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.
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