Remember Gionee? The Chinese smartphone manufacturer is now back in the Nepali market with the Gionee M12, the company’s lower mid-range phone with massive RAM and battery. The phone will be officially distributed by Apex Group.
To start off, the Gionee M12 has a 6.55-inch IPS LCD display with 720 x 1600 pixels resolution and a 20:9 aspect ratio.
Under the hood, the phone has a MediaTek Helio P22 chipset with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage, which is expandable via a microSD card.
It has a quad-camera array at the back that includes 48MP wide, 5MP ultrawide, and two 2MP depth sensors for some weird reasons, while a single 16MP selfie shooter at the front does the job. There’s also a fingerprint scanner at the back of the phone for biometric security.
For connectivity, it uses Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 with A2DP, GPS, USB Type-C 2.0, FM radio, and hence a 3.5mm headphone jack.
- Display: 6.55-inch IPS LCD panel
- Resolution: 1600 x 720 pixels, 20:9 aspect ratio (~268ppi density)
- OS: Android 10
- Chipset: MediaTek Helio P22 (12nm)
- CPU: Octa-core (2.0GHz Cortex-A53)
- GPU: PowerVR GE8320
- Memory: 6GB RAM, 128GB onboard storage; expandable via a dedicated microSDXC slot
- Rear Camera: Quad — 48MP, f/1.8 (wide), PDAF + 5MP, f/2.2 (ultrawide) + 2MP (depth) + 2MP (depth)
- Secondary Camera: Single — 16MP, (wide)
- Sensor: Fingerprint (rear-mounted), accelerometer, proximity
- Battery: Li-Po 5,100mAh; non-removable; 10W charging
The Gionee M12 carries a 5,100mAh battery with 10W charging to keep lights on, and out of the box the phone boots on a bit outdated Android 10.
Gionee M12 Price in Nepal and Should you buy it?
The Gionee M12 goes for a price of NPR 24,999 for the 6GB/128GB variant in Nepal. The phone is available for purchase via retail stores located across Nepal.
Gionee, back then, had a huge fan following in Nepal and was known for what Oppo and Vivo are undertaking now — aggressive advertising with a huge focus on camera specs on paper. However, the company slowly started to fade away once the market got competitive, but the final nail in the coffin was its financial mismanagement which later pushed the company into bankruptcy.
The firm is now back on its feet, but the real question remains — should you buy the Gionee M12 or any Gionee phones for that matter? The pricing structure will no doubt be a huge deciding factor but what about the software/security updates (the company came under constant scrutiny even back then regarding poor security updates) and after-sales service? Gionee is yet to answer these questions, and we believe they’ll soon but for now, given the company’s bewildering state, it’s better to hold off your interest or invest your cash in some well-established brand that offers better value, unless of course, you’re a Gionee fan.
Undoubtedly, Gionee was once a huge brand and had a firm grasp of the Nepali smartphone market but with the competition getting stronger than ever, it’ll be a huge mistake if the company rests on its laurels. Regardless, the re-entry of Gionee is a win-win situation for consumers looking for more options.
So what do you think? Will you bet your hard earned cash on Gionee’s smartphones or will you look for better alternatives? Let us know.
