Launched: Gionees S8 with Helio P10, 3D touch & new Gionee logo


Gionee have unveiled the much-awaited (and much-leaked) Gionee S8 at the ongoing MWC 2016.

As expected, the S8 comes with the MediaTek MT6755 Helio P10 processor. Also, like other S-series phones from the company, the S8 has a metal body.

Full specifications of the phone include a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080p AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, 64GB on-board ROM, a 16 mega-pixel PDAF-enlabed rear camera (RWB sensor, f/1.8 aperture & laser focus), an 8 mega-pixel front facing camera, HiFi DTS sound and a 3000mAh battery. The S8 measures 154.3 x 74.9 x 7mm.

Furthermore, the S8 features support for worldwide LTE including bands b1 and b17.

Interestingly, the S8 also features support for 3D touch, or in other words, pressure-sensitive touch. Not only that, the phone will also ship with what Gionee call an ‘innovative’ side bar. Users will be able to trigger the side bar by pressing the sides of the display.

Gionee S8 Specifications

Model Gionee S8
SIM Card Dual Micro SIM
Color Gold, Rose Gold, Gray
Capacity RAM: 4GB

ROM: 64GB

Language Multi Language
Chipset CPU: MediaTek MT6755 Helio P10
System Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Screen Display size: 5.5-inches

Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels

Type: AMOLED

Cameras Rear:  16 mega-pixel PDAF, f/1.8 RWB & Laser Focus

Front: 8 mega-pixel

Battery capacity 3000mAh

New Gionee Logo

IMG-20160222-WA0003

Gizchina News of the week


The event didn’t just talk about the S8, but also a new logo that will now be Gionee’s identity.

Quoting the press release:

“The smiling face on new logo shows our desire to create happiness by developing built-in user-friendly technology and easy-to-use communication tools,” said William Lu, President of Gionee. “By adding emotional elements to our smartphones, we believe our ‘smilephones’ will allow us to maintain a place in the hearts of our consumers and gain a stronger position in the industry.”

The new logo combines the letters “i” and “j” to form a “G” which represents Gionee and subtly conveys the message, “I am joyful”. The brightened orange color signifies an energetic, passionate and warm image.

There’s no word on the availability or pricing of the S8 so far. Stay tuned for more!

Gionee S8 Photos

Press Release

Hands On

Gionee S8 Gionee S8 Gionee S8 Gionee S8 Gionee S8

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Previous Android 6.0 Marshmallow OTA for ZTE Axon Pro now seeding
Next MWC 2016: First photos of the 'bezel-less' Ulefone Future

56 Comments

  1. Yeti hand
    February 22, 2016

    they were smart enough to stay away from a 2k display which is nothing but a fantastic waste of battery and as useful as an antutu score.

    • February 22, 2016

      true that.

      • balcobomber25
        February 22, 2016

        You enjoying MWC so far? I only had an hour on the show floor, I am in meetings pretty much all day.

        • Tajwar
          February 22, 2016

          Good thing people like Yash and Andi are there more popular sites don’t give a crap about “nom main stream or motorola” phones.

        • February 22, 2016

          It’s not as busy as last year..

          • Tajwar
            February 22, 2016

            Did you by any chance have an hands-on with the two Idols?

            • February 22, 2016

              no had a ton of meetings today, and had to leave early, but tomorrow I will for sure

            • Tajwar
              February 22, 2016

              Thank, they do look really good with those mouth watering speakers.

            • balcobomber25
              February 22, 2016

              Ahh so I’m not the only one in meetings all day!

          • balcobomber25
            February 22, 2016

            This is my first year but I am in hotel conference rooms more than actually being at the conference center.

        • February 23, 2016

          Andi’s there for now, I’ll join him next time 😀

          • balcobomber25
            February 23, 2016

            Ahh I thought you were going too. I am enjoying my first time here kind of. I don’t have much time to see all the phones and my sleep is all jacked up, I’m still on US time.

  2. February 22, 2016

    Rebrand for Allview http://allview.ro/x3-soul-pro.html
    Price ~449 euro, ~495$ (overpriced) http://allviewmobile.com/index.php/x3-soul-pro.html

    • Minhaz Uddin
      February 22, 2016

      Gionee is the original manufacturer, Allview itself is a rebrand.

