Back in the summer of 2015, we reviewed Umi Iron. It delivered in some aspects while it fell short in others. This time around we have the Umi Iron Pro, the upgraded model. Find out more if it is any good in our full review.

Thanks to Coolicool for sending Umi Iron Pro for a review.

Umi Iron Pro VIDEO REVIEW:

Umi Iron Pro Review: UNBOXING

The device comes in quite a typical box for UMI where all the contents are packed neatly. Inside of it you can find a USB type-C cable, power plug and some documentation.

Umi Iron Pro Review: SPECS

Umi Iron Pro Review: DESIGN

The design of the Umi Iron Pro is very similar to the one we’ve seen on the regular Umi Iron. The phone made of metal, it is well constructed and feels great in the hand.

The 5.5” display does not make this phone the most compact out there but it is not that huge either.

On the top we have 8MP shooter along with the front firing LED light and some other usual stuff.

On the bottom there is a very nice looking pulsing notification LED light, which can be highly customised and it has various colours. Also, there are on-screen navigation buttons.

The back is made of metal and it is identical to the Umi Iron except for the fingerprint scanner. The setup of it was a bit annoying and it took much more time in comparison to some other devices. The good point is that once the you register your fingerprint, the scanner works pretty well and you can also unlock your phone straight from the standby mode.

As far as optics, we are looking at 13MP camera with dual tone dual LED flash.

On the bottom there is a speaker grill.

The buttons are placed on the left side and I’m not a huge fan of it as I am used to pressing keys on the right side but this may be my personal preference. On the right side there is a dual nano SIM card slot and one slot also doubles as microSD storage expansion option.

On the top there is a headset jack and on the bottom you can find a USB Type-C port.

Overall, Umi Iron Pro is a well designed phone and it sports a great built quality. Also, it definitely looks premium considering the price of the device.

Umi Iron Pro Review: DISPLAY

As far as display, we are looking at 5.5” panel, which is quite bright, it has good colours and it is a great panel overall. However, the phone ships with some sort of anti-glare screen protector, which I definitely recommend removing as soon as you start using the phone as it distorts the view.

Umi Iron Pro Review: UI

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When it comes to the UI, Umi Iron Pro runs on Android 5.1 out of the box with a light Umi’s skin on top of it.

The day-to-day performance is nice and smooth even after installing lots of apps.

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The key features would be some customisation options of the LED light, which is really cool and I believe each manufacturer should include that.

Also, there are some gesture controls, which work pretty well but they are not the fastest I’ve seen.

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Besides the fingerprint security option, Umi offers iris scanner feature, if you really care about it. It may be cool to play with it for a few times but in general, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me as it takes too much effort unlocking the phone and you simply look weird. Well, it’s just my opinion.

Umi Iron Pro Review: BENCHMARKS

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Umi Iron Pro Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

Umi Iron Pro sports an octa-core MTK6753 1.3GHz 64bit CPU, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. 

This combo of hardware looks pretty good on paper but disappoints when it comes to graphically intensive games. 

Playing Asphalt 8 on the highest visual setting is literally impossible. Once you change the graphics level to medium, it is possible to play it but there are still quite a few skipped frames and stutter. 

Overall, this phone is definitely not for hardcore gamers. 

Umi Iron Pro Review: MULTIMEDIA

Consuming multimedia is a pretty good experience. As usual, there are no issues watching Full-HD content and while the loudspeaker is not the best I’ve heard, the sound that is coming out of it is pretty good.

As far as sound via earphones, it is pretty good too. However, the thing I hate most is the fact that you hear some kind of weird beep sound once hit volume up or down… and it happens randomly.

Umi Iron Pro Review: CAMERA

As far as camera, we have a pretty much stock looking Mediatek app. What’s funny is the fact that you can select the image size up to 20MP while the sensor itself is just 13MP.

As far as the image quality, daylight pictures turn out to be pretty good. There is a reasonable amount of details, colour reproduction is mostly natural and dynamic range is okay.

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However, as soon as the sensor does not get a lot of light, some more noise creeps in. Still, you may get some pretty good looking pictures. Also,  I was quite impressed by the quality of some macro shots.

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When it comes to the low-light images, the camera software tends to brighten up the scene, which is okay but it leads to a ridiculous amount of noise. Well, most of the images will be usable for social media but others may even look like painted.

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As far as selfie camera goes, you can only take a decent shot with plenty of lightning. Otherwise, you will get a blurry shot witch will also lack in details.

As far as video, the quality of footage is okay but it is not very  impressive. There is an average amount of details and the video looks quite shaky. See the video review for a video sample.

Umi Iron Pro Review: CONNECTIVITY

All the connectivity options work well. However, the in-call volume could be a tad louder.

Umi Iron Pro Review: BATTERY LIFE

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The battery capacity varies from 3100mAh to 3300mAh, which is quite interesting. The phone will get you through the day as I was able to achieve almost 4 hours of screen-on time while using the device mainly for basic tasks.

Umi Iron Pro Review: CONCLUSIONS

Umi Iron Pro is another attempt by the company to win the consumers’ hearts. Did they succeed?

