Umi Plus E (Extreme) Review: Helio P20 SoC Decides Its Fortune
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One of the most popular smartphones of Umi is the Umi Plus. The latter is known as the most affordable iPhone –like handset, but things have gone further than imagined. Though the Umi Plus has been thought to be an affordable alternative for those who can’t get their hands on the Apple products, it has won its own place under the sun, and many customers even don’t think on the Umi Plus as an iPhone clone. Thanks to a decent specs list, a stylish design and many other features this handset has won customers’ hearts at first sight, and it turns out this roman is going to last longer than a simple flirt. A few days back Umi announced the enhanced version of this smartphone dubbed as the Umi Plus E, where E stands for Extreme. Yesterday the Umi Plus E was available for subscription, and we decided to take a glance at it and find out what has changed in this handset in comparison to its predecessor.
Umi Plus E Appearance
The first thing mentioned in specs list of this newbie is the 6000 Series aluminum. May be it sounds well but not that many people are aware of what it is. As a result, when people hear about aluminum, they think a smartphone will bend, because aluminum is a soft metal. But this statement has nothing common with the reality.
Probably, you remember a few photos appeared showing the iPhone 6 bending. The latter came with a 6063 series aluminum alloyed with magnesium and silicone and it is thought to be the most strengthen aluminum alloy. Many people started thinking the iPhone 6 had appeared on the defendant’s chair due to this feature. That’s why many rumors spread the web claiming the next gen iPhone will adopt the either 7000 series aluminum alloy or 6013 series aluminum alloy. Moreover, the Samsung Galaxy S6 was said to come with different aluminum 6xxx alloy than the iPhone 6. Thus the top smartphone makers knew the 6xxx series aluminum alloy is a right choice for their flagships, but the version of alloy should be changed. You also have to know their weight remains the same regardless the versions, so no reason to worry about. Anyway, fortunately, it became known later that the aluminum alloy of the iPhone 6 has no relation with the bending defect and it is related with geometry of the phone.
Well, this historical reference should convince you Umi is serious when it comes to build quality, and the Umi Plus E has no problem with it, as this handset comes with a 6000 series aluminum alloy like its predecessor. Unfortunately, the alloy version is not known at the moment.
The existence of an aluminum alloy is the first key feature of the Umi Plus E, but there are other attractive specs as well. For example, this handset comes with a 2.5D glass and 3D polishing. Usually, people use 2.5D glass term to describe as their smartphone comes with a curved design, and though there is a grain of truth, this is not a curved phone. On the other hand, this technology is used to make the phone be more comfortable when holding in hand. Thus it is done for ergonomics.
Well, the overall design is symmetrical. For example, the mini USB Type-C port is located between two speakers on the bottom, or the main speaker is placed between the front camera and sensors on the upper front area. On the opposite area we can see a single oval-shaped home button. The dedicated camera button along with the SIM card slot are on the left side, while the unlock button and the volume rocker at the same view are on the opposite side. And finally, the camera accompanied with a dual-LED flash are placed on middle back area. Everything looks amazing, and it’s felt the company has thought on the design for a long time.
The next astonishing feature is the fingerprint scanner located under the home button like the Xiaomi Mi Note 2. This is not anything special, but we used to see the fingerprint scanner on the back with a dedicated area for this purpose. And when it appears elsewhere, it means the manufacturer uses another technology. The latter is met at top brands, mainly. Well, this is one of the best fingerprint scanners dubbed as the Touch ID 2.1, as it supports 360 degrees as well as up to 5 different fingerprints and it takes only 0.1 seconds to identify the fingerprint and operate.
The phone comes at 155 mm x 75 mm x 8.8 mm, weighs 185 grams, and it is available in three color options – black, gold and grey.
Umi Plus E Screen and Performance
The Umi Plus E screen is at 5.5 inches. It is provided by Sharp, meaning we are dealing with a great display at Full HD resolution and 401ppi pixel density. When interacting with the phone we feel the screen is really great, and the IPS LCD matrix reflects true and vivid colors. As I said above, it comes with a 2.5D glass, but unfortunately there is no special protection like Corning Gorilla Glass or something like that. This means you have to be very careful with its screen and use additional covers to avoid scratches.
