We recently reviewed the Marathon M4 which broke all our battery life records in a video loop test. We expect even better performance from the Marathon M5. Gionee has included two 3010mAh batteries in this handset. Is the Marathon M5 the smartphone you need? Or is it just a power bank that has been given the tag of a phone? Has Gionee fixed all the shortcomings of its previous version this time? Let’s find out.
Look and design
The Marathon M5 has a metal and plastic build that feels sturdy and durable. If you aim this handset at someone’s head and hit them unconscious, they are bound to lose consciousness! Gionee has managed to limit the thickness to 8.6mm by increasing the length and width of this smartphone. However, the bigger battery has made the Gionee Marathon M5 heavier. Weighing 211 grams, it is probably the heaviest smartphone available today.
The 5.5-inch AMOLED display has a low resolution, the company should have provided at least a full-HD display. Due to low pixel density, images and text do not look as sharp as they should be. Colors are oversaturated. The front panel has a 5-megapixel camera, Gorilla Glass 3 protection and capacitive navigation buttons. The microSD card slot is on the right and two 4G micro-SIM slots are on the left.
There is a 13-megapixel camera at the back with a single LED flash. Along with the handset, you will get a charger, data cable, manual, screen guard and flip cover.
We are very happy that Gionee has made this handset thinner than the Marathon M4, but the weight gain was inevitable due to the bigger battery. Gionee has mentioned an ‘On-The-Go’ cable on its website. With this, you can use the Marathon M5 as a power bank. But this was not provided with our review device.
Specifications and software
Like the older version, the Marathon M5 uses the MediaTek MT6735 chipset. This time you will get 3GB of RAM and 32GB of inbuilt storage. The smartphone has Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, FM radio and USB OTG features. Apart from this, you can use 4G network on both SIM slots.
The Marathon M5 will run on Amigo 3.1 user interface which is based on Android Lollipop 5.1. The interface is single layer, so all the apps look a bit scattered on the page. Gionee has also provided some trial games and third party apps in the device, the good thing is that you can uninstall them.
With Gionee you will get Peel Smart Remote, which means you can use it for DTH installed at home as well. Apart from this, another interesting feature is Gionee Xender. With its help, you can connect your smartphone to another smartphone over Wi-Fi. However, this software must be installed on the other smartphone as well. Now you can transfer files with its help. The specialty is that files can be shared much faster in this as compared to Bluetooth.
Performance
The general interface and app performance are quite good. We did not have any such complaints during use. Swiping on the home screen was easy. There was no problem in playing games like Dead Trigger 2 on the phone. The call quality is also satisfactory and we did not have any complaint of call drops during use.
The only thing that can be said about the benchmark results is that they are not great, especially compared to other handsets available in this price range. However, during use, you will not find any such lack in the performance of the phone.
The M5 supports DTS audio for the stock music and video players.
The volume level is good for a small room but due to the mono speaker, the sound coming from it is not very clear in a large room. The headset that comes with the camera gives much better performance.
The 13-megapixel camera takes good pictures of landscapes and macros in daylight. The pictures have good detail, even if you zoom in. Pictures taken indoors in low light are noisy. Pictures taken at night show a lot of shortcomings. The flash is helpful but not very helpful. The front camera can be termed satisfactory as it does not have autofocus. You will be able to record videos of 1080 pixel resolution with it.
The camera interface is very clean and easy to use. Gionee has included a professional mode in the interface which will allow you to control ISO, white balance, exposure, shutter speed and focus.
Now let’s talk about the most important feature of Marathon M5, its battery life. The huge 6020mAh battery lasted for 25 hours and 23 minutes in our video loop test. It broke the record of M4 by a margin of 4 hours. In regular use, we were easily able to use this phone for 3-4 days without charging. The charger provided by the company works fast to power up the battery.
Our verdict
When it comes to battery life, Gionee Marathon M5 is unbeatable. At Rs 18,000, it is not too expensive when it gives you freedom from using a charger for several days. Gionee has made a good effort to make its product even better this time. Marathon M5 is thinner than its previous version, but it still gives the feeling of being bigger. Its display is good and the camera gives decent performance on most occasions. We feel that Gionee should have given a full-HD screen, but it would have affected the battery life. Perhaps this is the reason for not doing so. On the other hand, the camera performance is a bit weak in low light. It is quite heavy and you may not like Amigo UI.
If you are looking for great battery life then Gionee Marathon M5 is the best option for you. And for a better option, you can wait for its next version.
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