      • careeste
        February 23, 2016

        That s what he said ,einstein.He informed us about the price of the rebranded version.(allview)

  3. balcobomber25
    February 22, 2016

    I got some time with the S8 backstage through a Blu rep I know (anyone attending MWC this is the best chance network and make contacts within the industry!!). Before today I was 99% sure I was getting a Mi5, after today I am 50/50 between this and that. The camera was incredible from my limited hands on time, the build quality was amazing and the support for US LTE is icing on the cake.

    • Nico
      February 22, 2016

      After seeing the pictures, indeed it is a very good looking phone with amazing specs. Of course it is not a SD820 and if you don’t care or you are not a heavy gamer I think that you should go for it without any hesitation. First impressions counts a lot!!!!

      • balcobomber25
        February 22, 2016

        I don’t need an SD820 but I will give Xiaomi a chance to win me over for two reasons:

        Price – the Mi5 will be at least $100 (possible more) cheaper.
        Software – I love MIUI. And in the past Gionee’s Amigo has been a mess. I can’t say if it’s fixed now without extended time with it but it seems improved.

        • Simon
          February 22, 2016

          Alternatively use a third party launcher to solve the “mess”.

          • balcobomber25
            February 22, 2016

            The past problems with Amigo was more programming that needed updates and wouldn’t be solved with a launcher.

            • MattD
              February 22, 2016

              I asked a guy I knew on a blog if on his e8 amigo ui is still a mess like on my e7: he said it’s still packed with bloatware, but once cleaned, and with some add here and there thanks to xposed, now it’s not bad at all!

            • balcobomber25
              February 22, 2016

              I used the Blu version for about a month and it seemed a lot better than the E7 (which I owned). There wasn;t too much bloatware on it and what was there I got rid off with Titanium.

              As a side note the same rep who got me hands on with S8 let me use the Pure XL for a month. Whenever I go to these types of events I do nothing but network. I got my current job by meeting someone from Microsoft Mobile at a trade show.

            • Tajwar
              February 22, 2016

              So submerged your bloated phone (or old samsung) in Titanium™ and “poofh” no more bloat.

            • Simon
              February 22, 2016

              Fair enough. Will this get updates well into the future ?

            • balcobomber25
              February 22, 2016

              Honestly probably not, Gionee isn’t the best with updates.

            • Simon
              February 23, 2016

              Shame.

        • Tajwar
          February 22, 2016

          Woh no… not Amigo UI anything but that : P

    • February 22, 2016

      You were lucky to get hands on time with it. This morning I made a beeline for Gionee to get a hands on and they told me no photos till the afternoon. Went back in the afternoon and started taking photos and the phone was swiped out of my hands for the launch. Couldn’t make it to the launch as I had a meeting with Vivo (who aren’t officially here)

      • balcobomber25
        February 22, 2016

        I got to use it behind closed doors and it was only for about 15 minutes. It’s a classic Gionee with how thing and well built it is. If Amigo has improved it could be a very good phone.

    • jimberkas
      February 22, 2016

      so, did the Blu rep say when they would be rebranding the s8??
      they seem to always release their rebrands significantly cheaper than gionee.

      • balcobomber25
        February 22, 2016

        He wasn’t at the actual event he just knows I am a huge fan of Gionee so he called them up and arranged a meeting. I do plan on asking him though when I call to thank him. Chances are he won’t tell me anything definitive but if he does I will pass it on.

        • jimberkas
          February 22, 2016

          awesome! i’m in now hurry to upgrade my phone, so I have no problem waiting it out.
          thanks

          • balcobomber25
            February 22, 2016

            The only Blu phones I personally know of is two new Blu Windows Phones that will be launching this year.

  4. HBK
    February 22, 2016

    Wow.! Gionee’s Mediatek Helio P10 Device would cost more than Xiaomi’s Snapdragon 820 Device. Amazing.

    • balcobomber25
      February 22, 2016

      Gionee’s devices always cost more.

