--BY SANJEEV SHARMA

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Gionee over the past few years has impressed customers across the world with its sleek yet powerful devices. The latest, Gionee S6s well maintains the persistence of the Chinese handset major.  

The metal unibody handset is a major improvement over its 2015 iteration in terms of design, performance and features. It sports a 5.5 inch full-HD 2.5D IPS LCD Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protected display with 71.4 percent screen-to-body ratio and 401 ppi. The display’s contrast ratio is above par and the brightness level is good.  Enclosed within slightly rounded curves, the phone feels premium and sturdy.  Despite the large size, S6s is not uncomfortable to hold due to its sleek design. 

Powered by 1.3 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT 6753 processor, S6s has 3GB RAM and Mali-T720MP3 GPU enabling the users to perform all types of computing tasks smoothly. Be it multitasking or gaming, Gionee S6s offers a speedy performance. We tried some new mobile games and found that the phone is able to handle power hungry applications exceptionally well. The mobile first person shooter Radiation Island which is among the latest power demanding HD games, ran noticeably well in over one and half hours of play. The visual quality for gaming is good, if not the best. However, intense uses can result in higher level of dissipation of heat which is common in handsets using MediaTek processers.  S6s has 32GB of in-built storage which is expandable up to 128GB via micro SD card using the hybrid dual-SIM slot.

S6s runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based Gionee’s proprietary Amigo v3.2.0 UI. Needless to say, it has no app drawer which is common among the Android-based UIs developed by Chinese handset makers.  The phone’s UI incorporates a feature called Split-Window which is really an innovative approach of Gionee allowing users to operate two different apps on the same screen.  

On the camera front, the dual-SIM handset boasts an impressive imaging system with Sony sensor. It sports an f/2.0 aperture 13 MP Sony IMX258 camera on the back with phase detection autofocus and LED flash. Photos and videos from the snapper come to life with excellent level of details, sharpness and colour saturation. Nevertheless, the performance of the camera deteriorates while zooming to click distant objects. It is the only weak part of the imaging system of S6s we have observed.  Surprisingly, the camera is capable to take quality photos in low lighted conditions despite the phone being a mid-range product. 

The front camera is among the most impressive hardware of the phone. Users can expect some decent clicks from the 8 MP fixed-focus selfie snapper. The secondary camera with an f/2.2 aperture has its own flash module and uses a 5P lens. The front flash in the Gionee phone enables users to take high quality selfies in dim light environments.  Moreover, the addition of screen flash also results in the selfies looking decent. 

On top of that, there is an array of click modes including Professional, Ultra Pixel, Time Lapse, Panorama, Slow Motion, Macro, Smart Scene, Night, HDR, Text Recognition, Smart Scene, Mood Photo and GIF available in the camera app. 

The performance of S6s excels in terms of audio quality. To hear music using the phone’s earphones which has good bass levels is a pleasurable experience. The audio quality is clear without any distortions even in higher volume levels. Similarly, the handset’s speakers also give off quality sound. 

On the battery backup front, the 3,150 mAh Li-Po battery packs enough juice to run the phone for a whole day on regular use. With the satisfactory power backup, the battery also charges quickly with the full charging time starting from zero being only around two hours. 

Like other phones in this price segment, Gionee S6s also comes with a fingerprint scanner which rests just below the rear camera. It can be used to activate the lock screen and take photos. The scanner is easy to setup the scanner and has fast activation with high level of accuracy in fingerprint recognition.  Available in Latte Gold and Mocha Gold colours, the phone priced at Rs 25,999 is a worthy bargain.