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.

There are plenty of smartphones out there but usually they cost a lot. I came across Oukitel C3. It is a $50 phone that has and HD display, Android 6.0 and decent design. Learn more in our full review.

 Oukitel C3 VIDEO REVIEW:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-GPsbYPyLw[/embedyt]

Oukitel C3 Review: UNBOXING

The phone ships with all the usual stuff and you should not expect any extras to come with the device.

Oukitel C3 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

When it comes to the design, there is nothing spectacular going on here. We don’t have any premium materials like metal but the phone is well built and it is comfortable to hold it.

The 5” 720p display is not the best I’ve seen but it is really good for the phone this cheap. My advice would be to remove that cheap pre-installed screen protector, which distorts the view.

We have a just a 2MP selfie shooter and non-backlit capacitive keys. You have to know that there is no notification LED light and the buttons feel a bit cheap.

The backplate, which has a vinyl-like finish is  very nice to the touch and it does not attract fingerprints so easily. Also, it can be easily removed. Underneath it, you can find 2 SIM card slots and the microSD card slot.

As far as optics, we have an 8MP camera and a single LED flash.

The loudspeaker sits on the back. You can’t expect high-end sound quality out of it, but I would say this is best speaker on a $50 phone I’ve tested.

Overall, Oukitel C3 does not look or feel expensive or anything but it is well-made, looks decent and it does not seem to break anytime soon.

Oukitel C3 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

For $50, you are getting a quad-core MTK6580A CPU with the clock speeds of up 1.3GHz, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage.

While this spec-sheet will definitely not blow your socks off, you can still enjoy some 3D games.

Asphalt 8 runs fine on medium graphics with just a few skipped frames but no lag.

Oukitel C3 Review: USER INTERFACE

The phone ships with Android 6.0 out of the box and we have some redesigned icons and added features by Oukitel.

For example, there are plenty of gesture and motion controls. As usual, I use only a couple of them and they work fine.

Most importantly, the phone runs fast and fluid most of the time. Well, I had a little bit of stutter a couple of times but nothing major.

Oukitel C3 Review: IMAGE QUALITY

You can’t expect any stellar results from the camera on the phone this cheap. In short, the image quality is not impressive but some of the shots may be usable for social media. Same can be said about a selfie shooter.

Oukitel C3 Review: CONNECTIVITY

As for connectivity, the GPS is not the most accurate I’ve tested but it is still usable. Also, the wifi works fine and the call quality is decent.

Oukitel C3 Review: BATTERY LIFE

The phone sports a 2000mAh battery and it performs on the average. 3 hours of screen-on time was the most I could get out of this phone on a moderate use.

Oukitel C3 Review: CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have it, a $50 phone, Oukitel C3. This phone is designed for those who live on a very tight budget or for those, who just want a super cheap phone.

Sure, you can’t expect anything spectacular out of this phone. Well, cheap is cheap but Oukitel C3 is one of best $50 phones on the market. It has a decent design and display, a pretty good overall performance and some extra features in the user interface.

Obviously, both cameras do not impress and the battery life could be better.

At the end of the day, Oukitel C3 is not going to be your next flagship killer but it is well-worth a $50 price tag, despite a few shortcomings.

The post Oukitel C3 Review – $50 Smartphones Never Looked So Good appeared first on Gizmochina.

Blackview has produced quite a few budget phones and the A8 model is probably the best we’ve tested so far. It costs just $50 and it is a good device for the price. Learn more in the full review.

Blackview A8 Review: VIDEO

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzVgb0o9lFg[/embedyt]

Blackview A8 Review: UNBOXING

It was a pleasant surprise when we saw that Blackview included some nice extras like a flip-style case and a pair of earphones with this $50 phone.

Blackview A8 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

It is pretty cool that this cheap phone has a metal frame that goes all around the device, the buttons are tactile and the overall build quality is great.

The loudspeaker is not going to impress you much but it is actually not bad at all for a cheap phone and it easily rival some $100 devices.

The backplate can be removed and underneath it you can find a replaceable 2000mAh battery, 2 SIM card slots and the microSD card slot. Keep in mind that the phone does not support 4G network but the 3G signal reception is good and I didn’t have call quality issues.

The phone feels nice in the hand too. The only shortcomings would be non-backlit capacitive buttons and the lack of the notification LED light. Instead, you are getting a front firing LED flash for night selfies.

The phone has a 5” 720p display and it is probably the best we’ve seen on the $50 phone. It is sharp and vivid and you can’t ask more from a phone this cheap.

Blackview A8 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Blackview A8 is not going to be your next powerhouse device but the specs are pretty good for the price. It sports a quad-core 1.3GHz MTK6580 chip, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable storage.

This phone is definitely not for gamers but it is still possible to play games like Asphalt 8 on the lowest graphics settings.

Blackview A8 Review: BENCHMARKS

Blackview A8 Review: USER INTERFACE

The phone runs on Android 5.1 with Blackview’s skin on top of it, which removes an app tray but adds some features and customization options.

There are some themes, skins and some nice looking widgets to play with. Also, you can find some gesture controls, which work very slowly.

The UI performance is good but not perfect. You can expect some minor hiccups or skipped frames in animations. On the other hand, I didn’t have any major lags.

Blackview A8 Review: CAMERA

The image quality is not really impressive but this is what you have to expect from a $50 phone. Still, you can get some okay looking daylight images that could be used for social media. However, don’t expect great results in low-light.

Blackview A8 Review: BATTERY LIFE

The 2000mAh battery will give you just around 3 hours of screen-on time on a mixed use, which is not very impressive.

Blackview A8 Review: CONCLUSIONS

Blackview A8 is a phone that has a great build quality and even metal frame in its construction and it costs just $50.

Also, it has decent HD display, the UI has some extra features and the phone is easily manageable in one hand.

However, you should expect some minor hiccups in the UI and the battery life could be better.

Still, the phone is a great offering for $50. In fact, it is one of the best we’ve tested in this price range of phones and it can be highly recommended for those who are on a very tight budget.

The post Blackview A8 Review – $50 Smartphone Never Looked So Good appeared first on Gizmochina.