To some extent yes. The phone has a great metal design, good build quality and it feels great in the hand.

Also, Umi Iron Pro sports a pretty good display, the UI performance is mostly fast and fluid, the fingerprint scanner works well.

While the camera is not bad but it is far from perfect and the quality of images will mostly depend on the lighting conditions.

Also, if you are a hardcore gamer, Umi Iron Pro is definitely not for you unless you are okay with a laggy 3D gaming experience.

All in all, Umi Iron Pro is a decent device for the price $180 but you may also want to check out what the competition has to offer in this price range.

The post Umi Iron Pro Review – A Worthy Successor? appeared first on Gizmochina.

Umi has released quite a few phones in 2015 and Umi Iron Pro is probably the last we are unboxing this year. Find out more in our unboxing and first impressions article.

Thanks to Coolicool for sending Umi Iron Pro for a review.

Umi Iron Pro: UNBOXING

Umi Iron comes in a typical box for Umi. Everything’s packed neatly and the contents include a charging plug, USB Type-C cable and instruction manuals.

Umi Iron Pro: DESIGN

The phone has 5.5″ display and it makes the phone quite huge but it is easily manageable in one hand due to great ergonomics of the device.

On the front we have an 8MP shooter, LED flash and other usual stuff. On the bottom we have on-screen navigation keys. Also, there is a nice looking skyline-type pulsing notification LED light.

As the name implies, the phone is made almost entirely of metal (except for the top and bottom parts for antennas). I have to say that the choice of metal definitely makes the phone look and feel great in the hand.

As far as optics, we have a 13MP Sony IMX214 sensor, which is accompanied by dual tone dual LED flash. Right underneath it there is a fingerprint scanner. It was a bit cumbersome to setup but it works quite well in real life.

Umi Iron Pro: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Overall, Umi Iron is well constructed device and I see an improvement over the older Umi Iron in terms of the precision in the build quality. For example, the top and bottom parts, which are made of plastic, are perfectly aligned with the metal backplate. The same goes for the sides and other parts of the phone. All in all, Umi Iron has an impressive build quality and great choice of materials especially if we think of the price point of this phone.

I have already spent a few days with the device, installed all the usual apps, played with the camera etc. So far, the performance has been good. However, I need to spend a bit more time with the phone (as usual) to tell you my final thoughts.

Stay tuned to Gizmochina for a full review.

The post Umi Iron Pro Unboxing and First Impressions appeared first on Gizmochina.

Another day, another giveaway.

Today, we are going to giveaway a brand new UMi Iron Pro flagship to one of our lucky readers, provided to us by Coolicool.com. If you have been an avid follower of gizmochina, you would know that we like to giveaway a lot of stuff to our readers, especially smartphones. In the past few months alone, we have given away a brand new OnePlus 2 flagship as well as a OnePlus X handset to our readers.

Today, it’s time to giveaway the best of UMi, namely the UMi Iron Pro flagship. It comes with a 1.3GHz MT6753 octa-core processor with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable memory. The display is of 5.5-inches with FHD 1080p resolution. At the back, you get a 13MP sensor with dual LED flash and upfront, an 8MP shooter. The battery is also pretty decent at 3300mAh capacity. Overall a great phone to have at 179.99!

You can check out more details about the UMi Iron Pro flagship from here.

The rules to participate in the UMi Iron Pro flagship Giveaway is similar to the ones we had in our previous giveaways. So, just follow the instructions given in the Gleam Widget and make as many entries as possible to increase your chances for a win.

One lucky winner gets a UMi Iron Pro Flagship For Free!

All the best!

UMi Iron Pro GiveAway

Meanwhile, you can directly purchase the UMi Iron Pro flagship from here.

The post GizmoChina GiveAway: Win A UMi Iron Pro Flagship From Coolicool appeared first on Gizmochina.

UMi unveiled the second generation version of the popular Iron flagship called as the UMi Iron Pro a few weeks back. The phone retains a similar design as the previous generation but brings some additional upgrades. One of the highlights of the device is its all metal body, which is made out of a single piece of magnesium and aluminum alloy. The CNC finish and curved edges gives the smartphone a premium look, despite its sub-$170 pricing.

The phone looks like a complete package, featuring the much loved metal body, powerful specs and an affordable pricing. To recap, the phone comes with the MT6753 octa-core chip which powers most mid-range flagships in the market right now. There’s 3GB of RAM on board and 16GB of expandable internal storage. At the front, there’s a large 5.5-inch FHD 1080p display.

While these are great specs by itself, what really sets the UMi Iron Pro apart from the crowd is the inclusion of biometric security features. You have Eyeprint ID as well as a fingerprint sensor to ensure that your data is safe. This is an essential feature in a smartphone since most users have lots of personal data stores on their devices and it becomes necessary to protect them from strangers.

At the back, there’s a 13MP Sony IMX214 camera with dual LED color temperature flash. Up front, you have an OV camera which also comes with an LED flash, making it a great phone for selfie lovers. Finally, a 3000mAh battery, USB Type-C reversible port and Android 5.1 Lollipop OS makes sure that the phone is up to date.

