Elephone S7 and S7 Mini - it's getting colorful!

With the Elephone S7 and S7 Mini, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer "Elephone" has a new flagship and low budget smartphone in the starting blocks. Both devices are scheduled to appear in November and offer not only impressive features but also an interesting design concept. However, looks aren't everything if the hardware inside doesn't fit the concept. It will be a few weeks before the first test reports appear, which is why we first took a closer look at the device in the preview.

 The Elephone S7 Promotion on Gearbest. Click on the banner to get to the promo! 

Overview of the Elephone S7

 Fast processor 

The Elephone S7 will be the manufacturer's new flagship model. Equipped with a MediaTek Helio X20 processor and a Mali-T880 processor graphics, this smartphone is extremely fast on the go. The Helio X20 is a Deca-Core processor that clocks at 2.0GHz. The processor copes well with graphically more demanding games and the smartphone will not break into a sweat so easily in everyday multitasking due to the generous 4GB of RAM.

The smartphone is advertised with a curved, “bezel-less” Super In-Cell Display. “Bezel-less” refers to the relationship between the edge of the display and the edge of the case. Manufacturers often advertise their smartphones with such a display, but as soon as the first hands-on appear, expectations are often dampened because the display edge is much larger than expected. The Elephone S7 has already been released in China and the first videos on YouTube show that the display edge of the S7 is actually very small due to the slightly curved display.

The display diagonal is 5.5 inches with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Thanks to the in-cell technology used, the touchscreen is already integrated in the display. Multitouch is supported with a maximum of 5 simultaneous inputs. The display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.

 Camera 

On the back there is a 13 megapixel main camera with an f/2.2 aperture, autofocus and an LED flash. The manufacturer does not provide any information about the image sensor. Gadgets such as electronic image stabilization or real-time HDR are available. The front camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels. This camera also comes with gadgets such as an “auto beauty mode”.

 user interface 

The smartphone is delivered with Android 6.0. The manufacturer has not announced to what extent the user interface has been adapted. Most Elephone models, however, were delivered with a hardly changed Android, which is very much based on stock Android. It is very likely that the Elephone S7 will also use a clean Android.

 Telephony and sensors 

All 2G, 3G and 4G standards are supported. LTE Band 20 is also available. Those who rely on a dual SIM function will not be disappointed with the Elephone S7 either. Before you should pay attention, however, that it is a so-called hybrid slot, in which either the dual SIM function (2x Nano SIM) or the memory expansion option can be used! The internal memory can be expanded by a maximum of 128GB using a micro SD memory card.

 GPS is of course available. The smartphone also has an e-compass for more precise navigation. Other sensors are a brightness sensor, a proximity sensor and an acceleration sensor. Surprisingly, there is no gyroscope listed on the data sheet!

 E-Touch 2.0 and fingerprint scanner 

You won't find any capacitive control buttons on this smartphone. Instead, there is an E-Touch 2.0 button below the display that recognizes multifunctional inputs. The entire smartphone control is carried out via this one button. The fingerprint scanner is also not located on the back of this smartphone, but has been integrated into the E-Touch control button. Elephone specifies the unlocking time as 0.1 seconds. The recognition rate should be 99.7%.

 Battery 

The battery has a capacity of 3.000mAh and is therefore average. The expected running time is around 1 1/2 days with normal use. Quick Charge is supported. This allows the battery to be fully charged in a very short time. It has not yet been determined whether the manufacturer will also include a Quick Charge charger in the scope of delivery or, as with the Elephone P9000, dispense with a charger.

 variations 

The device is to appear in 3 different versions with 4 different color options. The smallest model of the Elephone S7 will be equipped with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The middle model offers 3GB RAM and an internal memory of 32GB. The advertised flagship is equipped with 4GB RAM and a full 64GB internal storage. There are a total of 4 options for the colors. In addition to standard black, there are also more colorful colors such as gold, blue or green. The color of the entire, unibody housing of the smartphone is matched. The curved back is made of plastic. The frame, on the other hand, is made of aluminum.

 The price is between 135 € and 188 €, depending on which model you choose. The smartphone is available from November! 

 Update (22.10.2016/7/XNUMX): Elephone has released a new video showing the user interface of the Elephone SXNUMX. One of the interesting features is the “Video Smooth” function, which makes videos appear even more smoothly. MiraVsion is also included and has been expanded to include some useful functions. Another feature is the “Split Screen” mode, in which the display is split down the middle and two apps can be displayed simultaneously. Here is the video on the official Elephone YouTube channel:

Overview of the Elephone S7 Mini

The little brother of the flagship model only differs in terms of the display diagonal, the built-in processor unit and the battery. The Elephone S7 Mini is more compact at 5.2 inches. Nevertheless, the display resolves in Full HD and also relies on in-cell technology. The built-in processor is the economical MediaTek MTK6737 quad-core. This 4-core processor clocks with a maximum of 1.5GHz. The main memory is a bit smaller at 2GB. The internal memory is 32GB. The capacity of the battery has been reduced to 2.4500mAh. However, that does not mean that the runtime is shorter than that of the top model. Especially the processor built into the Elephone S7 Mini is characterized by its economy!