Elephone P5000 full review MT6592 2GB/16GB/OTG/NFC
I have reviewed several Elephone’s recently and unfortunately been let down by most of them. Each time being excited by design, features and price, but let down by critical hardware issues or basic features not working properly (see P6000 OTG / jumpy scrolling). The one exception was the second P3000, which was perfect in every way. They have a chance now to redeem themselves with the P5000. Let’s see how it this one goes.
Elephone P5000 review build and style
The P5000 is a very squarish phone with rounded corners. If looking from the front, it looks very much like a Samsung S5. This is mainly due to the big home button at the bottom and similar shape. 
The rear however is nothing like the S5. The back piece looks rubberized, but is actually smart looking matte plastic. The sides on the P5000, while showing a whole lot of silver, are tastefully done and look quite nice. Far better than what Samsung did with the sides of the S5.
Elephone P5000 review battery
If you’re considering the P5000, likely the reason that’s pulling you to this model is the huge 5350mAh battery. The Elephone P5000 comes with a 2A charger and charges the battery fully in 2.5 hours. The charging arc is nice and even, with only some dropoff at the very end of the charge, which is normal. The battery charges fully to 100% without any jumps.
Elephone P5000 review mic, speakers, earpiece
The P5000 speaker is ported at the bottom as opposed to the rear and is more than adequate for watching movies and hands free calls. The mic and earpiece function well and there are no problems with being heard or hearing the other party.
Elephone P5000 review benchmarks Antutu / 3DMark
Please take a look at this link (opens in new tab) for MT6592 P5000 benchmark results compared to MT6732 and MT6582.
Elephone P5000 review display
At 440ppi, it’s impossible to discern any individual pixels.
The display on the P5000 is IPS/OGS 5.0″@1080P and is one of the highlights beyond the huge battery. The LCD is flawless and true retina. At 440ppi, it’s impossible to discern any individual pixels. With some phones, it’s possible to tell where the LED’s are situated, but with the P5000 this isn’t the case. There is zero light bleed at the corner and edges. The viewing angles are perfect and colors are deep and rich. Whites show as white without any grey or yellow tint. In sunlight the display is easily viewable.
Elephone P5000 review SoC RAM ROM
13GB is free for use and all of it is relegated to internal
The SoC on the Elephone is [email protected]. RAM is a big 2GB, which should be more than enough for casual users as well as power users.
The ROM/storage on the P5000 is 16GB. 13GB is free for use and all of it is relegated to internal. This is good news for those who like to install hundreds of apps and not have to worry about running out of space. The P5000 is dual-SIM and allows for an external SD card to be installed to increase storage.
Elephone P5000 review camera
Unfortunately, the focus on the copy of the P5000 I received is not functioning. The problem is that the mechanism which focuses the lens is not operating. In my testing, the camera does not even attempt to focus. This is most likely an issue with my copy.
I will post this one example. The first two images are from the THL 4000 and the last two are from the Elephone P5000. It’s impossible for me to evaluate the camera on the P5000 it operating properly. Shrunk down to small social sharing sizes of 500×500 makes them passable, but zoom in a bit or view them full screen and the problem immediately becomes clear.
Elephone P5000 review frequency support
The P5000 supports quad-band GSM and 900/1900/2100 3G/HSDPA. This makes it excellent for any 3G in Europe and UK. Most places in Asia also support 2100. The 1900 will make it compatible with many areas in the Americas as well. As always, check your providers frequency support prior to purchasing a mobile.
Elephone P5000 review OS
The OS on the P5000 is KitKat 4.4.2. As with all Elephone’s I’ve tested, the P5000 came already rooted by Elephone. It’s very smooth and there have been no problems with force closes. App installs and updates go off without any problems. General flipping about and rapid touch typing is quick and responsive. Auto-brightness works great and transitions smoothly between brightness levels. Scrolling on web pages is butter smooth.
When I first received the P5000 there was an OTA update available. It downloaded the update, booted into recovery and updated without issue. The SuperSU binary and control app updated without any problems.
