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.

Gionee Elife S5.5 vs BLU Vivo IV

Display

Display size

5.0 inches

Resolution

1080 x 1920 pixels

Pixel density

441 ppi

Technology

Super AMOLED Plus

Super AMOLED

Screen-to-body ratio

67.78 %

Camera

Rear

Single camera

Main camera

13 megapixels

Hardware Features

Autofocus

Video recording

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Front

5 megapixels

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 g)

Materials

Back: Glass

Hardware & Performance

System chip

MediaTek MT6592

Processor

Octa-core, 1700 MHz

Octa-core, 1700 MHz, ARM Cortex-A7

GPU

Mali-450

RAM

2 GB LPDDR3

2 GB

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)

Availability

Scheduled release

Q2 2014

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?

BLU Vivo IV

View more + 3 images

source: Amazon

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20 Comments

1. ilxxxli

Posts: 13; Member since: Oct 23, 2013

this is old news. BLU has had this on sale for almost 4 months now.

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 9:53 PM 0

4. jael206

Posts: 147; Member since: Jul 18, 2012

Will it also bend? #iphonesixplus

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 9:57 PM 2

6. techperson211

Posts: 1280; Member since: Feb 27, 2014

No. It doesn't. It's not included in the #bendwagon.

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 10:04 PM 2

8. xperiaDROID

Posts: 5629; Member since: Mar 08, 2013

Nope, Chinese phones are way more durable than the iPuny, iPuny 6 Plus already proved that. Apple is just embarrassing their own Murica country with their iPuny.

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 10:12 PM 6

11. Moh.Nom

Posts: 7; Member since: Aug 14, 2014

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 11:10 PM 0

14. lalalaman

Posts: 638; Member since: Aug 19, 2013

gionee elife s5.5 is also available in Pakistan by a local company,it is Qmobile noir Z6...... have seen it.....it is a laggy device due to mediatek plus it is a VERY delicate device because its back i also made of glass and as athin device with sharp edges...it will fall out of ur hand and that metal frame is like Samsung galaxy S series,it will easily get scratches and dents..........well i dont knw about the blending ;)

posted on Sep 26, 2014, 1:49 AM 1

5. nenadmitrovic

Posts: 64; Member since: Aug 01, 2014

Yeah, but it's news becouse it won't bend

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 9:59 PM 0

19. Wiki_jaan

Posts: 704; Member since: Jun 24, 2012

also available in pakistan under Q-Mobile branding Z6 http://www.qmobile.com.pk/phone-z6.html

posted on Sep 26, 2014, 10:29 AM 0

2. eman99

Posts: 410; Member since: Aug 03, 2010

maybe if you root it custom rom

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 9:55 PM 0

3. imkyle

Posts: 1115; Member since: Nov 18, 2010

They updated the phone to 4.4.2 in August and even sent out an update to fix the draining batter and stuttering music over Bluetooth. It is a nice phone as I have it myself.

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 9:56 PM 2

9. hurrycanger

Posts: 1765; Member since: Dec 01, 2013

Hey how much screen on time can you get on a single charge over a full day of use? Just wondering.

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 10:17 PM 0

13. imkyle

I got roughly 6-8 hours depending on what I am doing.

posted on Sep 26, 2014, 12:28 AM 0

15. hurrycanger

Man, 6-8 hours of screen time usage is good. On the previous software, people complained it lasted only 6-7 hours total, including standby and screen on time (that battery life is straight up garbage). But man, 6-8 hours screen time is good.

posted on Sep 26, 2014, 2:37 AM 0

18. imkyle

It's not bad for the thinness of the phone. Sure it could have been better, but then the 5.5mm size would not come into play. You kind of expect average battery life with a phone this size. I really do like the phone. I have this and a Nexus 5. I switch on and off between phones. It's great having a stock Android phone while having something completely different. I'd give it a try.

posted on Sep 26, 2014, 8:41 AM 0

20. hurrycanger

Well, but since you said it now gets 6-8 hours of screen time, that's not average. That's awesome battery life!

posted on Sep 26, 2014, 2:17 PM 0

7. CLmaster

Posts: 98; Member since: Sep 06, 2014

I think I'm getting this for my mom... it's beautiful and powerful enough for her, but before I'll find out if the battery issue with this phone is true (supposedly it looses a lot of battery in minutes even on standby). If someone has this phone I would appreciate if you told me your experience with it :)

posted on Sep 25, 2014, 10:09 PM 1

12. jayd3n

Posts: 33; Member since: Apr 15, 2014

Hi, I happen to watch a review (gaming review of the Elife 5.5) on youtube and from what the reviewer experienced this phone tends to heat up, i mean ridiculously heat up to nearly 50 degrees Celsius from just 15 to 20 minutes of gaming. That's really terrible because I read an article months ago telling that those MediaTek Octa CPU's are cooler than the much aggressive Snapdragon 600 and 800.