As for the performance, the Umi Plus E has been promoted as the first P20 smartphone. This is the newest SoC designed by MediaTek. Its enhancements are very impressive, so I am offering you to take a look at its key features in order to find out what means to be the first with this CPU onboard. First, it comes with eight cores clocked at 2.3GHz frequency. This is by 20% higher than what we have seen on the previous Helio P10 found on the Elephone P9000, Ulefone Future, Oppo R9 and so on. It takes full advantage of ARM Cortex A53 architecure. As for memory, the Helio P20 supports up to LPDDR4X memory. That’s why the manufacturer has paired this SoC with a 6GB of RAM provided by Samsung and 64GB of ROM that can be also expanded up to 256GB. This CPU is in a great tandem with the newest Mali T880 MP2 graphics accelerator clocked at 900MHz. it’s 25% better than what has been provided by Helio P10. Shortly, the Umi Plus E comes with one of the fastest chipsets currently available in the market.
The Umi Plus E’s processor also supports up to two displays at Full HD resolution and 60fps. Plus, it becomes more powerful with a custom made MiraVision 2.0 suite that allows to provide great displaying performance under the direct sunlight as well as show video content with optimized contrast.
The next advantage of this SoC is the 16nm FinFET process technology for lower power consumption and less heat. The Umi Plus E is packed with a 4000mAh large capacity battery provided by Sony that also supports MediaTek’s one quick charging technology dubbed as the PumpExpress (PE). Not in vain it is considered as the fastest charging solution on the market. As you guess, the PE 3.0 is designed to compete with Qualcomm’s Quick Charge technology, the latest version of which is available on the Xiaomi Mi Note 2. Thanks to PE 3.0 the Umi Plus E will get charged from 0 to 70 percent in just 20 minutes. As you remember, the Quick Charge 3.0 can bring the phone’s battery to 80 percent in in 35 minutes. These numbers are correct for 4000 (more or less 50mAh) batteries. Moreover, PE 3.0 is the first quick-charging solution to enable direct charging through USB-C power delivery. This simply means the phone won’t heat, as the power is sent directly from the adapter to the battery bypassing charging circuitry. As for the drainage, the phone will be discharged in two days if used heavily.
At last, the Umi Plus E comes with dual SIM card options. Both of them support 4G and both of them are active. But you can scarify the second SIM card slot in favor of a microSD card.
Umi Plus E Camera and Software
Thanks to an astonishing chipset the Umi Plus E supports up to 24MP single camera or 13MP+13MP dual camera. There is also an Imagiq technology support allowing users to capture great photos even in low light environments and on moving subjects. However, the Umu Plus E sports only one 13MP Samsung 3L8 primary camera with PDAF autofocus and dual LED flash. It is capable of recording 1080p videos at 30 fps, though the SoC allows manufacturers to put cameras that can record 4K videos. Alas, this handset doesn’t have such functionality. There is also a 5MP camera for selfies covered with an anti-glare coating. Though many can think 13MP is less for current flagships, but be sure this is not the case we can say so.
There is not many things we can tell about the software, as the Umi Plus E comes with an Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box and a custom made UI seen on other Umi handsets.
Umi Plus Pricing and Availability
Users could subscribe for this handset starting November 11. The initial pricing starts $199.99. It’s a quite affordable option if taking into account the original Umi Plus was available for only $179.99, though at the moment this handset is offered at $209.99, which is still a great option for buying.
Buy Umi original Plus for $209.99 on GearBestXiaomiToday best deals
Well, I guess the Umi Plus E’s price will increase in the nearest future, so it’s highly recommended to pre-order your own once the pre-sale starts on November 23 with December 10 shipment date. There are only 999 pieces offered for this deal, so hurry up.
The Final Words
If you are familiar with the original Umi Plus, you should notice the manufacturer has made only one change in comparison with it – the Helio P10 processor was replaced with the Helio P20. But this means the phone has become faster, there is larger RAM, the battery charges the way faster and so on. Thus we are offered to pay a bit more or the same pricing but get an enhanced smartphone.
Pros
- 6000 series aluminum alloy
- Fingerprint scanner under the home button
- USB Type-C interface
- Full HD Screen
- Helio P20 octac-core processor
- 6Gb of RAM
- 4000mAh battery with PumpExpress 3.0 quick charging option
- 4G support
- Price
Cons
- No screen protection
- 13MP primary camera
- Design - 9/109/10
- Screen - 9/109/10
- Performance - 9/109/10
- Battery - 9/109/10
- Connectivity - 9/109/10
- Camera - 7/107/10
- Software - 8/108/10
- Price - 9/109/10
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