Did you know that one of the world's slimmest smartphones, the Gionee Elife S5.5, is available in the US (under a different name)?

posted by Florin T.

Sep 25, 2014, 9:40 PM

Did you know that one of the world's slimmest smartphones, the Gionee Elife S5.5, is available in the US (under a different name)?

Back in March, Chinese handset maker Gionee released the world’s slimmest smartphone at the time: the Elife S5.5 (which, as its name suggests, is 5.5mm thin). Since then, Gionee introduced an even thinner phone - the Elife S5.1, which, at only 5.1mm, was recently recognized by Guinness World Records as the new king of ultrathin handsets. Even so, the slightly older Elife S5.5 remains one of the slimmest smartphones ever made.

Probably to the surprise of many, the Elife S5.5 is available to buy in the US - though it’s commercialized under a totally different name: BLU Vivo IV.

As you may, or may not know, BLU is a Florida-based company that makes affordable smartphones. However, it’s not the real maker of the Vivo IV, which is simply a rebranded Gionee Elife S5.5. The BLU Vivo IV looks just like Gionee's device. Moreover, as you’ll notice in the specs comparison below, it offers exactly the same features, including a 5-inch Super AMOLED display with 1080 x 1920 pixels, octa-core 1.7 GHz MediaTek processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of non-expandable storage space. The Vivo IV was released running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, but it seems that it's been updated to KitKat last month.

Display

Size

5.0 inches

Technology

Super AMOLED Plus

Super AMOLED

Screen-to-body

67.78 %

Features

Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Scratch-resistant glass

Hardware

System chip

MediaTek MT6592

Processor

Octa-core, 1700 MHz

Octa-core, 1700 MHz, ARM Cortex-A7

GPU

Mali-450

RAM

2GB LPDDR3

2GB

Internal storage

16GB

OS

Android (4.2)

Battery

Capacity

2300 mAh

Talk time

24.00 hours

Stand-by time

24.2 days (580 hours)

31.2 days (750 hours)

Talk time (3G)

27.00 hours

12.00 hours

Stand-by time (3G)

28.1 days (675 hours)

Camera

Rear

Single camera

Main camera

13 MP (Autofocus)

13 MP

Video recording

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Front

5 MP

Design

Dimensions

5.71 x 2.76 x 0.22 inches (145.1 x 70.2 x 5.55 mm)

5.71 x 2.76 x 0.22 inches (145.1 x 70.2 x 5.5 mm)

Weight

4.69 oz (133.0 g)

Materials

Back: Glass

Availability

Scheduled release

Q2 2014

See the full Gionee Elife S5.5 vs BLU Vivo IV specs comparison or compare them to other phones using our Specs Comparison tool.

The Blu Vivo IV is available to buy via Amazon (check the source link below), coming in three color versions: black, white, and gold. The handset costs $299.99, and is offered unlocked. Mind you, the smartphone does not have LTE, but it seems to work on the HSPA+ networks of AT&T, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, Tracfone, Cricket, and other regional carriers. Anyone interested in buying this super-thin device?