Gionee S8 Review

At this year's MWC in Barcelona back in February, Gionee took the stage to introduce its new brand identity and the latest company's flagship device - the Gionee S8. The stylized smiling face of the new logo coupled with the "Make smiles" tagline reveals that Gionee believes that providing people with positive emotions leads to success in business. Indeed, the company had a 550% increase in revenue for the 2014-2015 period and by the end of 2015 it is already eyeing 10 million sales. Having a reserved place in the top 10 Chinese smartphone manufacturers chart, Gionee is also the top Chinese brand in another huge market - India. It looks like the company manages to fulfill its goal and bring positive emotions to its clients in correspondence to its brand values, so let's check whether the Gionee S8 will also manage to put a smile on your face.

Specifications

Gionee S8 is made of aluminum-magnesium alloy and packs a 5.5-inch AMOLED display with a 10-point capacitive panel that has an FHD resolution (1080 x 1920). The display is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which has 2.5D curved edges. However, the most interesting feature of the model is that the screen is 3D touch sensitive. Hardware-wise, the model is based on a MediaTek Helio P10 MT6755 with four 1.95GHz CPU cores and four 1.15GHz CPU cores coupled with a dual-core 700MHz Mali-T860 MP2 GPU. It is backed by 4GB of single channel LPDDR3 RAM clocked at 933MHz, while the on-board storage is generous and measures 64GB. Gionee S8 has a promising camera department. The primary shooter is equipped with a 16-megapixel Samsung S5K3P3 ISOCELL sensor with phase-detection autofocus and laser autofocus, which provide 0.1 seconds of focus speed. The sensor incorporates a RWB technology and works together with a 6-element lens with an f/1.8 aperture and an LED flash. The camera is capable of making FHD videos @ 30fps and is coupled with the latest Image 2.0 software for image editing, which includes text recognition algorithms. The front-facing unit has an 8-megapixel OV8858 sensor with zero shutter lag. The model aims to become a quality media center as it also arrives with an advanced audio setup that includes the standard loudspeaker and earpiece along with an integrated AKM4961 chip for DTS sound and a 70dB sensitive dual microphone for videos. The smartphone is powered by a 3000 mAh Li-Pol battery, which is said to provide 21 hours of talk time and 255 hours of standby time in 2G and 3G networks. It arrives with a 9V/2A fast charger and is non-removable. Regarding the network and connectivity options, the Gionee S8 supports 2G, 3G and 4G Cat. 6 networks on both SIM cards in 7 modes and 15 bands. VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct and Bluetooth are also supported along with GPS/A-GPS. The device also has a USB Type-C port with OTG support and a fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button. The handset runs Amigo OS 3.2 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow and will get the new Amigo OS 4.0, once it is ready. Complete description of Gionee S8 specifications can be found here.

What's in the box

Gionee S8 is placed in a beautiful, white rectangular box, with the new logo on top and the two vertical sides and the S8 logo centrally positioned on the top as well. On the back is provided information about the device. Inside is the smartphone, well packaged in a protective nylon foil. Beneath it, in an envelope are placed the SIM tray pin, a protective film for the screen, a protective shell for the back, and the user manual. Below the envelope in separate compartments are the earphones, a large 9V/2A fast charger (US standard), a USB Type-C cable and a USB-C/microUSB adapter. The whole set is actually quite generous as per current standards and the unboxing process is a pleasant prelude towards the revealing of the device.

Design and Build

Gionee S8 has a premium design. And this is not an exaggeration. Colors, forms, materials, lines - all is well thought out and beautifully made. It is meticulously crafted, like a jewel. Metal accounts for 93.3% of the whole device. The unibody of the model is made of aluminum-magnesium alloy by using a diamond cutting process, polished with Zircon sand and colored by employing a fine spray anodizing process. What Gionee calls a 'One metal ring' or 'Loop metal' design of the S8 is patented. The back and the frame are matte, while the edges on both sides of the frame are chamfered and glossy. These chamfered edges are protected by thin, silicone lining, which has to be removed, so you can enjoy the beautiful design in full. The body seamlessly blends with the display meeting its 2.5D curved glass layer. The overall look and feel of the device is minimalist, yet luxurious. It is needless to say that all buttons, trays and ports are crafted to perfection. All cables fit perfectly in their corresponding ports and the buttons have excellent response. The model feels very thin and lightweight (152 grams), but is not as fragile as you might think. On the contrary, it is quite solid, despite being only 7 mm thin. You can utilize the included screen protector and back case in case you feel the device needs additional protection. In terms of dimensions, the Gionee S8 measures 74.9 mm in width and 154.3 in height. The width is a bit less than the average for a smartphone with a 5.5-inch display, so the smartphone can also be comfortably held with one hand. The model is available in three colors: rose-gold with a white front, shining gold with a white front and deep space gray with a black front. We are reviewing a shining gold variant with a white front.

