Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 vs Gionee Elife E7 vs Lenovo Vibe X: Specs showdown

Samsung has tried to rectify most of the mistakes found in the Grand, with its latest Grand 2. On the other hand, Gionee’s Elife E7 brings in nifty specs for a comparatively lower price tag and may even beat the Nexus 5. Lenovo also seems to be all geared up to add to the competitively-priced high-end smartphones with its Vibe X. So, we decided place all three in the ring for a quick specs showdown.
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2, significant improvement to the Grand
With the Grand 2, Samsung again tries to bolster its mid-range offerings. Coming from a Tier-1 company, the Grand 2 is well priced for the specifications it offers. It has also paid heed and tried to rectify all the criticism it faced for the Galaxy Grand. The smartphone sports a 5.25-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution, and pixel density of up to 280 ppi. The internals have also been beefed up as the Galaxy Grand 2 is powered by a Qualcomm chipset (most likely the Snapdragon 400) with a quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and there’s a healthy 1.5GB of RAM on board. It runs on Android 4.3, and there is no word on whether it will get Android KitKat. On the connectivity front, it gets 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS/A-GPS and GLONAAS. It comes equipped with an 8-megapixel shooter and 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. The company has launched an 8GB model of the device which will be priced between Rs 22,990 and Rs 24,990, which can be further expanded upto 64GB via microSD card slot. Check out our first impressions and specifications review
Gionee Elife E7

ELIFE E7 is the flagship phone from Gionee sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoCElife E7 is the new flagship from Gionee

The key highlights of the Gionee Elife E7 are its 16-megapixel BSI camera and 8-megapixel front-facing camera, along with a superior processor. It sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display with Gorilla Glass 3 scratch protection, and pixel density count that goes all the way up to 401ppi. The smartphone will be available in two variants — a 4G-enabled model will be powered by a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and the 3G version with a 2.2GHz processor. The RAM would vary depending upon the onboard storage–16GB E7 unit gets 2GB RAM and 32GB unit will come equipped with 3GB of RAM. On connectivity, one will find all the usual suspects and it also supports NFC. Users can pick the device in a wide range of colours including black, white, blue, pink, green, yellow and orange. Overall it seems to be a great option in terms of specs, and comes attached with a price of Rs 26,999 for the 16GB version and Rs 29,999 for the 32GB variant.

Lenovo Vibe X

The display is bright and renders crisp testThe display is bright and renders crisp test

Lenovo recently launched the Vibe X sporting 5-inch full-HD display that has a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and a pixel density of 441ppi. The display also comes with a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, just as seen in the Elife E7. On the processor front, it seems to have gone the Micromax Turbo way with a quad-core MediaTek MTK6589T chipset that clocks at 1.5GHz. There’s a healthy 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. Unlike most of the smartphones, it runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box without any customisation. The Vibe X is fitted with a 13-megapixel autofocus rear BSI camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera that comes with a wide-angle 84 degree lens. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS and cellular 3G. The 16GB Vibe X model is currently selling for Rs 25,999. See our hands-on and first impressions of the Vibe X.

Bottom line:

Though the Grand 2 comes with a significantly improved display compared to its predecessor, it still falls way behind when compared to the Elife E7 and Vibe X. Vibe X features the sharpest display with pixel density that goes all the way up to 440 ppi. Fitted with a 5-inch display–smaller than both its rivals–it also appears to be slim and sleek at 121 grams and with 6.9mm thickness compared to the other two devices.

However, when it comes to the processor and battery, the Grand 2 and Elife E7 are better positioned. The Grand 2 is most likely getting the Snapdragon 400, and the Elife E7 takes the competition to a higher level by coming with a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, which is seen in high-end smartphones priced well over Rs 35,000. The Elife E7 supports NFC while Grand 2 supports GLONAAS, whereas Vibe X lacks both.

Coming to the most important aspect – pricing. Samsung hasn’t declared the exact pricing but the Grand 2 is expected to be priced somewhere between Rs 22,990 and Rs 24,990 for the 8GB model (the only storage capacity it is made available in the Indian market). It does come with an expandable storage slot that supports up to 64GB memory card. On the other hand, at a similar price both Lenovo and Gionee offer 16GB models of their respective devices, but haven’t left room for any expandable slot.

Overall, Gionee and Samsung are well positioned to take this segment by storm thanks to the brand name (in Samsung’s case) and the high-end internals (in the case of the Elife E7), but Lenovo’s choice of an aging MediaTek MT6589T processor could come back