Elephone P5000 review GPS, OTG, compass, Bluetooth
The scanner on the P5000 allows for relatively quick, sloppy swipes
The P5000 extras are working without issue. OTG works right off without any fiddling. GPS locks within seconds and maintains sync with several satellites at 30+ SNR. The compass works no problem. Bluetooth connects with my generic Bluetooth smart watch quickly and easily.
The front finger scanner is a step up from the previous rear ones I’ve tested. While the rear Elephone scanners worked without issue, generally the finger needed to be run slowly and smoothly. The scanner on the P5000 allows for relatively quick, sloppy swipes, while still only allowing the finger that was scanned to unlock the phone.
Elephone P5000 review WiFi
The WiFi strength on the P5000 can be rated as very good, maintaining a solid fast connection at 137ft/42m from a $20 router. The connection became unstable at 150ft/50m.
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Closing: Keeping the Elephone P5000 as my main phone would not be a problem for me, but I carry a stand-alone camera with me when I go out, so the focusing is not an issue. This is likely the opposite of 99% of people out there who require a reliable, decent camera as part of their mobile.
It’s very tough to recommend a phone that came with a critically flawed camera, and Elephone’s response to this particular problem was as I expected. Nothing more and nothing less — this goes with the territory. Coolicool on the other hand was very communicative and encouraged me to write my findings regarding this mobile.
Another thing to consider here is the price, but as mentioned in the summary, if you want specs such as 2GB RAM, 1080p and 5350mA battery, the price taken in context becomes reasonable.
I can recommend the P5000 to those with 900/1900/2100 3G carriers and want a huge batteried phone with a beautiful 1080p display, with the caveat that it’s purchased from a trusted shop and the camera fully tested prior to shipping.
https://gizbeat.com/6760/elephone-p5000-full-review-mt6592-2gb16gbotgnfc/https://gizbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/ELEPHONE-P5000-REVIEW-IMG_5485-450x355.jpghttps://gizbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/ELEPHONE-P5000-REVIEW-IMG_5485-150x150.jpgChina phone reviewElephoneMT6592MTK6592I have reviewed several Elephone's recently and unfortunately been let down by most of them. Each time being excited by design, features and price, but let down by critical hardware issues or basic features not working properly (see P6000 OTG / jumpy scrolling). The one exception was the second...Damian Parsonshttps://plus.google.com/107879368390224447304 [email protected]AdministratorHi, I'm Damian Parsons. I've been working with Android phones since the first Droid came out. I'm fascinated by computers and technology. My first BBS were ran on an old Apple IIc and Commodore 64. I work hard to bring the latest updates to you every day - without all the boring fluff. Please subscribe to keep up on the newest China tech. See our forum -> www.chinaphonearena.comGizBeat
fantastic review, the only let down i could see besides camera is no 4g and will it come with multi version roms like on the p6000 version. if the price goes to $200 i may be tempted to buy but at the moment the thl 5000t is cheaper at around $170 and the p7000 version is out at the end of april. also if you dont mind waiting i would only recommend elephones as a backup with software upgrades
Hi Paul, thanks for taking the time to comment. My guess is that this just an issue with my copy. Still, its tough to recommend someone lay $200 on a phone from Elephone. This is only my subjective experience, though the Elephone forum is full of people complaining with pretty much zero support from Elephone.
To my eyes they are full of charisma, but with little character… Though to be fair to Elephone, they are at least putting on a good face. Combine that with better QC and higher quality components, along with really showing some effort in customer service and they’d come fully recommended. As it is, they’re just not there yet…Again, to be fair, most China brands aren’t there, and this is partly the reason phones like these are $200 instead of $300-400. Its part of the risk, which is what I try to lessen with these reviews and its also where purchasing from a reputable shop comes into play, so that there’s some process for recourse should one be unlucky enough to receive a problem phone.
Looking to review the Kingzone Z1 next. I have high hopes for it.
Thank you for your review.