Controls

The layout of Gionee S8's controls is classic with some highlights, which add up to its beautiful and symmetric design. On the front above the screen are centrally positioned the light sensor, an LED notification light, the earpiece, and front-facing camera. The behaviour of the LED notification light can be controlled from the Settings menu. Below the screen in the center is placed the physical home button, which is rectangular, with rounded cornes and has a metal frame that matches the device's main color. The button also has an embedded fingerprint sensor. On its sides are two backlit capacitive dots. By default the left one is for menu/options and the right one serves as a back button, but from the Settings menu, you can adjust their behaviour to your own preference. On the top of the smartphone there is a noise-cancellation mic, while the bottom houses most of ports - a centrally positioned USB Type-C port, a single speaker grille to its left, a single-hole grill for the second noise-cancellation mic to the right and a 3.5 mm jack to the extreme right. On the left side of the smartphone is the dual-SIM card tray. It is centrally positioned along the length and unlike most trays, it positions the two cards vertically, not horizontally. The SIM1 tray is for a micro-SIM card and the second one is either for a nano-SIM card, or for a microSD card. On the right hand side of the model are positioned a single volume rocker and a power button below it. The two buttons are quite tactile and are placed in a delicately hewn furrow, which is also glossy - like the frame's chamfered edges. On the back at the left corner you'll find the primary camera and to its right - a module that houses the LED flash and the laser for autofocus below it. Towards the middle center of the device is the new Gionee logo.

Display

Gionee S8 features a 5.5-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. It has a 10-point capacitive panel and a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top with 2.5D curved edges. AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic LED, which combines the benefits from active matrix backplanes of traditional TFT displays and Organic LED displays. These benefits include faster pixel switching response times than those of OLED screens and low power consumption. AMOLED screens are also known for being capable of displaying deep black color sometimes referred to as infinite black. More importantly, Gionee S8's display provides 3D touch support. This means that the screen is sensitive to the level of pressure on it. Currently this feature has three practical applications in the device and the company promises more in the future. The first one is to use it for unlocking the device. The second is to preview photos in the Gallery app. Probably the most useful application of the 3D touch is to open a special list of up to 6 shortcuts to apps of your preference. If you press the right or left edge of the display (this can be managed from the 3D touch settings), a list of shortcuts appears no matter which app you're currently using. Again from the 3D touch settings you can specify, which apps should appear in the shortcut list. From there you can also specify the touch level, to which you'd expect to screen to respond. The display can also be operated with gloves in the winter, in case you switch on that option. The display of Gionee S8 is truly impressive. Even if it didn't have a 3D touch functionality. It is the perfect addition to the professionally crafted body. The colors are stunning, visual details and text are crisp, viewing angles are excellent. You have several options regarding color temperature adjusting (LCD effect), Color correction and Color inversion (from the Accessibility menu). The AMOLED display technology has several specifics, which come to the surface, when you start testing such a display. For starters, the technology is such that if it has to display a black color, the pixels are just shut off. Hence, you get the "infinite black" effect and actually the black luminance value cannot be measured at any level of the brightness. Logically, the static contrast ratio cannot be mathematically calculated. A second specific feature of the AMOLED display is the white luminance value at one and the same brightness level, which changes depending on the portion of the display that is lit up. For example, the white luminance value of a full white display differs from the white luminance value measured on a small white portion of the screen. This change is due to the fact that AMOLED displays have the ability to provide more power for each pixel, when they don't have to display a full white image, which requires every pixel to be lit. In order to make correct measurements, we must use the Average Picture Level (APL) - this is the percentage of the display that is lit up compared to a full white display. Below we have placed two tables - the first shows the brightness, contrast and color temperature results taken on a full white image, i.e. at 100% APL. The second table shows the results, taken at 10% APL, that is on a image that takes up 1/10 of the whole display. Finally, we have also made a graph, which clearly demonstrates the drop in white luminance value with the increase of APL percentage.
Brightness, contrast and color temperature at 100% APL

