Home Hi-Tech Android World ,,,,, When we talk about “cinafonini” we now think of smartphones that are quite performing, but with a decidedly subdued aesthetic. Elephone S7 overturns the concept and, although not very original in appearance, it is among the most attractive Android devices. We tested it to see if all that glitters is really gold.
Aesthetics are everything for this S7
As already mentioned, Elephone S7 focuses a lot on aesthetics. In fact, when you open the package you can't help but appreciate it. The terminal is really nice, there is nothing to say. The dual edge display does not reach the curvature of the Galaxy S7 Edge, but the overall effect is very captivating. The blue coloring, Honor 8 style, helps it to look like a high-end terminal, although the back is made of plastic and not glass. Nevertheless, reflections and plays of light can be appreciated on the rear body, as happens on the aforementioned Honor terminal. In short, aesthetically Elephone S7 is truly a noteworthy smartphone, which cannot go unnoticed. It is also built and assembled very well: it does not creak and holds particularly well in the hand, thanks to the curves at the edges of the front and back.
The Elephone S7 line is clean, with an almost full-screen front, which leaves room only for an efficient Home button. This too, very similar to the Samsung one, but with more features. It seems, in fact, taken from a Meizu, and integrates back button, home and sensor functionality for fingerprint recognition. A single button that, therefore, incorporates all the functions for managing the screens and the Android UI. It also works well, with the Touch ID responding correctly, even from the terminal in standby, at least 9 times out of 10. It is also possible to set the virtual keys on the screen, which will naturally occupy a small portion of the 5.5-inch screen.
Display and technical characteristics
Speaking of the latter, the IPS unit is pleasant, with bright colors, which can be customized through the software, with a good level of brightness, which makes it readable even in direct sunlight. The sensor that automatically adjusts the brightness also works well, while the viewing angles are excellent, with colors that remain faithful and do not change even when the terminal is rotated conspicuously. In short, even the screen appears to be of good quality.
Elephone S7 is equipped with a Helio X20 MTK6797 2.0GHz Deca Core processor, with 4GB RAM and 64GB of integrated memory. The terminal, like many other “cinafonini” allows you to house two SIMs, or to sacrifice one in favor of the MicroSD. Already these characteristics should be able to adequately support the terminal, which in fact always shows itself ready and responsive, even if it lacks in the response to the touchscreen which is really a shame.
What we didn't like
What unfortunately ruins the user experience is the touchscreen. When scrolling any page with a direct swipe of the finger there is no problem, the terminal is always fluid and responsive. This can be easily seen while browsing the internet, which is pleasant, but where the terminal slips, on the other hand, is the response to slower touches and slides. In fact, just slide your finger gently on the screen to slide the home and notice the micro lag with which the icons move. Even when you type on the keyboard you realize that you forgive several touches, going to slightly ruin the usability in everyday life. This is probably certainly due to poor software optimization rather than a lack of hardware. For this it becomes very useful to use keyboards like Swiftkey, which automatically correct the text.
UPDATE : with one of the most recent updates, Elephone has significantly improved this aspect, making the use of the touchscreen more fluid, now more responsive and in everyday life, absolutely usable.
Multimedia
On a multimedia level, the phone mounts a 13 MP sensor on the back, 5 M on the front. The latter chamber is of insufficient quality, while the rear one defends itself, without ever reaching significant peaks. In perfect light conditions, in fact, you can get appreciable shots, but in many cases you realize that you don't have a performing camera in your hands. In particular, when photographing a distant subject, or a landscape, the camera loses detail at the edges of the photo, where it is sometimes blurred. As always, we leave it to the user to judge, proposing several shots taken by this Elephone S7, without any modification.
Another note of slight demerit, unfortunately, goes to the drums. The 3000mAh is sufficient to carry the user until the evening, but finishing the day is very problematic, and sometimes during our tests the terminal turned off in the late afternoon. Even in standby the samrtphone often continues to consume a lot, also thanks to a poor software optimization, but the real problem is during use. It will be the fault of the excellent display, but the battery notches, as you use it, will quickly decrease. In short, intensive use requires at least a second supplementary charge during the day.
Conclusions
It must be said that Elephone S7, for what it costs, has managed to be one of the most attractive Android smartphones from an aesthetic point of view. It really looks like a top of the Samsung range, and does not go unnoticed by the eye. If from the software point of view, with some updates, the development team will be able to make the touch screen and the response to touches more reliable, Elephone S7 could really establish itself as a must. Currently it is a beautiful terminal, but in everyday use it makes compromises.
To buy Elephone S7, we refer you directly to the manufacturer's website, where all the available variants are listed.
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