Gionee Elife S7 Vs Elife S5.1: Worth the Upgrade?

Gionee's new Elife S7 smartphone looks to be the next killer mid-end phone, but how does it stack up to its predecessor - the Elife S5.1.

The Elife S7 - which will be made available in India in the coming days- offers a couple of key upgrades, like a premium design and a better processor.

Recommended: Gionee Elife S7 First Look: It's all about Slimness and Style

On the other hand, Gionee mixed a few features - like expandable storage and a swappable battery. So with two devices that look and feel similar, does one stand out as the better overall device?

Display

Elife S7: 5.2-inch 1920 x1080 Super AMOLED, 424ppi

Elife S5.1: 4.8-inch 1280 x720 Super AMOLED, 306ppi

The S7 not only sports a bigger 5.2-inch screen, but ups the ante when it comes to resolution. Improving on last year's HD offering, the Elife S7 boasts a Super AMOLED 1080 x1920 FHD resolution screen. This is a huge improvement on the Elife S5.1's 306ppi offering. A high resolution is a step up for users, since it lets you view more information on-screen at once.

Design and Form Factor

Elife S7: 139.8 x 67.4 x 5.5 mm, 126g

Elife S5.1: 139.8 x 67.4 x 5.1 mm, 97g

The new Elife S7 is sleeker, thinner and better-looking device than its predecessors, sporting a glass (Gorilla Glass 3) back, a metal frame and rounded edges. In fact, the device looks a lot like the Sony Xperia Z3 from the back. What's more, the Elife S7 is iPhone-like in some ways, especially the aluminum bottom edge.

Good looks does matter, but when you're dropping Rs. 24,999 for a new phone. The real question remains: can the Elife S7 justify its steep price tag?

Processor

Elife S7: MediaTek (64-bit) Octa-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53, 2GB RAM

Elife S5.1: 1.7GHz octa-core processor (MediaTek), 1GB RAM

Performance was a big issue with the Elife S5.1. It had a 1.7GHz processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. However, this time around, the Elife S7 comes with a Mediatek MT6752 (64-bit) octa-core processor, paired with 2GB of RAM. The new chipset should offer slicker performance and better battery life.

Operating system

Elife S7: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop, Amigo 3.0

Elife S5.1: Android 4.4 KitKat, Amigo 2.0

While the inclusion of Android 5.0.2 Lollipop is an obvious advantage to the Elife S7. In the meanwhile, last year's Elife S5.1 arrived with the Android 4.4 KitKat and Gionee's Amigo 2.0 UI on top.

Amigo UI works like Huawei's Emotion UI, and abandons the app drawer in favour of flat app icons. The new version has been much improved too, having a flatter, more simplified-like look and feel.

Camera

Elife S7: 13 MP, autofocus, LED flash, 1080p@30fps, 8MP front-facing shooter

Elife S5.1: 8MP, autofocus, LED flash, 1080p@30fps, 5MP front-facing shooter

Even though the Elife S7 features the 13MP rear-facing sensor as opposed to Elife S5.1's 8MP shooter. Somehow, the S7's camera aren't up to the S5.5's performance, which is a bad thing. Although you can always invent your own tricks to modify the camera performance. The camera on the front has also been bumped up from 5MP to 8MP.

Storage

Elife S7: 16GB, no micro SD card

Elife S5.1: 16GB, no micro SD card

This is one category where buyers may think twice to put their money on the Elife S7. Gionee has decided against equipping the smartphone with a microSD slot, which could go against its strategy to sell millions of Elife S7 smartphones in India.

Battery

Elife S7: 2,750mAh, non-removable

Elife S5.1: 2,050mAh, non-removable

Previous Gionee S series smartphones have been criticised for their battery life. To avoid any confusion, Gionee has made sure to use a large 2,750mAh battery inside the Elife S7. Not only the device has a bigger battery, it even comes with a power saving mode, similar to the Galaxy S5. The company promises the handset to last at least 2 days on a single charge.

Overall

The Gionee Elife S7 is not a major improvement over last year's model. It does have a modified metal and glass design, 64-bit processor, longer battery life, Super AMOLED FHD screen and a dual 4G LTE support.

However, it also has its drawbacks, such as the lack of microSD support and non-removable battery. We loved the Elife S7, but there's one issue: the price is too high. The phone, which will be made available in India shortly, will cost around Rs. 24,999. The Elife S5.1, by comparison, is priced at around Rs. 17,000.

That's a big price jump for something that's more of a luxury rather than a necessity. What do you think about the Gionee Elife S7? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!