Brightness	White luminance	Black luminance	Contrast	Color temperature
100 %	340.969 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7830 K
75 %	261.118 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7836 K
50 %	178.487 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7683 K
25 %	97.443 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7826 K
0 %	10.14 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7758 K

Brightness, contrast and color temperature at 10% APL

Brightness	White luminance	Black luminance	Contrast	Color temperature
100 %	420.341 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7732 K
75 %	303.573 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7789 K
50 %	199.738 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7684 K
25 %	103 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7855 K
0 %	10.98 cd/m2	0.000 cd/m2	-	7781 K

OS, UI and software

Gionee S8 arrives with the in-house developed Amigo OS, version 3.2.1. When we got the device, there was an OTA update (launched on May 1st, 2016), which upgraded to Amigo OS 3.2.2 based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. When Gionee are ready with Amigo 4.0, it is expected that the S8 will be upgraded to it as well. It is important to state that the test unit we have is made for the Chinese market, so is the OS, UI and software on it. The main portion of it is in English, though, but still there are several pre-installed apps and functions that are not entirely translated. However, the skin is beautifully drawn and has many hidden details, which you'll come to appreciate over time. According to Gionee the current release of the Amigo OS has many improvements. One of the most interesting features is that the skin allows you to use two different accounts with simultaneous logins, so you can separate your private life from your business one. A whole software suite as an assistant for travelling abroad is on board as well and includes information and services about cheap data traffic abroad, time conversion, exchange rates and other services. The device also has a live locker feature. The quick menu can be easily accessed by swiping from the bottom of the display upwards. Sometimes you might tap on the buttons below the screen, so this is a feature that will require some time to get used to. The Quick menu has a short and a long list of shortcuts, the latter including the Torch (Flashlight), Wi-Fi, Data Connections, Bluetooth, Voice, Vibrate, Super screenshot, Extreme mode (battery life), Location, Rotate Screen, Airplane Mode, Alarm, Fake Call, Calculator, Camera, and Settings. The Volume options include adjusting the sound of the incoming calls, music, and alarms. On the other hand, the Notifications menu can be accessed by sliding from the top of the screen downwards. It can be managed by pressing the square icon in the upper right corner, which opens a menu for customizing the way notifications are displayed. If you press on an empty area on the home screem, this will pop-up the Context menu that provides quick access to the widgets menu, desktop editor, system settings, screen effects, launcher theme, search. There is also a Suspend button option. If turned on from the Advanced settings, it can open the Context menu, go back to previous menu or go back to the home screen. The device has three main themes stored on it and if you want more, there is a whole Theme Park app to suite your preferences. Have in mind that when you open it, it will first load the themes that are available online. In order to access those stored in the device, you have to click on the downwards pointer at the right top end of the app. Such 'hidden' access points to options in the apps is very common for the Amigo OS 3.2.2. The fact that the settings menu is only two pages on the first level, might let you think that you don't have much room for adjustment. However, this is not the case. Some of the options are deeply embedded, and others are almost like hidden - you need to tinker with the device longer than general in order to discover them. The same applies to the apps, but we'll discuss them later. The only classic thing about the Settings menu is the Wireless & networks section, which has in addition an International Roaming section under the More tab. Under the Basic Settings section you can adjust the Display, Sound and vibration, DND mode, Security, Notification and control center, Apps. Some of the interesting Display options are the LCD effect for adjusting color temperature, choosing a Multi task display style, and Cast screen. The Sound and vibration has all the basic tools you need to manage the sound profile of your smartphone. However, if you need to adjust the audio settings for listening to music, you have to open the Music app and dig into it. The DND mode and the Notifications center are pretty self-explanatory. The Security menu is very extensive. It includes the Fingerprint management and an interesting function called Screen pinning. When activated it allows you to pin a screen from an active app. Make sure the app is open, click the menu/options backlit button and will display a list of apps. The active one will have a small pin icon. Click on it to pin the screen. To unpin - click simultaneously the Volume Up and Power button. Under the last main section of the Settings menu - Others, are placed the Advanced Settings and About phone. The first is where most of the interesting options can be found, including setting up the 3D touch bahaviour of the display, voice control, management of the smart gestures and LED notification light, regulation of the home button and suspended button behaviour as well as power, battery and memory management. Regarding the apps, the Gionee S8 arrives without Google services pre-installed and at the same time has a plethora of third-party apps and games, which might be useful to the audience that is familiar with them and speaks Chinese. Going through them, we really enjoyed the graphics though. Once again, the Amigo OS 3.2 is a delight to the eye. As long as it concerns the standard apps, you get a quite flexible and useful Dialer, Contacts manager, and Messenger. On the Home Screen you also get a shortcut to a default Browser, Camera, Gallery, Music, Clock, Calendar, System Manager and something that looks like a Toolbox. It contains the following apps: Weather, Amigo Children (a dedicated kids section, which can be customized with the desired apps), Calculator, Notes, Compass, Sound Recorder, Radio, Video, Downloads, Email, and Chameleon. The latter uses the rear camera to automatically detect three colours from your surroundings. You can choose one of them and apply it to the device as a theme. Fidgeting with this app turns out to be fun! The Camera app is very advanced and will be discussed in detail in the Cameras section of this review. On the second screen with apps are placed System Upgrade, File Explorer, Video Editor, Member Center, Abroad Service, Theme Park, Shopping Mall, Game Hall, Download, iReader, WeChat and another Toolbox with apps in Chinese, which are probably the most widely used ones in China - Baidu map, Weibo (social network), QQBrowser, MeiTuan, games, etc. There is no app drawer, though this is typical for Android 6.0 Marshmallow based devices. The System Manager is a powerful tool that includes Cache cleaning, Apps management, Power manager (more about this in the Battery section of this review), and others.

