Gionee Elife S5.5 review: Genie in a bottle

27 June 2014
Phones like the Gionee Elife S5.5 have come a long way. Well, they’re coming from China but this is not stating the obvious as a figure of speech. We’ve seen good-looking phones made in China that...

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  • G
  • GiONEE User
  • K2F
  • 28 Jun 2014

gionee phones are nice. I've been using GiONEE GN708W for last 6/7 months. So far it's a nice device with very good battery life.

    • D
    • AnonD-209094
    • Kg{
    • 28 Jun 2014

    No card slot says it all.

    I tested a few chinese phones, the Huawei Ascend P7 is one of them and after a while i just had to put it down, my head automatically started to shake to say NO NO NO. That UI... So full of garbage, useless features, incredible, and to make it a total disaster the phone kept giving pop-ups asking to enable horrible bad "features", the thing will not even let you get a moment peace to actually use the phone, wtf?

    Will be a long time till i look at a Chinese or Korean Android phone again, the level of ridiculousness is way too high, if Sony starts going the same way i soon have no other choice than going for iPhone (BlackBerry is not an option anymore due to severe privacy violations with BBM in BB10). How come one need unlocked bootloader and custom ROM to use an Android phone nowadays, what has happened???

      • a
      • antidumb
      • thu
      • 28 Jun 2014

      waiting for s5.5L snapdragon 400 LTE version with 2450 mah inside 5.75mm body

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • tA$
        • 28 Jun 2014

        native video call!
        it's good to know that Asian manufacturers still care for their customers' needs.

          • A
          • Angry Mobile Nerd
          • bEx
          • 28 Jun 2014

          I will give GSMArena some credit for finally reviewing a Chinese phone which wasn't made by Oppo or Meizu. They've done a fantastic job at blatantly ignoring this up and coming segment.

            • D
            • AnonD-263369
            • sG%
            • 28 Jun 2014

            Jim, 28 Jun 2014The Android world is getting boring with so many look alike... moreSo please enlighten us about how ios and Windows Phone 8 are unique to each other?

              • m
              • mir
              • P%u
              • 28 Jun 2014

              AnonD-169727, 27 Jun 2014The phone's got stylish looks, but I have come across many ... moreOf course its gonna feel hot in the hands after long use. With that 5.5mm of thickness, you might as well be touching the cpu itself.

                • J
                • Jim
                • ii6
                • 28 Jun 2014

                The Android world is getting boring with so many look alike mobiles. It must be a real challenging task trying to find anything that really differentiates these devices. All similar hardware underpinned by a leaky and sometimes bloated Android OS. Are we going forward or backwards now with Android. Perhaps Google believes backwards by their own admission so why buy it. The Chinese of course want to show off all the time so they will certainly think this might help them in front of their friends. All facade.

                  • D
                  • AnonD-168372
                  • vpH
                  • 28 Jun 2014

                  Seems like they don't have any idea on what they're doing.

                    • k
                    • kris
                    • q}0
                    • 28 Jun 2014

                    AnonD-92238, 27 Jun 20144.2.2 ! Seems ancient Yes, 4.2.2 is almost a year and half old.

                      • d
                      • dieur
                      • 8xt
                      • 28 Jun 2014

                      "Super slim and lightweight body" this is the more important thing in a smartphone, for make it more unbreakable and handled. With a micro sd slot or 32 GB internal memory would be much better.

                        • D
                        • AnonD-75309
                        • 6PY
                        • 27 Jun 2014

                        AnonD-278077, 27 Jun 2014This UI is identicle to the new emotion ui running on huawe... moreThat is a little customized MIUI.

                          • N
                          • Namo12
                          • HxY
                          • 27 Jun 2014

                          Nobody care about thinnest phones from Gionee. They should have made the phone slightly more thick, more durable looking with more Battery life. Basic features such as Micro SD, etc should be there. Also they should bring the phone in 4.5"

                            • D
                            • AnonD-237024
                            • nG$
                            • 27 Jun 2014

                            Well, this is completely different.

                              • D
                              • AnonD-278077
                              • fqt
                              • 27 Jun 2014

                              This UI is identicle to the new emotion ui running on huawei phones after the kitkat update, the naming convention including the suspend button

                                • s
                                • s4tch
                                • mc%
                                • 27 Jun 2014

                                you might want to review some xiaomi phones, too. the mi3 is a true flagship for under $300 as of today, while the hongmi costs half of that, and offers excellent performance and battery life that would easily match the likes of lg f6 or sony sp, for much less. also, the miui is probably the best take on the android ui. certainly worth checking.

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-169727
                                  • bE8
                                  • 27 Jun 2014

                                  The phone's got stylish looks, but I have come across many people saying it gets too hot with just a couple of minutes use. Also, the OEM is of Chinese origin, which doesn't have the patronage of other global OEMs, like Samsung, HTC, Sony, Apple.

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-92238
                                    • U@H
                                    • 27 Jun 2014

                                    4.2.2 ! Seems ancient

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-70078
                                      • mx}
                                      • 27 Jun 2014

                                      If its on 16gb. It's a looser

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-259899
                                        • 3Ye
                                        • 27 Jun 2014

                                        Either their AMOLED panel's backplane is horrendous or they have a done a sloppy job with the video player or maybe both.