Elephone P8000 Smartphone Review

Despite the Elephone P8000's low price, it features a metal casing. The rear's shimmering zigzag pattern and speaker's grille that resembles an equalizer display is likely the most striking design detail. In return, the device's front looks quite conventional.

Elephone offers its device in three colors: white, gold, and dark gray. Our review sample was delivered in dark gray. White highlights, such as around the USB port, enliven the design. At first glance, the casing makes a first-rate and nicely designed impression. However, the transition from the metal frame to the display's glass is not as high quality. The back cover can be removed, but the gaps are not absolutely even.

The phone copes with pressure applied to the back quite well, but it quickly becomes visible in the liquid crystals on the front. The P8000 can hardly be warped, and only produces a quiet creaking noise even under high force. The good quality impression is surprising especially for the low price range. However, it is relatively heavy at 203 grams (~7 oz).

The 3 GB of working memory in the Elephone P8000 is imposing even if few apps would really need it. The smartphone's 16 GB of storage is not tightfisted either, and it can even be expanded via an SD card. However, the micro-SD card reader in our review sample did not function very reliably, and the inserted card was often not identified correctly. Apps cannot be moved to external storage media.

The device accepts two micro-SIM cards, and LTE can be used with both although only with one at a time. Besides that, an FM radio is installed, and a special feature is the fingerprint scanner on the back.

Communication & GPS 

LTE has become standard in smartphones in the 200 Euro (~$226) price range. The Elephone P8000 provides that and supports three bands for accessing all networks in foreign countries. However, the frequency diversity is limited overall, which should be considered when traveling abroad. The LTE reception in the German D1 networks was good in an urban area. The signal strength of our review sample was lower than that of OnePlus' One.

Connecting with Wi-Fi networks is possible in the 802.11 b/g/n standards, which excludes the 5 GHz network. The reception to the router was still 50% at a distance of 10 meters (~33 feet) and through three walls; it took noticeably longer for websites to open than directly beside the router.

Telephone & Call Quality

Google's stock version of the phone app that is shipped with Android 5.1 is preloaded. Elephone did not modify anything here.

We very much liked the call quality. We heard our contact very clearly, and it was confirmed that the microphone did not overdrive even when we screamed. We were also intelligible when we spoke quietly. Our only wish for improvement is that the contact would be rendered a bit louder. Otherwise, we were pleasantly surprised with the call quality.

Cameras & Multimedia

13 megapixels on the rear and 5 megapixels on the front are normal resolutions for smartphone cameras in the 200 Euro (~$226) price range today. The rear-facing camera in the Elephone P8000 also features an LED flash and auto focus. Both cameras in the phone come from Samsung.

The Elephone P8000 cannot compete with the image quality of high-end smartphone cams. The rear-facing camera is irritating due to blurriness and overly illuminated edges; it is not noticed as much when the picture is not blown up. The color reproduction is a bit too blue. The colors shot with the front-facing camera are good, but blurriness is also a nuisance here.

Videos can be recorded in 1080p at 30 frames per second. They are quite good, and the focus is also easy to adjust.

The resolution of the 5.5-inch screen is considerably finer with 1920x1080 pixels than that of the comparison devices. The image impression is correspondingly clear and sharp. On the other hand, the P8000's screen brightness lags behind; an average of only 328.7 cd/m² is much lower than in other smartphones. However, the illumination of 95% is very homogeneous, and thus brightness differences are not visible on large colored areas.

The brightness has to be increased considerably to see something on the glossy screen outdoors. However, it is still difficult especially when looking at dark pictures - the maximum brightness would simply have to be higher. It is usually enough in the shade and indoors.

Temperature

The Elephone P8000 clearly gets warmer than the comparison devices. The casing temperature reaches up to 46.8 degrees Celsius (~116 °F) on the upper back under load. That is much too warm, and feels unpleasant when touching this area. The device can also get warm during prolonged idle mode with a maximum of 42.2 degrees (~108 °F) on the front. That is also a very palpable temperature increase. Elephone should make improvements here.

Although the back can be removed and the gigantic 15.4 watt hour battery is visible, it unfortunately cannot be removed. We were not satisfied with the battery life, which results from the high consumption rates. Even if the Internet browsing time of 10:37 hours via Wi-Fi is longer than all comparison devices, the battery's massively higher weight has to be accepted. A smaller battery with better consumption rates would have also done the job here.