Chart Topper: The Gionee Marathon M5 battery life test is in

Gionee Marathon M5 is one truly fascinating device. This chubby fella is heavy at 211g for a reason - the 5.5" smartphone is powered by a massive Li-Po 6,020 mAh. The mid-range chipset in charge of the Marathon M5 isn't popular as a power efficient silicone, but considering the battery size and the modest quad-core processor, it shouldn't matter that much.

The M5 utilizes a 5.5" AMOLED screen, which may affect the power performance, too, as the AMOLEDs turned out not that great performance on previous Gionee smartphones.

Enough with the introductions, let's get down to business, shall we?

Gionee has rated the M5 capable of making 68 hours of 2G calls and 28 hours when hooked on to a 3G network. In our testing the M5 lasted 38 hours worth of calltime on a 3G network.

Talk time

• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 LTE
  46:44h
• Gionee Marathon M5
  38:07h
• Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
  33:20h
• Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G
  33:19h
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  32:54h
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  32:53h
• Oppo R7 Plus
  30:46h
• OnePlus 2
  30:29h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  30:29h
• Motorola DROID Turbo
  30:09h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL Dual SIM
  29:46h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE Dual SIM
  29:46h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  29:46h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE
  29:46h
• Huawei Honor 5X
  29:40h
• HTC One (M8) for Windows
  28:34h
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  28:34h
• Nokia Lumia 1520
  28:34h
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  28:31h
• Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet LTE
  28:25h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
  28:23h
• Huawei G8
  27:44h
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  27:37h
• Sony Xperia Z1
  26:53h
• Huawei Mate 8
  26:45h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 active
  26:29h
• Motorola Moto X Play
  26:28h
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  26:01h
• Samsung P6800 Galaxy Tab 7.7
  25:45h
• LG G3
  25:38h
• LG G Pro 2
  25:37h
• LG G Flex
  25:19h
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  25:16h
• LG G2
  25:15h
• Samsung Galaxy A7 Duos
  25:12h
• Huawei Ascend Mate
  25:12h
• BlackBerry Passport
  25:12h
• Samsung Galaxy A7
  25:12h
• Motorola Nexus 6
  25:03h
• Alcatel Hero
  25:02h
• Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos
  25:02h
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  25:02h
• Oppo N1
  25:01h
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  24:52h
• Sony Xperia Z Ultra
  24:23h
• Oppo R7s
  24:03h
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  23:49h
• LG AKA
  23:20h
• Sony Xperia Z3
  23:13h
• Meizu PRO 5
  23:10h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE Dual SIM
  23:09h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE
  23:09h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual SIM
  23:09h
• Oppo R7
  22:58h
• Samsung P6200 Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus
  22:42h
• Motorola Moto E (2nd gen)
  22:36h
• Motorola Moto X Style
  22:23h
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  22:20h
• Huawei MediaPad 7 Vogue
  22:16h
• HTC One Max
  22:13h
• Sony Xperia Z2
  22:13h
• Nokia Lumia 1020
  22:13h
• Nokia Lumia 1320
  22:13h
• Samsung Galaxy Core LTE
  22:13h
• Lenovo ZUK Z1
  22:13h
• Sony Xperia C3 Dual
  22:11h
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  22:09h
• Yota YotaPhone 2
  22:09h
• Samsung ATIV SE
  22:05h
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
  22:02h
• Xiaomi Redmi Note
  21:41h
• Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
  21:39h
• Motorola RAZR MAXX
  21:18h
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  21:02h
• Meizu m2 note
  20:55h
• Huawei Nexus 6P
  20:50h
• LG Optimus G Pro E985
  20:45h
• HTC One M9
  20:44h
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  20:42h
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  20:40h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
  20:27h
• Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX
  20:24h
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  20:22h
• Motorola RAZR i XT890
  20:07h
• Huawei Ascend Mate7
  20:06h
• Samsung Galaxy A3 Duos
  20:04h
• Samsung Galaxy E7
  20:04h
• Samsung Galaxy A3
  20:04h
• Oppo Find 7
  20:03h
• Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
  20:01h
• BlackBerry Q10
  20:00h
• OnePlus One
  19:56h
• Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
  19:55h
• Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 I9200
  19:54h
• Sony Xperia SP
  19:49h
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  19:48h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  19:48h
• Sony Xperia T3
  19:48h
• HTC Butterfly 2
  19:23h
• HTC Butterfly S
  19:14h

We ran our web browsing script on the Gionee Marathon M5, which mimics normal browsing with a few web pages saved on our servers. The M5 managed to run the script for few minutes short of 31 hours - a really impressive score. Then again - the M5 packs a massive battery and modest specs, so it isn’t that surprising, and, in fact, it could have been better.