Networks, calls and connectivity

Gionee S8 has a dual-SIM card tray that can accommodate either a micro-SIM and a nano-SIM card, or a micro-SIM and microSD card. Both SIM trays have reception in 2G, 3G and 4G networks. More specifically, the device supports quad-band 2G GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 2.5G CDMA at 800 MHz, quad-band 3G WCDMA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz), and dual-band 3G TD-SCDMA (1880-1920, 2010-2025 MHz). Moreover, the model provides 4G+ connectivity by supporting LTE Cat. 6 and VoLTE (FDD bands 800, 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100, 2600 MHz and TDD bands 1900, 2300, 2500, 2600 MHz). Reception has been excellent at all times during our testing period and call quality has been flawless. The same has been with the Wi-Fi connection. The device supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct along with Bluetooth 4.0. Its USB Type-C port provides OTG support as well, which has been tested and works fine. Regarding location services, the smartphone supports GPS/A-GPS and Glonass. It managed to detect quickly many satellites and worked with great accuracy. The model also provides a Cast scree/Wireless display option, but you need to have a wireless adapter for your TV/monitor, to which you want to cast content.

Performance

Gionee S8 is the third device in a row we receive for testing, which is equipped with a MediaTek Helio P10 MT6755 chipset. In this particular case, the octa-core SoC includes four 1.95GHz Cortex-A53 cores and four 1.15GHz Cortex-A53 cores. A 700MHz dual-core ARM Mali-T860 MP2 GPU is responsible for the graphics. Compared to the Elephone P9000 and the Meizu m3 Note, which are based on the same chipset, the Gionee S8 scores higher in all benchmark tests. In AnTuTu it even managed to score higher than 50 000 points, which is impressive for a chipset that is created to balance power consumption and performance. The chipset work is backed by 4GB of RAM (933MHz, single-channel LPDDR), it does indeed help the device to operate very fast and even with many apps functioning in the background you wouldn't find a difference in speed. The built-in memory is quite generous as well - 64GB, and the AndroBench test showed that memory reading and writing speeds are very high. The smartphone also has 35 sensors on board, including a fingerprint one, embedded in the home button. Storing a fingerprint ID has been swift and unlocking with it has been zippy. All the other sensors seem to be well operating as well. Some of them are accelerometer, magnetic field sensor, gyroscope, light, proximity and orientation sensor, gravity, rotation vector, game rotation, linear acceleration, step detector and step counter, etc.

