Elephone have sent over a sample of the affordable Elephone P7 Blade to take a look at, here are unboxing photos and first impressions.
This is the second Elephone we have been sent to try out, the first was the P6 which we were pleasantly surprised with when we reviewed it last year. Elephone have come a long way since the P6, and now their range is made up mostly of more ‘unique’ designs rather than ‘inspired’devices.
Before actually seeing the phone in the flesh I had seen plenty of photos of the black bodied phone with red highlights, and was eager to see if the look would translate well in to real life, here is are my first impressions.
Elephone P7 Blade – in the box
Upon removing the tightly fitting lid from the black and silver box you come to see the Elephone P7 Blade itself, safely wrapped up in a plastic wrapper. Lifting the phone out and underneath a cardboard patrician there is also an included screen film, USB data cable, charger and an instruction manual. No ear buds are included, which is fine by me as they are usually of low quality on these more affordable phones.
Elephone P7 Blade – First impressions
Slipping the phone from its packing reveals for the first time (for me at least) the black and red body of the phone. In all honesty I was hoping it would look a little better in real life, but that is just my personal preference.
The P7 Blade has a 5.5-inch display, but to keep the price down uses a low resolution 960 x 540 panel. Another cost cutting decision is the thickness of the bezels which has an effected on the overall width of the phone, making the Blade wider than the Oppo Find 7 and as wide as the 5.7-inch iOcean X8.
These choices help to keep the cost low, but do make the phone less comfortable to hold than other options, but considering it costs only $99.99 (international price) I’m sure most people won’t mind.
Below the display are 3 capacative touch buttons, and above a front facing 2 mega-pixel camera.
The edges of the Elephone P7 blade are highlighted with red on the left, where the volume rocker is located, and right where you can find the power button. These are the only physical controls on the phone and don’t sit quite in the center of the phone but this does not cause an issue when in use.
Speakers are located in the base of the phone, while the Micro USB and 3.5mm headphone jack live on the front.
The black textured rear has been made to look like carbon fibre and is something you will either love or hate. The Elephone logo is located in the center and an 8 mega-pixel rear camera with LED flash protrudes from the back a little further up.
Pull the rear off and this is where you fill find the removable 2300mAb battery. Dual SIM are also supported, but in this case you can use two regular size SIM cards rather than one normal and one micro, and lastly there is space for a micro SD card.
Overall Elephone have done a good job at trying to spruce up the look of a low-cost phone, and on the whole it has worked. If you don’t like the black and red there is also the option of white with red too.
I’ve been playing around with the P7 Blade outside in the sun and find the OGS display to be bright enough to be seen and being a thinner OGS panel offers better viewing angles than a phone of this price ought to.
Elephone haven’t got around to updating their quad-core phones, so the P7 Blade and it’s Mediatek MT6582 processor is still running on Android 4.2 rather than 4.4k Kitkat. The ROM isn’t entirely stock though and has the look and feel of Samsung Touchwhizz.
I haven’t looked at photos taken with the rear camera on my computer yet, but can see that even taken on a bright day they the 2.8 aperture isn’t letting in as much light as I might like and images are darker than they should be, I assume that low-light photos will be quite noisy.
The reviews are piling up here, but I hope to get around to finishing the Elephone P7 Blade off sooner rather than later. In the meantime you can get more details of this $99.99 octacore smartphone from the official Elephone website.
[ Elephone ]
P8 is their only worthy device for the price they offered to consumer outside China.
i dont find any retailers selling this phone at 99$.
That’s the price they told us it would be. I will see if I can get a link from them tomorrow.
http://pixeldensitycalculator.com/?h=540&v=960&d=5.5
not bad actually!!
does it have OTG like P7mini?
when can it be ordered??
Hi Andy, I am just wondering if you could give me your opinion. In the following list which phone you would recommend me? Of course, some of them are not available yet in the market.
– Jiayu G4S or G5S (I really like both phones and I think that for the price with MIUI ROM it should be a killer phone. Don’t know which one to buy in terms of performances.)
– Xiaomi MI2S (released more than a year ago, it has no WCDMA 900MHZ)
– ZTE Nubia Z5S Mini (battery built-in, it is a shame because its screen is amazing)
– Innos D10F
– Hasee X50
– Xiaomi MI3S (maybe I should wait for Xiaomi announcement for 15th May)
– ZTE Star 1 (not released yet)
– Xiaomi Hongmi 1S (1GB is not enough with demanding applications these days)
– ZTE Redbull V5 (not released)
– Nibiru H1
Your help will be appreciated! I really don’t know what to order, I have a budget around 350$. Like most people, I am willing to buy a nice built quality
phone with great performances and continuous updates.
Thanks,
JM
Personally the Xiaomi Mi2S, it has a Snapdragon 600 CPU, 2GB RAM, and a decent 13 mega-pixel rear camera. Price and availablilty are great too. You didn’t mention in your list but what about the Mi3? If you can live without 4G it is also an awesome phone.
Hi Andi, thank you very much for your message. Well, with the shipping costs the price of the MI2S is 250€ (ibuygou) and the Jiayu G4S 153€ (jiayu store). The Jiayu G4S has great specs like Octa-Core 1,7GHz, WCDMA 3G 900 Mhz, Dual Sim, Micro SD up to 32GB, 3000mAh. It is a shame that Xiaomi is not releasing an updated version of the MI2S (brand new specs) with at least the 3G for France. The MI3 is an amazing phone but I never had a android phone before so I am a bit scared about the size of the screen, that’s why I am more interested by a device with a screen size between 4,3″ and 4,7″. I really don’t know what to buy. Thanks. JM
with that price(less than 380-390USD considering SG Fee, why not iuni u2??
You are the person who recommended me all the phones listed above, honestly I considered to buy the Iuni U2 for a long time before to change my mind because of its built-in battery and ROM (not really advanced). Moreover, it is really hard to find a good retailer who sell that device. Regarding the Xiaomi MI2S, I have seen some people who had bad experiences with their phones (I know it is you and your luck). I think that I will go for either Jiayu G4S (or G5S) even if I am not sure of my purchase but the price difference between MI2S and G4S is quite significant (almost 100€). I will for sure install MIUI ROM and buy an additional 3000mAh with external charger for replacement. Thanks.
$99.99 is gimmick! Even their own authorize dealer sell no where near that price! Scam! $99.99 is just to catch attention!
>the P6 which we were pleasantly surprised with
Andi please, http://mtkforums.com/viewforum.php?f=54
“In the meantime you can get more details of this $99.99 OCTACORE smartphone” Mtk 6582, octacore? I’m confused now! mtk 6582 is quad :
Im interested where can I buy this?
Great but 4.7 inch is better display size, 2GB, and the best is wcdma 850/1900/2100. They can not build enought to sell.
4.7 inch screen will cost more nowadays,as 5 and 5,5 inch have gone into mass production
I have this phone. But it is only good as gaming device. First impression is very good with slim body and good screen. Processor is good and smooth in operation.
But after looking in detail you will find cheap build quality for frame, poor in call sound both from both speakers, poor microphone recording in videos and sound recording and finally the worst part the camera which is totally useless in any condition. Also light sensor is faulty.