The Marathon M5 Amigo OS 3.1 on top of Android 5.1 Lollipop, and is a dual-SIM dual standby smartphone with 4G LTE support for both the SIM. It features a 5.5-inch HD (720×1280 pixel) AMOLED display, and is powered by a 64-bit 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735 Chipset.

Gionee Marathon M5 Full Coverage

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Gionee Marathon M5 Unboxing, Quick Review [Video]

 Physical Overview

Gionee has used a lot of metal to design this handset, it consists of aluminum back and the sides are also surrounded using a metal stripe with chamfered edges. The lock/power key and volume rocker is also crafted out of metal. The 5.5 inch display stretches around the front pretty well with very thin bezels all around. On the back, the top holds the camera module and the speaker is placed on the bottom, both panels are made of plastic. The phone looks and feels premium, but single handed operation will not be easy on this device. It weighs 213 grams, which is expected from a phone with two 3010 mAh batteries packed inside. Due to the weight and metal built, the phone feels very solid in hand and gripping is not an issue. The dimensions are 152 x 76 x 8.5 mm, and 8.5 mm thickness is not bad looking at the battery capacity. The volume rocker, microSD slot and the lock/power button are on the right side,

The left side has the SIM tray slot,

At the bottom, you will find a microUSB port and a mic,

The 3.5 mm audio jack and IR blaster is located on top of the phone.

User Interface

Gionee Marathon M5 has latest version of Amigo OS Android Lollipop. Switching between apps, opening and closing of apps is smooth. With a very different home screen, settings panel and fancy animations, this UI feels very different from the stock Android. There are many additional settings and apps to customize the user experience and looks of the phone. Talking about the usability, stock Android users may need to spend an hour to adapt the UI and then it will be easy to understand. It supports off-screen gestures, customizable notification settings, and the quick settings can be accessed by swiping from the bottom in place of the top. This UI looks unbaked in some sections and stock Android lovers will not appreciate it much.

Camera Overview

The Marathon M5 comes with 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera. The camera UI is good and offers a lot of modes and filters in for both front and back cameras. Autofocus is not very fast but it is pretty accurate under good lighting conditions.

The rear camera images in natural light are good in terms of colour and details but do not match up to the many of the cameras in same range. In low-light, the images look grainy, shutter speed is reduced and you need to hold the camera still to get a clear picture.

Front camera performs average in proper light, details are fine but sometimes the colours look saturated. Using the front camera in low light may depress the shutterbugs as selfies without good light are distorted, noisy and grainy. We expected a better camera pair at this price point.

Gionee Marathon M5 Camera Samples

Price & Availability

Gionee Marathon M5 comes in 3 different colour variants- Black, Gold, and White priced at INR 17,999. The smartphone will go on sale exclusively via Flipkart from Tuesday.

Comparison & Competition

Gionee Marathon M5 falls in the price bracket of 16-20k INR phones; it offers a huge battery unlike most of its competitors other than the recently launched Lenovo Vibe P1 with 5000 mAh battery. The battery size works in favor but on the other hand, some other phones like Moto X Play has got better overall features if compared to Marathon M5. Another phone with which competes with Gionee Marathon M5 is recently launched OnePlus X and Lenovo Vibe S1 which does not have 5.5 inch screens but offer FHD display and powerful SoC in a much compact shell.

Gionee Marathon M5 Full Coverage

Conclusion

At INR 17,999, the Gionee Marathon M5 offers a lot of amazing perks to the users, it boasts premium design, huge battery and good hardware configuration for seamless performance but on the other hand at this price the only reason to buy this phone is the unusual battery capacity. It is a good deal if you want to have a powerful smartphone which can last long on the battery, but not for the ones who expect a great camera and display at this price.