Gionee Elife S5.5 smartphone launched for Rs 22,999 in India; XOLO Q2500 available for Rs 14,999

After unveiling the same at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 earlier this year, Chinese handset manufacturer Gionee has launched the Elife S5.5 in the Indian smartphone market. Taking the company's Elife smartphone series (includes Elife E3, E5, E6 and E7) forward, the device has been priced at Rs 22,999 in the country. It will be available for purchase starting April 27, 2014.

At its launch event, the company claimed that it has sold over a million smartphones in India within a year of entering the country. Globally, it had shipped 24 million smartphones in 2013, and is planning to increase this number to 35 million this year. In addition, Lava's sub-brand XOLO has also listed a new phablet on its website. Christened Q2500, the device comes with a 6 inch display and is available for Rs 14,999.

Here is a look at the specifications of the devices.

Gionee Elife S5.5 for Rs 22,999

The thinnest smartphone in the world (at least that is what Gionee claims), the Elife S5.5 is just 5.5 mm in thickness, hence the name. The smartphone has a 5 inch full HD Super AMOLOED capacitive touchscreen display (1920x1080 pixel resolution) and runs on the Amigo 2.0 (based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean) operating system. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz MTK 6592 octa-core processor and has 2GB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 16GB.

Elife S5.5 has a 13MP autofocus rear camera with Flash that can also record full high definition videos (1080p) at 30 frames per second, as well as a 5MP autofocus front facing camera for video calling. The camera also comes with a number of features that include night mode, High Dynamic Range (HDR), and Picture Clear, etc. On the connectivity front, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G (depending on the region), and it also comes with a microUSB port.

Gionee has provided a 2,300 mAh battery in the smartphone, which also comes with built-in GPS navigation. The dimensions of the device are 145.1mm x 70.2mm x 5.55mm, and its weight is 130 gm. It will be available in five colour options including white, black, blue, pink and purple.

XOLO PocketPad (Q2500) for Rs 14,999

This one sports a 6 inch HD IPS touchscreen display (1280x720 pixel resolution) with 245 ppi pixel density and runs on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system (upgradable to Android 4.4 KitKat). It is powered by a 1.3 GHz MTK 6582 quad-core processor and has 1GB of RAM. The internal memory of the device is 4GB that can be further expanded up to 32GB with a microSD card.

The phablet has an 8MP autofocus rear camera with BSI sensor and Flash that can also record full high definition videos (1080p) at 30 frames per second, as well as a 2MP front facing camera for video calling. The camera also comes with a number of features that include scene detection & tuning, HDR, vertical & horizontal panorama, and geo tagging, etc. On the connectivity front, the device has Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, 3G, and it also comes with a microUSB port & a microSD card slot.

XOLO has provided a 3,000 mAh battery in the phablet that it claims will provide up to 15 hours of talk time and 600 hours of stand by time. The dimensions of the device are 136mm x 64.6mm x 8.9mm, & it comes with dual-SIM support and assisted GPS.

In terms of competition, in the 6 inch and above screen size, it will compete with the likes of Sony Xperia T2 Ultra (Rs 24,990), Huawei Ascend Mate (Rs 24,999), HP Slate 6 VoiceTab (Rs 22,839), and Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 (Rs 23,499), among others. Note that while the device is priced much lower than its competition, this is also due to the fact that it comes with lower specifications, and most of the names mentioned above are better known brands in comparison to XOLO.