Cameras

The camera setup of the Gionee S8 is very advanced in terms of hardware and software. The primary shooter is equipped with a 16MP Samsung S5K3P3 ISOCELL sensor, combined with an LED flash, a 6-element lens with an f/1.8 aperture, phase-detection auto-focus and laser auto-focus. Indeed, the focus and shutter are impressively fast. The on-board RWB technology provides better performance in low-light conditions. Compared to an RGB sensor the amount of light transmission increases by 40% and noise is reduced by 80%. The camera app has a plethora of features, including a Professional mode for adjusting focus and clarity, exposure time, white balance, aperture. Additional features include ISO, Beauty face, filters, HDR, panorama, Night, Countdown timer, Super photo, Auto scene, Focus separation exposure, Super zoom. The camera can be used as a two-dimensional bar code scanner and it automatically recognizes text in photos and converts it. It may also make animated GIFs by continuous shooting for 6 seconds. In case you want some photos you've made to remain private, there is a Private Gallery option under the Gallery app. The front-facing camera of Gionee S8 packs an 8-megapixel OV8858 sensor with a 1/4" size and a 1.2-micron pixel. Another powerful feature is the Video Editor app. It has a Professional editing mode and includes Video beautification with 7 modes, Video editing on the go, 10 sets of one-click video theme templates, capability to shoot slow-motion video, and many others.

Primary camera

Secondary camera

Audio

Gionee S8 is not marketed as an audio-centric device, but it does include an integrated AKM4961 chipset for Hi-Fi sound by DTS as well as a 70dB sensitive dual microphone for videos. The device showed a Very Good overall result in our test and excels in Frequency response and IMD+Noise %. The test has been performed by using the RightMark Audio Analyzer software and the TASCAM US-2x2 audio interface.

Test	Value	RMAA rating
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB	+0.04, -0.08	Excellent
Noise level, dB (A)	-94.2	Very good
Dynamic range, dB (A)	94.3	Very good
THD, %	0.0033	Very good
THD + Noise, dB (A)	-84.7	Good
IMD + Noise, %	0.0068	Excellent
Stereo crosstalk, dB	-84.3	Very good
IMD at 10 kHz, %	0.018	Very good
General performance		Very good

Like all other media-related apps in Amigo OS 3.2, the Music one is very extensive with the audio options hidden deep into it. The first screen opens a music library for listening to music online. The Mine menu stands for music stored in the device and the Folder one is for managing audio files. When you click More you get access to Basic settings, E-sound managements and other options. Under E-sound you can specify the type of earphones/headset you have, choose a special audio effect and manage its equalizer settings.

Battery

Gionee S8 is equipped with a 3000 mAh Li-Pol battery, which is non-removable. According to the manufacturer's specifications, it provides up to 21 hours of talk time and up to 255 hours standby time in 2G and 3G networks. The battery is coupled with a 9V/2A fast charger. The unit is big and well made, and has two pins, complying with the US standard for electric system sockets. For a 3000 mAh battery, Gionee S8's accumulator scores excellently in the PCMark Work battery life - 8 hours and 16 minutes. The test has been performed with the brightness calibrated at 200 cd/m² as per Futuremark's recommendations. With the fast charger the battery needed 1 hour and 55 minutes to charge from 0% to 100%. The first 15% charged for 8 minutes. 50% of the charge was reached in 28 minutes (from 0%) and it took 45 minutes to reach 70% (from 0%), which is very fast. The rest 30% to 100% needed 1 hour and 10 minutes. In the beginning, while the battery is relatively empty, the charging speed is 1.94A-1.97A and gradually drops, with the most significant drop happening after the battery is 70% charged. Battery performance can be optimized by using the Power Manager, which offers three modes: no power optimization, normal and extreme mode. The Normal mode activates a dark colored theme in order to optimize the energy consumption. The Extreme mode allows access only to the main apps: Calls, Messages, Contacts and Clock, with a minimal black and white theme. All other processes are cut down.

Final thoughts

Gionee S8 is a real flagship device. Even without being a performance beast, it provides the maximum of its processing power. The unibody metal design, 3D touch display, 4G+ connectivity, advanced camera setup and video options, Hi-Fi audio, and an excellently performing battery join together into one truly impressive smartphone that will put a happy smile on the face of everyone holding it. Well done, Gionee!