Web browsing

• Gionee Marathon M5
  30:51h
• Huawei Mate 8
  17:05h
• Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G
  16:41h
• Sony Xperia E4
  16:40h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 active
  16:25h
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  15:11h
• Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet LTE
  15:05h
• Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
  14:52h
• Sony Xperia Z5
  14:35h
• Meizu MX4
  14:06h
• Huawei Ascend Mate7
  13:53h
• Huawei P8
  13:32h
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  13:26h
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  13:14h
• HTC Butterfly 2
  13:11h
• Meizu m1 note
  13:05h
• Huawei Honor 6
  12:59h
• Meizu PRO 5
  12:51h
• Sony Xperia C
  12:45h
• Motorola Moto E (2nd gen)
  12:42h
• Nokia Lumia 1520
  12:40h
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  12:37h
• HTC One (M8) for Windows
  12:31h
• HTC Desire 700 dual sim
  12:30h
• HTC One (M8)
  12:29h
• Apple iPhone 6s
  12:27h
• ZTE Nubia Z9
  12:18h
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  12:18h
• Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos
  12:18h
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  12:17h
• Sony Xperia Z3
  12:03h
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  11:55h
• Nokia XL
  11:54h
• Motorola Moto X Play
  11:52h
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  11:51h
• Sony Xperia Z3+
  11:51h
• HTC Desire 816
  11:48h
• Sony Xperia C3 Dual
  11:47h
• LG G2
  11:42h
• Samsung Galaxy A5 Duos
  11:36h
• Samsung Galaxy A5
  11:36h
• Meizu m1 metal
  11:33h
• Sony Xperia Z2
  11:32h
• Sony Xperia E4g
  11:32h
• Motorola DROID Turbo
  11:31h
• Sony Xperia E1
  11:30h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
  11:20h
• HTC One Max
  11:20h
• Sony Xperia ZR
  11:20h
• HTC Butterfly S
  11:07h
• Asus PadFone X
  11:07h
• LG G2 mini
  11:02h
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  11:01h
• Nokia Lumia 1320
  10:58h
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  10:56h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  10:56h
• HTC Desire 510
  10:53h
• Microsoft Lumia 532 Dual SIM
  10:52h
• Motorola Moto G 4G
  10:52h
• Microsoft Lumia 532
  10:52h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM
  10:50h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL
  10:50h
• Lenovo ZUK Z1
  10:46h
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  10:43h
• Oppo R7 Plus
  10:39h
• Huawei Honor 7
  10:38h
• LG AKA
  10:38h
• Nokia Lumia 830
  10:36h
• Apple iPhone 6
  10:29h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  10:25h
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  10:24h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE Dual SIM
  10:23h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual SIM
  10:23h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 LTE
  10:23h
• Nokia Lumia 630
  10:18h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
  10:14h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE
  10:14h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL Dual SIM
  10:14h
• Microsoft Lumia 640 XL LTE Dual SIM
  10:14h
• BlackBerry Passport
  10:12h
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
  10:12h
• BlackBerry Q5
  10:04h
• HTC Desire Eye
  10:02h
• HTC One (E8)
  10:02h
• Huawei Honor 5X
  10:00h
• Nokia Lumia 635
  10:00h
• Huawei G8
  10:00h
• Apple iPhone 5s
  9:58h
• HTC One
  9:58h
• Apple iPhone 5
  9:56h
• Meizu m2 note
  9:54h
• Samsung Ativ Odyssey I930
  9:54h
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  9:52h
• Sony Xperia M2
  9:48h
• Sony Xperia E3
  9:48h
• Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
  9:47h
• OnePlus One
  9:46h
• Huawei Mate S
  9:43h
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  9:43h
• Alcatel Hero
  9:40h

Finally, the video playback test should tell you how long the M5 will last you when watching your favorite TV show on it. The M5 has enough juice to go north of 26 hours at video playback before hitting our critical 10% battery threshold. Now that's impressive!

