, WiFi, GPS (instant lock) and Bluetooth worked well.
The Flip Cover is non-magnetic, when you open the flip it will not switch on the screen automatically. When using flip cover you will need to manually press the power button to switch on the screen.
Battery
When you talk about the marathon the first thing that will impress you is the battery there is a 6020 mAh non-removable battery that actually is a combination of two batteries of 3010mAh capacity each. I guess the handset should easily last for over 4 days with mixed usage, for heavy users easily up to 2 days.
This smartphone can also act as a power bank (special cable needed) and charge other devices.
Updated battery performance : I am easily getting 3 days of backup with mixed normal to moderate usage. Heavy users can get up to 2 days.
It took me 6 hours to charge the battery from 6% to 100%. It took 1 hours 13 minutes to charge from 20% to 45%.
| Performance | Time | Battery drop % | Battery Max Temp |
| Benchmark | 11 Minutes | 1% | 33 degree |
| Gaming (Asphalt 8) | 18 Minutes | 4% | 36 degree |
| FHD movie play with full brightness + Wi-Fi on | 30 minutes | 3% | 35 degree |
| Wall Charge (on standby) | 6 hours | 6% to 100% | 33 degree |
Verdict
The Gionee Marathon M5 is using quad core, though that is not the latest trend, but the combination of quad core + AMOLED screen and 6020 mAh battery does an impressive job. This handset is basically for users who want to avoid carrying a power bank.
M5 a day will keep the Power Bank away!
A very good buy for those who are looking for a decent performance, excellent screen, above average camera and exceptional battery backup.
Gionee Marathon M5 is priced at ₹17,999.
Image Gallery
Rear Camera Sample
Front Camera Sample
Video Review