Gionee Elife S5.5 Philippines Unboxing, Key Features Explained by Mr. Oliver Sha, Gionee Global Head of Marketing

Just thought I'd show you my unboxing photos of Ellen Adarna's favorite smartphone currently, the Gionee Elife S5.5 -- dubbed as the slimmest in the world.

Taken from ellenmadarna on Instagram

With depth of only 5.55 millimeters Gionee Elife S5.5 is inarguably the thinnest or slimmest full-fledged smartphone available anywhere in the world. In the Philippines, it is being distributed by Belexis Concepts Inc. and dons an official suggested retail price of Php 21,999.

When I had a conversation with our friends from Gionee Global during the phone's local launch in SM North EDSA a few days ago, they shared that they wanted the packaging to match the look of the device itself. "Mark, as you can see, the packaging is also very slim just like the smartphone that's inside it," Mr. Oliver Sha - Gionee's Marketing Head - told me.

Gionee Elife S5.5 comes with a simple white carton packaging.

At the bottom of the box, Gionee printed the key technical specifications of the device in a neat table. You will find a more detailed listing below this post.

Lifting the cover, the slimmest smartphone on the planet will greet you as it lies in its tray.

Gionee Elife S5.5 ships with a free flip cover, which also doubles as a stand for the device when you view the screen in landscape mode.

Pulling the tray out, all the accessories - in their respective packs - are revealed.

There's a pre-installed screen protector with a list of the phone's main selling points. Gionee always puts one on their touchscreen handsets to protect the display when shipping.

Holding the handset, I was instantly impressed not just with how slim it is but by how solid it feels in hand. The device comes with a glass-metal-glass sandwich construction that doesn't just look gorgeous but has an air of durability. Inspecting it, I'd say Gionee Elife S5.5 is incredibly well-made; There are no visible gaps between the outer parts. The metal rim hugs both glass panels perfectly.

The powerful camera module happens to be thicker than the phone itself, which explains the protruding plate at the back.

"Our Research and Development team and our partnership with parts manufacturers like Samsung and Corning made it possible for us to create a smartphone this slim," Mr. Sha told me.

The 3.5 millimeter audio jack is located at the rear of the device, which I like since it puts the earphone wires out the way whenever I look at the phone's display while listening to music.

It's all in the details. Check out the plastic lining inside the microUSB port located at the top of the device. The power button and volume rocker - like the S5.5's frame - are also made of real metal.

OK. Let's take a look at all the included peripherals and accessories.

The flip cover has holes for the earpiece and loud speaker and has grooves for the volume rocker and the power button.

The microUSB to USB cable for connecting the phone to your computer and for charging it.

Gionee Elife S5.5 ships with earphones having in ear silicon buds and tangle-free wires.

You get a protector for both the front and back Gorilla Glass 3 panels.

All the smaller items are bundled in this pack.

Gionee Elife S5.5 comes with USB On-The-Go support and you can use this cable to quickly and conveniently plug your flash drive and other devices to the phone.

The metal microSIM card tray ejector

Hardly anyone reads gadget user manuals these days -- but I think it's nice that Gionee has opted to include one in the box. Read it when you have time.

The travel charger is small enough to fit in your jeans' front pocket.

Gionee has service centers located in Metro Manila, Makati City, Cebu, and Zamboanga.

TP Friends, I was able to record my interview and conversation with Mr. Oliver Sha and Mr. Yuan - Product Director of Gionee Global - after the launch of Gionee Elife S5.5 in the Philippines. If you want to know more about the handset as well as the Chinese company, kindly watch the clip above.

TechPinas Smartphone Technical Specs Table (TSTST)
Name	Gionee Elife S5.5
Type	Slate Form Factor (Full Touchscreen)
Price Category	High End
Dimensions	144 x 69.8 x 5.75 mm
Weight	133 grams
Available Colors	White with Gold Frame, Black
Operating System	Android 4.2 Jelly Bean skinned by Amigo UI 2.0
Display	5.0 inches (~441 ppi pixel density), 1080 x 1920 pixels, 800 x 1280 pixels, Super AMOLED, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Processor	Octa Core 1.7 GHz ARM Cortex A7 CPU, Mali-450MP4 GPU, MediaTek MT6592 chipset
RAM	2 GB RAM
Internal Storage	16 GB, non-expandable
Camera	Main: 13 MegaPixels, 4160 x 3120 pixels, autofocus, LED flash Front: 5 MegaPixels front camera
Video Capture	Main: Full HD 1080p 30 frames per second Front: HD 720p (to be confirmed)
Audio and Video Playback	MP4, H.264, H.263, MP3, WAV, eAAC+ player
Ports	microUSB v2.0, 3.5 mm audio jack
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, 3G HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps, HSPA+
GPS	Yes, with A-GPS
Sensors	Accelerometer, Digital Compass, Proximity, Light, Gyroscope
Network	2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
SIM Card Type	microSIM
Battery	Non-removable Li-Ion 2,300 mAh battery
Uptime	490 Hours of Standby 27 Hours of Talk Time
Value-Added Features	Slimmest Smartphone in the World as of July 2014, Metal Frame
Announcement	Philippines: July 2014
Availability	Philippines: July 2014
Price	Official SRP: Php 21,999