Umi has released quite a lot of phones this year and the Umi Plus is one of their latest models. It has some decent specs and all-metal unibody design but is it any good? Find that out in the full Gizmochina’s review.

Thanks to Coolicool for sending Umi Plus for a review.

Umi Plus Review: VIDEO REVIEW

Umi Plus Review: UNBOXING

The phone ships with all the usual items that come with any device.

Umi Plus Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

When it comes to the design, we are looking at the all-metal phone (except for the top and bottom parts for antennas).

In general, the build quality is great but I don’t like the fact that the buttons rattle just a little a bit.

We have a 5.5” 1080p display, which is pretty sharp and nice panel overall, and it has a decent sunlight legibility.

A nice touch is a customizable LED notification light, which sits next to the 5MP camera, and navigation buttons. You can choose between the on-screen keys and the capacitive keys, and change the position of them.

I love the fact that physical home button can be just tapped as it serves as a back key. Also, it has a fingerprint scanner. It is quite accurate but the display lights up very slowly if you unlock the phone from the standby mode.

A customizable shortcut button is a pretty nice idea but it would have been nice if it worked from the standby mode.

As for camera, we have a 13MP Samsung shooter with a dual tone dual-LED flash.

The loudspeaker sound quality does not really impress. Although the speaker has a decent volume output, the sound is tinny and flat.

The sound quality via the headset jack is pretty good for the price of the phone and that is thanks to the built-in Hi-Fi audio chip.

Umi Plus in pictures: 

Umi Plus Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The phone ships with an octa-core Mediatek Helio P10 chip with the clock speeds of 1.8GHz, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Helio P10 chips when it comes to gaming and the Umi Plus is no exception. You should expect quite a few skipped frames and stutter if you want to play games like Asphalt 8 on the highest graphics. On the other hand, playing this game on medium graphics is a lot better.

Umi Plus Review: BENCHMARKS

Umi Plus Review: USER INTERFACE

The Umi Plus ships with the pretty much stock-looking Android 6.0.

There are not too many features to talk about except for those we have already mentioned (customizable navigation bar and LED notification light). Most importantly, I didn’t have any issues with the phone’s daily performance even after installing quite a few apps.

Umi Plus Review: IMAGE QUALITY

The camera department is where the Umi Plus struggles. Well, you can get some okay-looking photos and I see an improvement over some previous Umi phones.

However, the daylight images could have more detail and sharpness. Also, the colors look a bit washed out in some of the shots, the dynamic range and white balance adjustment is not always accurate.

The low-light camera performance is not so great either even for a $200 phone. The images lack in detail, there is a lot of noise and a visible purple tint in most of the shots.

The selfie camera disappoints too. Again, there is a lack of detail and sharpness, and the color reproduction is inaccurate.

When it comes to video, the footage does not really look good. The major problems here are the aggressive color and auto-exposure shifting. Also, the footage could look sharper.

Umi Plus Review: CONNECTIVITY

I didn’t have major connectivity issues with this phone except for the fact that the GPS is not always accurate once you use it for navigation in the car.

Umi Plus Review: BATTERY LIFE

When it comes to battery, Umi Plus is a great performer  as it ships with a beefy 4000mAh unit. I could get over 6 hours of screen-on time on a daily use, which is a great result. The phone ships with the fast charger and I was able to fully charge the phone in around 1:30 mins.

Umi Plus Review: CONCLUSIONS

Umi Plus is another phone from China that aims to deliver a lot of value for $200. It succeeds in a few ways.

The device has a nice and sharp display, the user interface is simple and fast, the phone is nicely designed and uses premium materials in the construction. Also, the battery life is great.

However, you have to know that Umi Plus can’t really handle the 3D games if you want to play them on the highest graphics. Also, the both cameras do not impress and the GPS is not always accurate.

At the end of the day, Umi Plus is a decent phone for the price but you have to consider the shortcomings before making a purchase.

The post Umi Plus Review appeared first on Gizmochina.