BBK Electronics, the little-known Chinese company, is catering to the maxim "thin is in" and recently launched the world's thinnest smartphone, the Vivo X1, which is way thinner than the paper thin iPhone 5.

Previously, the distinction of being the thinnest smartphone went to the Oppo Finder (6.65mm), which coincidentally is a product from BBK Electronics' as well under the brand name Oppo. The Chinese phone maker works under different brand names like Vivo, with Russia being its primary market. The company also sells under the Oppo brand for the U.S.

The stylish and sleek Vivo X1 sports a 4.7-inch qHD screen with 960 x 520 pixels resolution. The smartphone packs in a 1.2Ghz dual-core Cortex a9-based based MediaTek MT6577T processor. The Vivo X1 has 1GB of RAM, 16GB of on-board storage, an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 1.3-megapixel front-facing snapper.

The Vivo X1 comes pre-loaded with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. However, the most impressive aspect is that at just 0.26 inches thick (6.55mm), the smartphone manages to fit in a 2,000mAh battery. The smartphone measures 5.37 x 2.69 x 0.26 inches, making it thinner than the Oppo Finder by a whisker and by a wide margin from the thin as paper iPhone 5 (7.6mm).

Additionally, the Vivo X1 comes with high-end audio quality, courtesy the Cirrus Logic CS4398 digital-analog converter and a CS8422 sample-rate converter for audio. The smartphone also comes with the Beyerdynamic MMX 71 iE earphones.

It is pretty impressive that despite being so thin the Vivo X1 has a 3.5mm headphone jack, unlike the comparatively thicker Oppo Finder, which lacks one. Even though the Vivo X1 does not have an expandable memory option, users can take advantage of 15GB of Baidu cloud storage.

Additionally, BBK is already working on a 1080p phone with minimal bezels, a massive battery, and a 13-megapixel camera. The company also launched the Ulike 2, which has the distinction of being the world's first smartphone with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera recently.

The Vivo X1 is up for pre-order now in China and is available in white and black. The smartphone costs 2,498 yuan or $400 off contract. However, it is not yet known if the Vivo X1 will find its way to the international markets eventually.