Video playback

• Gionee Marathon M5
  26:24h
• LG G Flex
  19:57h
• Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
  18:36h
• Oppo R7 Plus
  18:04h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 active
  18:03h
• Meizu PRO 5
  18:02h
• Huawei Ascend Mate2 4G
  18:01h
• Samsung Galaxy Note 4
  17:52h
• Xiaomi Redmi 3
  17:50h
• Motorola RAZR MAXX
  16:35h
• Samsung Galaxy J7
  16:22h
• Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
  15:03h
• Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet LTE
  14:58h
• Samsung Galaxy E7
  14:57h
• Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX
  14:17h
• Lenovo ZUK Z1
  14:14h
• Oppo R7s
  14:05h
• Huawei Ascend Mate7
  14:04h
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus
  13:57h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
  13:53h
• Samsung Galaxy Note5
  13:51h
• Motorola DROID Turbo
  13:41h
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3
  13:32h
• Nokia Lumia 1020
  13:12h
• Samsung I9190 Galaxy S4 mini
  13:12h
• Sony Xperia T2 Ultra
  13:12h
• HTC One Max
  13:11h
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
  13:08h
• Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
  13:04h
• Motorola Moto E (2nd gen)
  13:04h
• Sony Xperia C
  12:53h
• Samsung Galaxy Premier I9260
  12:51h
• Samsung Galaxy S5 Active
  12:51h
• Huawei Honor 6
  12:51h
• Samsung Galaxy A8 Duos
  12:45h
• Samsung Galaxy A8
  12:45h
• Meizu MX4 Pro
  12:41h
• Huawei Mate 8
  12:34h
• Nokia Lumia 1520
  12:31h
• Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4
  12:30h
• BlackBerry Q5
  12:28h
• Sony Xperia C3 Dual
  12:22h
• Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
  12:21h
• Huawei Ascend Mate
  12:18h
• Sony Xperia Z2
  12:16h
• Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
  12:12h
• Samsung Galaxy S6
  12:12h
• Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1 LTE
  12:10h
• Motorola Moto X Play
  12:06h
• LG AKA
  11:54h
• Sony Xperia Z3
  11:47h
• Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo
  11:38h
• Samsung P6800 Galaxy Tab 7.7
  11:37h
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  11:32h
• Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4
  11:29h
• Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100
  11:27h
• Huawei Mate S
  11:26h
• OnePlus One
  11:23h
• HTC One (E8)
  11:16h
• BlackBerry Q10
  11:15h
• HTC One (M8) for Windows
  11:15h
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus
  11:15h
• Samsung Galaxy S5
  11:15h
• Oppo N1
  11:15h
• Meizu m1 note
  11:09h
• Samsung Galaxy S5 mini
  11:02h
• Asus PadFone X
  11:01h
• Xiaomi Mi 4c
  10:47h
• BlackBerry Passport
  10:46h
• Apple iPhone 6s
  10:46h
• vivo X5Max
  10:44h
• Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
  10:41h
• vivo X5Pro
  10:41h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM
  10:38h
• Microsoft Lumia 950 XL
  10:38h
• HTC Desire Eye
  10:35h
• LG G Flex2
  10:35h
• Samsung Galaxy J2
  10:35h
• HTC Desire 816
  10:34h
• Apple iPhone 5s
  10:31h
• HTC Butterfly 2
  10:26h
• LG G2 mini
  10:23h
• Nokia Lumia 735
  10:20h
• Huawei G8
  10:20h
• Apple iPhone 5
  10:12h
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  10:11h
• HTC One (M8)
  10:11h
• Samsung Galaxy K zoom
  10:08h
• Samsung ATIV SE
  10:07h
• Sony Xperia M2
  10:04h
• HTC First
  10:03h
• HTC One
  10:02h
• Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
  10:01h
• Motorola Nexus 6
  10:01h
• Motorola Moto X
  10:01h
• Samsung I9105 Galaxy S II Plus
  10:00h
• Nokia Lumia 635
  10:00h
• Nokia Lumia 630
  10:00h
• Samsung Galaxy Express I8730
  10:00h
• Huawei P8lite ALE-L04
  10:00h

Our final endurance score factors in standby battery performance as well. When using only one SIM card on the M5, it can stay on standby for more than 15 days. Opting for a second SIM card will reduce the standby performance by a day - down to 14 days.

So, Gionee Marathon M5 scored a 148h overall endurance rating with one SIM and 144 h with two SIM cards, which means you can count on the battery to last 6 days on both occasions if you do an hour each of calling, web browsing and video playback a day.

Such usage pattern is of course entirely artificial, but we've established it, so our battery results are comparable across devices. You can input a usage pattern of your own over at our full battery test score table, where you can also compare it to all of the smartphones we've tested.

Our battery testing procedure procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.

In 2016, we're transitioning to using a fixed 200nit screen brightness for our battery tests instead of merely positioning the brightness slider at 50% which worked out to a relatively random brightness level.

The level of 200nits, which we've chosen for our tests, has become somewhat of an industry standard. But more importantly, it's both the median and average value of the (relatively random) brightness levels at which we've tested all reviewed devices so far. This means our older battery life results will remain equally relevant and comparable as before.