I have had a number of “China” phones over the past few years and they have most ALWAYS been plagued with poor cameras and GPS problems. Even after having a seller replace one of them three times the problems still persisted. He eventually refunded my money and messaged me to say that ALL his stock of that particular phone had camera and GPS problems. I think it was the Star N series.
I would be more than willing to part with $200 for a phone with these specs but there would need to be some assurances in place before I would commit. I am sure these are teething problems and that the issues will eventually be ironed out.
Hi Jason, its a much different landscape than it was a few years ago. There are certainly problem models, but there are also outstanding models without any flaws. GPS has been excellent in MT6582 or newer SoC and I use them all the time to navigate around the city. Cameras have mostly been great considering the price of these phones.
Hence the purpose of these reviews. To help reduce the risks involved.
The problem with the camera on this particular Elephone is a faulty focusing mechanism. I certainly agree Elephone in particular has had worrying issues with their models, but they are also a relatively new company. Many people are very happy with their Elephones and I’m hoping Elephone gets these kinks ironed out… To bring it to the next level so to speak. Especially in regards to component failure and bizarre design flaws such as the scrolling on P6000.
Great review there Damian.. very insightful. I am actually thinking on getting a new smartphone as the one I own is faulty which happens to be a Samsung Galaxy S2. I will come back often to check what you have for us.
damian i couldnt resist the temptation so ive ordered this with case and blue light tempered glass for $199.99 and also bought the elephone p6000 for $119.
Ahh Paul, we have several other sponsors. Merimobiles, geekbuying and newfrog. Also, gearbest now having sale on p6000 $112. Please contact me if having a problem regarding value for customs and for up to date coupons. Our sponsors will match any price. Anyways, whichever way you choose, hope you enjoy the new phones. Please see the Chinaphonearena thread for how to fix the jumpy scrolling issue.
With the latest ROM camera works perfectly and focuses well, resulting in very, very sharp photos. Also works well with thrd party camera apps, e.g. Google Camera. I do have an old iPhone, but this P5000 is just so much better. And that for the only ~$200!
Hello Allen, the issue with our review copy of the P5000 was not due to software. It was a hardware problem with the focusing mechanism. Very glad you’re enjoying the p5000 though. There are a lot of things to like about this model.
I have to add, **sometimes** after a little more camera use, the focus works, sometime it does not :(, a reboot helped once , but that can be coincidence… tried various non free good camera apps, no difference, one app Camera FV 5 pro even showed a message: cannot focus. Maybe a hardware failure, however, I still suspect a software OS firmware glitch somewhere.
Don’t know what I did… mybe it was in settings with Camera FV 5, the refocus everytime, or maybe it was removing backcover dunno… but focus works now perfectly, very good macro photos :)
No, sorry, focus is not working rendering the back camera to a non useful device.
I bought this phone over a year ago and the charging port has given up on me. to make matters worse i discoverd its a fixed charging port that needs to be removed specially through “hot air splitting”. I am discouraged as it was a fun phone for me until it gave up one me. Anyone has any bright ideas as to how i may be able to replace this usb charging port issue. I have been to youtube and i am not sure the phone will survive the treatment i saw there to get the usb replaced. Many thanks
Hello Banks, the hardware issue you’ve experienced is unfortunate. This could also be an issue with the mainboard or daughter-board, or less likely, the ribbon connector. Take a look at these parts. This board might be the first thing to try: http://www.aliexpress.com/af/elephone-p5000-board.html
Thanks for your response. I can confirm its not a motheerborad as siggetsed. The charging port gradually died out on me. Is there another way i can charge the phone? like wireless charging? Many thanks
To replace the USB daughterboard, but I looked at the pictures, and looks like USB daughterboard does not include charging port, but maybe I’m just not seeing it in the pics.
For wireless charging, you may be able to adapt some kit so the + / – of the pad are connecting with the Elephone P5000 battery.
If battery is easily removable, can rig it some way with a universal charger, but I think not fun to constantly be removing a battery like this.
thanks, i have been able to dismatle the phone. mybe i will be lucky enought to get a replacement charging port from some vendor here