Chinese smartphone maker, Gionee, went bankrupt last year. The company had unpaid debts and there were reports of poor financial management caused in part by a gambling addiction of the company’s founder. It appears the company is making a comeback as two new smartphones were announced today. The phones are the Gionee M11 and the Gionee M11s.
The Gionee M11 and Gionee M11s seem to share the same design as there are two color variants of the same phone in the promo materials. Both have a waterdrop notch, dual rear cameras, a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a glass rear panel. Both devices also have red-colored power buttons. They also seem to share similar specs such as RAM, storage, and cameras.
[envira-gallery id=”273590″]The Gionee M11 and Gionee M11s both have 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Unfortunately, there is no mention of the processor. Although, the unveiling didn’t reveal which phone is which, it does mention a 4000mAh battery. However, a TENAA listing reveals both phones not only have different battery capacities but also differ in other areas.
The source says two Gionee phones with model numbers 20190620G and 20190619G were certified by TENAA today. These two phones are believed to be the Gionee M11 and Gionee M11s though we don’t know which one is which.
The TENAA certification reveals one of the two phones has a 6.217-inch display and packs a 5000mAh battery. It also measures 157.6 x 76.4 x 9.4 millimeters. While the other has a 6.3-inch display, a 4000mAh battery, and measures 160.6 x 75.8 x 8.4 millimeters. Attached TENAA images show the phones are actually not identical.
Although both devices have dual rear cameras and rear-mounted fingerprint scanners, their designs are different. One of the phones has both sensors and LED flash in the same housing and also has a circular fingerprint scanner. It also has a pink-purple-black gradient color. The other phone separates the LED flash from the dual rear cameras and has an oval fingerprint sensor. It also has a blue-purple gradient color.
[envira-gallery id=”273594″]The official promo materials also revealed that the Gionee M11/M11s has a 13MP front-facing camera while the rear cameras are a 16MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor. The phone will be available in two color variants – purple with a gradient finish and green.
There are still several unknown features of both phones including their price. Nevertheless, we expect more details will surface in the coming days.
According to reports, both phones were announced via Gionee’s official WeChat channel. As at the time of writing, the official Weibo account makes no mention of the new phones. And the official website which is now back online also doesn’t mention the new phones. The old phones that are on the website are currently listed as out of stock.
ITHome reports that following the company’s auction of its patents in July, Lu Guanghui, the company’s second-largest shareholder organized meetings to plan a restructuring. The restructuring is said to have been completed and that business will resume soon.
