You know Samsung. You know Tecno. But have you ever heard of Gionee? I’m betting you haven’t. I hadn’t either, until two days ago when I was recently handed a curious little device to take a look at. If Samsung, Tecno or even Huawei thought they were the only horses in Africa’s Android race, they need to think again. All the way from Vietnam, The Gionee Pocket comes galloping in with hopes of carving out its own place in the African smartphone market.
While I haven’t quite decided whether I’m going to do a full review yet, I’ve had this incredibly petite device for two days now, and I thought there might be a few things about it that might interest you. Here’s a quick look at the Pocket, from Gionee.
First Impressions
Pardon the tautology, but I’ll start right from my very first impression. For like the first 30 seconds, I was convinced that I was holding a device made by Opera, the browser software company. You have to see it to understand, this phone literally has “Opera” written all over it — right from the sales package to the default user interface skin (which can be changed, thankfully). I wouldn’t be surprised if when it goes on sale people start referring to it as the “Opera Mini Phone”. That’s how overwhelming the Opera branding on this device is. Some really strong co-branding relationship is obviously going on here.
Quick specs
Like most droids in its class, the Pocket runs on the Gingerbread iteration of Android.
The phone’s build is reminiscent of Samsung’s Galaxy Pocket. No, scratch that, the Gionee Pocket looks A LOT like the Galaxy Pocket. So much that the naming similarity doesn’t look much like a co-incidence either. Save for a number of subtle differences, they’re practically each others’ spitting image. A lawsuit maybe? Haha.
Predictably, the Pocket is a dual-sim device. It’s got a 1.3 megapixel camera on the back, EDGE and Wi-Fi connectivity, and bluetooth. It comes with an SD card slot which already has 4GB card in it and is expandable to 32GB. The device is powered by a 1Ghz processor and comes with a 1280 Ah battery.
With a QVGA screen that measures out at 2.8 inches, this phone is a tiny device. Really tiny. In a world where 4+ inch touchscreens are now standard, I didn’t know they still make phones that small.
Connectivity
I’d like to talk a bit about the connectivity, the lack of 3G is conspicuous. It’s probably a compromise that allows them make the device at such a low price point. Intended or unintended however, there is some logic to leaving out 3G on this device. It means that the device will not guzzle nearly as much data as your average droid, which is great for people who don’t want to spend lots of money on data and don’t mind EDGE speeds. Of course browsing lacks the ease that 3G users are already used to, but it shouldn’t be any different from what the device’s target demographic are already used to. And to its credit, the device does compensate with Wi-Fi, for those who can take advantage.
Another thing. Unlike most phones on the market, you have to manually configure your mobile access point settings to get the Pocket to browse on a mobile network. I’m guessing that being new to the market and all, Gionee hasn’t quite found the time to establish the requisite relationships with the telcos. That’s something they’ll want to sort out before the phone hits the market.
Apps
In Gionee’s software department, someone overdid their homework. The Pocket is pre-loaded with a great selection of apps, and unlike Samsung, it’s hard to to describe any of them as bloatware, they’re all relevant and useful. Along with the default Google apps, the device comes with Facebook, Twitter, 2GO, Yahoo Messenger, Bible, Quran, anti-virus software, and of course Opera Mini, already installed. Any Nigerian can pick up this device and get right into it without feeling the need to start looking for “Ikeja boys” to help them download apps. Brilliant, I must say.
Performance
I haven’t really put it through it’s paces so it’s a bit too early to say anything definitive about the Pocket’s performance. The UI is snappy with no noticeable lag, and the multi-touchscreen is responsive. A major annoyance with most droids of this stamp is memory issues, which limits the number of apps you can install. I haven’t experienced that with the Pocket yet, even after installing a bunch of my must-have apps that didn’t come with the device. The pocket hesitates a bit in apps that require data, but that’s usually when it’s on EDGE, not Wi-Fi. Overall it hasn’t performed any less than you’d expect from a budget droid. It might even be better than most. The jury’s still out on that though.
Price
How much will it cost? From what I hear, between NGN10-11k. Sorry, Tecno N3, but Gionee’s Pocket looks certain to claim the title of Nigeria’s cheapest smartphone. Maybe even Africa’s. And now that people’ll soon be able to pick up Gionee’s Pocket for such a low sum, Samsung’s Galaxy Pocket is beginning to look really over-priced, even with the lack of 3G and a slightly inferior camera on the Gionee version. There’s no word on a launch date, but it’s safe to say the Gionee Pocket will hit the shelves pretty soon.
There you have it. My first impressions of the Gionee Pocket, a curious little budget droid that aims to give Samsung and Tecno a good run for their money in the race for BoP device market share. While it fairly scrapes the bottom of the barrel in capability, it’s got a number of things going for it — Android software, decent hardware relative to its rock bottom price, dual sim-appeal and Opera’s blessing. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one.
One last thing. The Pocket isn’t alone, it’s got a few bros. From Gionee’s Facebook page, I can see that it’s just the first of many headed in this direction. Expect to read about Gionee’s higher powered devices in the days to come.