      • HBK
        February 22, 2016

        Thats Ok. But Helio P10 device costing more than Snapdragon 820 device. Realy? Ok.

        • balcobomber25
          February 22, 2016

          Xiaomi and Gionee have different sales strategies. Xiaomi sells at close to cost and relies on sustained sales and profits from MIUI to make up the difference. Gionee sells for a larger mark up knowing those initial sales will be the majority of their business.

  5. Simon
    February 22, 2016

    “The Gionee S8 is expected to arrive to Europe by the end of next Month, priced at 449 Euros” according to this article:

    http://www.androidauthority.com/gionee-s8-675584/

  6. Rizera
    February 22, 2016

    No fingerprint in a 449 euros 2016 phone?

    • balcobomber25
      February 22, 2016

      There is a fingerprint sensor. It’s built into the home button.

      • Muhammad Yasir
        February 23, 2016

        why not mentioned in the article ?!

  7. David Košič
    February 22, 2016

    I know phones are more than just processors however the htc phone with the p10 cost less than this phone. And usually HTC overvalues their phones quite a bit

    • Tajwar
      February 22, 2016

      HTC one x9 has a Mtk Helio x10 if that’s the one you meant.

      • David Košič
        February 22, 2016

        well they are basically the same thing except that the p10 has a weaker GPU right?

        • balcobomber25
          February 22, 2016

          They are close to each other in performance but the X10 is ahead of it. The current Mediate lineup would look roughly like this:

          MT6580 – developing markets
          MT6735/53 – entry level
          Helios P10 – mid range
          Helios X10 – upper mid range
          Helios X20 – Flagship.

          Most people won’t notice the difference between the X10 and P10 you would only really notice it in processor/gpu intensive tasks.

          • Marco Lancaster
            February 22, 2016

            People bashed MT6753 last year, but having it as a “entry” SoC that probably will be each time more “entry priced”, this year, will be just awesome.
            Even the MT6735 turned to be really good for my usage when I got one in my hands.
            Not experienced any MT6580, but theorically it should be just like a MT6582 on LP. maybe I’ll get one of those crazy cheap phones with that SoC just to try out.

            • balcobomber25
              February 22, 2016

              The 6580 is a 6582 with an upgraded modem, performance wise they are the same exact chip. It’s really only meant for places like Africa where LTE is either non existent or very expensive.

            • Marco Lancaster
              February 22, 2016

              Still have a MT6582 on CM12.1, and still quite decent, at least for my.mother usage 😛
              I saw some crazy deals with this MT6580, that would fit better for a emergency phone (you should know the backup phones logic/excuse.)
              Saw Hontom HT3 for 60$, btw build should be a concern at this price point. And Hontom is basically Doogee.

            • balcobomber25
              February 22, 2016

              I have an Alcatel One Touch Fierce with a 6589 as my emergency phone. It has never let me down when I needed it in a pinch. I actually bring it with me when I travel just in case.

            • Marco Lancaster
              February 24, 2016

              Currently I’m considering the first Bluboo Xfire, that sports MT6735, and it’s below 85$, also is one of these devices that I can see or wonder an Ok build quality looking to it. Also reviews about it states it like a good cheap device, and better than Moto E2.l that sits in same class.

  8. MattD
    February 22, 2016

    The phone looks good, logo and motto don’t ?

    • balcobomber25
      February 22, 2016

      Yea I think the new Logo is terrible.

  9. balcobomber25
    February 22, 2016

    In regards to the camera from what I was told it is the Samsung ISOCELL found in the Redmi Note 3 Pro, that didnt come from Gionee though that was told to me by an Indian tech journalist who was in the room with me (can’t remember his name but he was very nice). I am not sure how accurate this is though as Gionee usually uses Omnivision sensors.

  10. tauerman
    February 23, 2016

    Hi, is the ALLVIEW X3 SOUL PRO the same as the Gionee S8? http://www.computerbase.de/2016-02/allview-x3-soul-pro-force-touch-4-gb-ram-und-usb-typ-c/

    • careeste
      February 23, 2016

      Yes.

  11. Muhammad Yasir
    February 23, 2016

    fingerprint scanner ?