Gionee A1 with a massive front camera has been launched in India and after the Gionee 6 series of premium smartphones that catered the needs of selfie freaks, the company is back with a new mid-budget series and their first offering is Gionee A1 with a 16 MP front camera.
Yes, you heard it right. The cameras at the back of smartphones are getting bigger and better every day, however, smartphone manufacturers like Gionee and Oppo are equally focusing on the front cameras as well. But India being a country where VFM is the biggest deal breaker for any consumer, camera-centric or not, a smartphone also has to meet the performance and hardware expectations, which, Xiaomi and Lenovo have learned over the last couple of years. Hell, even the Huawei Honor series lived upto our expectations.
Therefore, launching a new smartphone with the camera being the USP in an already crowded segment is easy said than done. But Gionee has done it before (not every time) and let’s see whether the Gionee A1 is worth our hard earned money because the smartphone will be priced near the Rs 20,000 as per reports (Yes, the price has not been disclosed yet).
Gionee A1 Specification
- 5.5-inch (1920× 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS in-cell 2.5D curved glass display
- 2GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor with Mali T860 GPU
- 4GB RAM, 64GB Internal memory, expandable memory up to 128GB with micro SD
- Android 7.0 (Nougat) with Amigo OS Hybrid
- Dual SIM (nano + nano / micro SD)
- 13MP rear camera with LED flash, PDAF, f/2.0 aperture, 1/3.0+” sensor, 5P lens, Sony IMX 258 sensor
- 16MP front-facing camera, f/2.0 aperture, 1/3.06″ sensor, 5P lens, selfie flash
- Fingerprint sensor
- 3.5mm audio jack, Waves MaxxAudio
- Dimensions: 154.5 x 76.5 x 8.5mm; Weight: 182g
4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n（2.4GHz+5GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, USB OTG - 4010mAh battery with fast charging
What’s Good in Gionee A1
- 5.5-inch (1920× 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS offer great quality and due to the super heavy hardware, frame drops will be a talk of the past.
- Android 7.0 (Nougat) is a refreshing spec as companies like Xiaomi and Lenovo are still sticking with Android Marshmallow 6.0 for some reason in most of the new product launches.
- The front facing 16MP shooter being the USP of Gionee A1 lives upto the expectations but it’s the back sensor that will leave you happily surprised with great picture and video quality, and a host of customisation features in the software.
- 4010 mAh battery with fast charging was a much-needed cell for Gionee A1 considering the heavy duty hardware.
- Mali T860 GPU with 4GB RAM and 64GB Internal memory will leave the gaming enthusiasts inside you satisfied to the fullest.
What’s Not So Good in Gionee A1
- Though the 2GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor is a great chip to have under the hood, but it doesn’t gel well with the current Indian tastes. The market has been corrupted with the flood of smartphones flaunting a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC and being a country where the majority is impervious to changes, the MediaTek Helio P10 processor may hold Gionee A1 back. Moreover, the Snapdragon units offer better quality when compared.
- The 5.5-inch (1920× 1080 pixels) Full HD IPS struggles a little when bringing angles comes into the picture.
Verdict
At Rs 20,000 (expected), Gionee A1 could have been a perfect allrounder if the company would have gone with better hardware, however, since they are marketing Gionee A1 as a camera-centric smartphone, those specifications are enough to attract a substantial consumer base.
Gionee A1 will be available in India from 31st March via Amazon India and retail stores across the nation in Black, Gray and Gold colour options.