Gretel GT6000 Smartphone Review

The device runs on a sedate Mediatek MT6737 quad-core processor at 1.3 GHz. The ARM Mali T720 graphics unit takes things at a similarly leisurely pace. Even so, for the most part the smartphone operates fluidly - a happy circumstance that arises from the lack of bloatware. At 2 GB, the RAM is not exactly bountiful; but today’s iOS devices generally do not offer more here. 16 GB of storage space is skirting the lower limit for these Chinese smartphones. According to the manufacturer, the GT6000 supports memory expansion to up to 32 GB. This additional memory can be formatted as internal.

In terms of connections, the Gretel proves spartan: The bottom edge houses a micro-USB connection, mirrored in placement by the headphone jack. The volume rocker and power button reside to the right -  the tray for the SIM and/or SD card is located opposite. In our tests, the GT6000 did not accept any cards larger than the stated 32 GB. The connections and buttons are all spaced far apart, which should prevent users from accidentally hitting the wrong keys or sticking things in the wrong slot. The only potential problem we encountered was with the USB port, which holds USB cables a little loosely.

In terms of communication, the GT6000 offers the standard fare: Bluetooth 4.0, WLAN in the standards 802.11 b/g/n (including the 5-GHz band), as well as LTE in the frequencies 800, 900, 1800, 2100 and 2600 MHz. With those specs, the smartphone can be used in many places (including Germany).

The WLAN speed is reasonably high for its class, as our comparison chart with other phones from Asia demonstrates. Here the GT6000 easily takes the lead, by and large. But compared with high-end devices, the Gretel phone cannot claim to hold its own. High-end devices generally possess considerably more powerful WLAN chips and reach speeds around 5x as fast. 

To perform the original primary function of a smartphone - phone calls - Gretel employs the standard Android telephone app. In contrast to the app logo, within the application the company uses unchanged symbols. Our test phone call went smoothly. Our conversation partner was easy to understand, though the finer sounds associated with speech were a bit muffled. We did not hear any distortion or background noise.

The smartphone does not come with a headset.

The camera equipment looks truly impressive on paper: a 5 MP selfie camera, and a dual camera with 13 MP on the back. These specs piqued our curiosity, especially given that the Blackview A9 Pro’s dual camera takes astonishingly good photos, even though it only offers 8 MP. Unfortunately, the GT6000 isn’t quite as convincing here. The front camera generates washed out and blurry pictures, much like one would expect of a 2 MP camera. Due to the higher resolution, the back camera’s pictures contain more detail. Zooming in closer, a bit of a pixelated effect is detectable. The bokeh effect (background blur) doesn’t come close to that of the A9 Pro. But in principle, the back camera’s performance is solid. In poor lighting, the photos are extremely dark - as our sample shot demonstrates.

The selection of accessories included with the smartphone is rather spartan: a silicone shell and a USB cable with a charging device are all you will find. The manufacturer does not offer any other customized accessories.

There is little to say on the subject of warranty conditions either: The manufacturer does not provide any information here. Chinese companies often accept returns, as long as it can be proven from a distance that the item is defective. But return shipment is quite difficult, especially given that it usually costs 40-50 Euros (~$50-60). Considering the price of the device, customers are unlikely to want to go to the trouble. If you order the device from China, please take a look at our article on CE marking and customs clearance. Moreover, please see our Guarantees, Return Policies & Warranties FAQ for country-specific information. If you want to play it safe, purchase the device through a distributor in your home country. If you buy the device from a distributor in the EU, the distributor is legally required to accept returns for 14 days, and the minimum warranty period is two years.

Compared with the throngs of current smartphones, our mass storage device’s speeds fall among the lower third. However, these speeds are on par with our device’s true competition. Only the more expensive and better equipped Blackview P2 achieves significantly better results here.

The GT6000’s SD card slot leaves much to be desired. In our test with a Toshiba Exceria SD-CX32UHS1, we recorded write speeds of a little over 8 MB per second. The competition manages speeds nearly twice as fast, and that despite not being particularly fast in its own right. In terms of read speeds, the competitors all obtain similarly low results. 

The GT6000 proves to set store by modesty in the realm of temperatures, too. In use, the phone hardly feels warm at all. Our temperature measurements substantiate this subjective impression. In almost every spot, the device remains below body temperature. Only one corner of the front side warms to slightly over 40°C (104°F). 

Frequenzdiagramm im Vergleich (Checkboxen oben an-/abwählbar!)

In the realm of energy consumption, the Gretel device produced similar results to all inexpensive phones from China: The rate of power usage is quite high. Though in the GT6000’s case, one culprit for this is the extra bright display. The competition from Blackview does not prove to manage energy usage much better. The only exception here is the Lenovo device, which particularly under load generates better results.

The power supply charges the smartphone fully in just under three and a half hours - an appropriate amount of time for such a large battery.

Despite its high energy consumption, when it comes to battery life, the GT6000 outpaces all its competitors. For the devices with substantially smaller batteries, that is no surprise. Only the Blackview P2 plays in the same league here, and our test device even beats the P2 by a margin of about 10%. Having said that, the P2 does provide considerably more processing power. In idle mode, at minimum brightness, with WLAN deactivated and the screen turned on, the smartphone should run for up to two days. If the device’s energy management were better, it would be possible to surpass even that run time. The world should pay attention - when it comes to energy consumption, Chinese smartphones are slowly but surely catching up.

If the battery is empty, it cannot be switched out - though when carrying a device with a 6000 mAh battery, users are unlikely to bring along a second battery in any case.