The global gadget market is being flooded with various devices in the recent days. A multitude of gadgets hit the market day in and day out, but a very few of them are able to meet the expectations and fulfill the aspirations of gadget lovers. A powerful device may not necessarily have aesthetic appeal, and an attractively designed gadget could be a power-compromised one.  Gionee, the Chinese smartphone major has come up with an answer to this issue. The company's latest flagship Gionee Elife S5.5 is a striking beauty and a powerful beast at the same time. With a width of just 5.55 mm, Elife S5.5 is considered as the world's slimmest smartphone till date. Along with the super-slim body, the phone is also very light, weighing just around 133 grams. 

 

Powered by an octa-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A7 processor, Elife S5.5 uses Mediatek's latest MT6592 chipset. Alongside the mighty CPU, the smartphone has 2GB RAM and Mali-450MP4 GPU. With these top-notch specifications, users can expect smooth computing experience in Elife S5.5. Be it for multitasking or power-demanding tasks such as gaming, the smartphone can run anything without showing any sign of snag. The display of S5.5 is another attraction. The phone sports a 5 inch Super AMOLED capacitive multitouch screen capable of rendering full HD display. With a 441 ppi pixel density, Elife S5.5's screen has a resolution of 1920 X 1080 pixels which gives off colourful, crisp and vibrant display. Needless to say, with such premium screen, users won't have difficulty operating their handsets even in bright sunlight. Despite being a super-slim smartphone, Elife S5.5 offers top-end sturdiness as its both front and back panels are covered by Corning Gorilla glass protection. The phone's magnesium alloy constructed metallic unibody is also tough enough to take some falls and beatings. 

 

The micro-SIM smartphone's imaging system is also a high-end one. Elife S5.5 houses a 13 MP autofocus LED flash primary shooter on its back whereas a 5 MP secondary shooter rests on the top of the front panel. The primary camera is capable of taking photos at a maximum resolution of 4160 X 3120 pixels. Similarly, 1080p videos can be recorded at 30fps. The primary camera is able to take decent quality photos and videos even under low-light conditions. The phone's camera system has some other regular features such as touch focus, Geo-tagging, face/smile detection, panorama and HDR. 

 

The Elife S5.5 runs on Amigo OS 2.0. The proprietary operating system is, in fact, Gionee's customised version of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean which can be upgraded to KitKat 4.4.2. However, the UI and features are different from other Android devices using the same version. With customised icons, lock screen, notifications and settings, the Amigo UI has an atypical look. There is no app drawer like normal Android UI, instead it shows up all the installed apps on the home screen and users need to swipe left or right to access the apps. 

 

Users can have blazing fast internet experience with S5.5. The smartphone comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi hotspot, all of which offer the latest WLAN connectivity.  Elife S5.5 is among the latest generation smartphones equipped with Bluetooth v4.0 which has EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) for faster data transfer. The phone also features micro USB v2.0 and USB On-the-go. Similarly, it comes with a built-in FM radio with RDS (Radio Data System). Elife S5.5 has on-par sound quality as it comes with DTS surround sound enhancement for headphones and a built-in loudspeaker. 

 

Despite the top-end specs and features, Elife S5.5 has some areas where it falls short. 16 GB of storage with no expansion slot can be particularly disturbing when the phone runs out of memory. Likewise, the non-replaceable battery of the phone could also be annoying. However, the 2,300 mAh Li-Ion battery offers decent backup - up to 500 hrs in standby mode, up to 11 hrs of talk-time in 3G mode and 27 hrs in 2G mode. Nevertheless, the smartphone's combination of elegance, power and amazingly low price-level make users forget its shortcomings. According to TeleTalk Pvt Ltd, the authorised distributor of Gionee smartphones in Nepal, Elife S5.5 carries a price tag of Rs 36,525. Available in black and white colours, the phone comes with one-year warranty. Users can get a flip cover, four screen guards, one OTG cable, an earphone and a charger as freebies.