Gionee S6s vs OPPO F1s vs Vivo V5: the best selfie smartphone?

From VGA cameras at the front of smartphones to secondary snappers with higher megapixel counts – it’s easier to see the rise of selfies within such a short span of time. In fact, nowadays phones are offering higher resolution at the front in comparison to the rear cameras. We’re constantly seeing new mobile devices that are breaking new records for selfie capabilities, and the latest one in that league is the Vivo V5, which is the world’s first smartphone with 20MP camera. Priced at Rs 17,980, the phone comes across as an attractive package.

However, around Rs 18,000, there are some other devices that are also known for their selfie prowess, namely the Gionee S6s and OPPO F1s. So let’s pit them against each other to see which one is the best selfie smartphone out there.

The Externals

All three smartphones are phablets with their 5.5-inch displays. That’s not the only similarity between them as they also sport all-metal bodies. Each of them sport premium looks, and are available in gold or grey colours. However, between the three, the Vivo V5 offers the best in-hand feel thanks to its slim design and lightweight build.

In terms of the display, both the OPPO F1s and Vivo V5 come with a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. The displays offer sharp text and crisp images, although the Gionee S6s goes a step ahead with its full HD resolution. In all three phones, the display gets Gorilla Glass protection.

The Internals

Both the OPPO F1s and Vivo V5 are powered by MediaTek’s octa-core processor dubbed MT6750. It offers a clock speed of 1.5GHz. In contrast, the Gionee S6s features a less powerful 1.3GHz octa-core chipset under the hood.

Talking about RAM, both the OPPO F1s and Vivo V5 are really powerful as they offer 4GB of capacity. With such amount of RAM, the phones deliver smooth performance and it must be noted that the same capacity is usually available in premium smartphones. On the other hand, the Gionee S6s features 3GB of RAM, and thus might face little difficulty when multiple apps are opened.

For storage, both the Gionee S6s and Vivo V5 have 32GB of memory by default. The OPPO F1s gets a leg up in comparison as it has double the storage, i.e. 64GB on board. The trio also offer memory expansion capabilities with the support for microSD cards.

When it comes to the battery life, all three phones should be able to last a day of use. They come fuelled by similar battery capacities, with the Gionee S6s having an edge with a 3,150mAh battery, followed by a 3,075mAh unit of the OPPO F1s. Even though the Vivo V5 comes with slightly lesser 3,000mAh capacity, it offers a ton of options to extend the battery juice depending on one’s need.

The Cameras

Without a doubt, the three handsets put a lot of importance on their camera capabilities, and not just the rear one. Interestingly, both the OPPO F1s and Vivo V5 come with higher resolution camera at the front than the 13-megapixel sensor at the back. The Gionee S6s also have a 13MP primary camera. The phablets offer an impressive image quality with vibrant colours. There are a number of features that all three feature – HDR, panorama, and slow-mo video among others.

But as mentioned earlier, the actual battle between these mobiles is on the selfie front. And, that’s where the Vivo V5 is a clear winner, with its well-detailed selfies owing to a 20MP sensor. It also gets help from an LED flash, which the company dubs as the moonlight glow, as it can illuminate the dim environments. The Gionee S6s also come with a flash module, but it only has an 8MP shooter at the front. The OPPO F1s can also stand on its own with its 16MP secondary camera, but only have screen flash functionality. The phones also have beauty modes to ensure your face looks better, though Vivo V5 does the proper justice to the same as the facial features don’t look artificial.

Connectivity and more

In terms of connectivity, all three phones offer a gamut of options – support for dual-SIM 4G VoLTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

The software aspect of the phones varies starkly. The F1s come with quite an old version of Android, i.e. Lollipop, while the S6s and V5 have relatively recent Android Marshmallow. However the underlying platform doesn’t make much of a difference in terms of the interface since the trio come with different customisations on top. The Gionee S6s has Amigo UI, while the OPPO F1s come with Color OS and FunTouch OS runs on the Vivo V5. Each of them offer a number of features, though FunTouch does come with some really useful options that enhance the user experience.

Conclusion

It’s clear that the battle between the three smartphones is a close one, though the Gionee S6s does lose out to the OPPO F1s and Vivo V5. Between these two, the choice is even more difficult. However, the Vivo V5 certainly comes across as a better deal with its front camera offering the highest megapixel count and better user experience. Acting as an icing on the cake is its slightly cheaper pricing of Rs 17,980 in comparison to the Rs 18,990 price tag of the OPPO F1s.