Its a great phone if you are looking for something under $180. There are a lot of promotions going on websites like Coolicool where you can get the device as low as $149.99

In fact, if you buy the device in the next one hour, you can get it for just $149.99. Later, the Iron Pro will be available for $179.99. So, if you were planning to get a phone, this might be the right time!

The post A Closer Look At The All Metal UMi Iron Pro Flagship That Costs $149.99 appeared first on Gizmochina.

We have seen companies campaign against rivals in the past. The best example would be the recent #taketheedgeoff campaign from OnePlus against Samsung and even the swap your OnePlus 2 for a Pro 5 flagship from Meizu. Now, it looks like UMi wants to take on Elephone as the company has recently kicked off a campaign where it urges Elephone P8000 users to smash their phones into pieces in return for a Free UMi Iron Pro flagship.

The idea here is simple. You have to record a video of smashing the Elephone P8000 and upload it to YouTube. The company will select the 10 best videos out of all entries and give away a UMi Iron Pro for free. Now, you must be wondering what about the rest of the users who have smashed their phones. Well, the company will offer 50% discount coupon to anyone who posts a video of smashing the P8000. So, you can purchase the Iron Pro for half the price provided you uploaded such a video.

The campaign has already kicked off and will continue till November 9th. UMi will announce the winners on November 10.

UMi seems to be keen on taking on Elephone with this contest. It will be interesting to see how Elephone responds to this move from the rival company.

Hit the source link for more details!

So, what do you think about this campaign? Will you smash your Elephone P8000 for a free UMi Iron Pro?

The post UMi will offer UMi Iron Pro for FREE If You Smash Your Elephone P8000 To Pieces appeared first on Gizmochina.

For the past few weeks, we have been seeing rumors and leaks about the upcoming UMi Iron Pro flagship. Earlier today, the company decided to officially unveil the device. The UMi Iron Pro comes with pretty great specs, all for just $179.99. UMi has particularly focused on the security on the device, incorporating three different security features to make sure that the phone’s data is always secure.

The UMi Iron Pro features the MT6753 octa-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz, which powers most mid-range flagships in the market right now. There will be 3GB of RAM on board which is enough for your everyday multi-tasking needs. For storage, you get 16GB ROM further expandable via MicroSD, thanks to the hybrid dual SIM Card / MicroSD slot. As for the display, the Iron Pro comes with a 5.5-inch FHD screen, the same one as seen on its previous generation.

At the back, the phone comes with the Sony IMX214 13MP camera with dual LED flash. Up front, there’s a decent 8MP OV shooter ideal for selfies. Under the hood, there is a 3100mAh battery inside a 7.9mm thin body. With the battery, the phone weighs about 148 grams. Finally, there’s Android 5.1 OS running on the smartphone.

One of the highlights of the phone is the new USB Type-C port. Also, you get three security features namely Fingerprint ID, Eyeprint ID and Voice Recognition which will ensure the safety of the data inside the phone. Its really good to see a local Chinese manufacturer incorporate such security features on the device.

Overall, the UMi Iron Pro looks like a great package for just $179.99. The security features, 3GB RAM and the 3100mAh battery makes it a complete package.

Since the phone is now launched, we hope to review the device pretty soon. So, stay tuned for more updates, reviews and hands-on of the Iron Pro in the coming days.

FULL SPECS SHEET: 

CPU: MediaTek MT6753 Octacore 1.3GHz

GPU: ARM Mali-T720

OS: Android Lollipop 5.1

Memory: RAM 3GB+ ROM 16GB

Screen: 5.5 inch FHD,LTPS (1920*1080pixels,403PPI)

OTG: YES

Band :GSM 900/1800/1900

WCDMA 900/1900/2100

FDD 1800/2100/2600

Video File Format: 3GP/MPEG4

Audio File Format: MP3/WAV/AMR/AWB

Camera Back: Rear 13MP Sony IMX214 with dual-flash           Front: 8.0MP OV8858 camera

Language: Supports Multi-language

GPS: A-GPS with EPO

WIFI: 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4GHz/5GHz

Bluetooth:  v4.0

Sensor: G- Sensor，P- Sensor,L-Sensor,Accelerometer

SIM card: 2 Nano SIM Card and TF Card（up to 64GB）

Multi-Touch: 5 point touch

Dimensions:  152.3 x 76.5 x 7.9mm

Net Weight: 148g

Battery:   3100mAh~ 3300mAh

Standby Time: 10~12 days

Color: Silver,Black

The post UMi Iron Pro Is Official: Sports MT6753 & Three Security Unlock Features appeared first on Gizmochina.

A few days back, we heard a few details about the next generation of the popular UMi Iron model, now going by the name UMi Iron Pro. The phone will reportedly come with three different levels of security making sure that the data inside the device remains secure.

According to the latest information, UMi Iron Pro will come in a brand new color, and its none other than Rose Gold that has become quite a trend in the industry. It all started with the craze of Apple iPhone Rose Gold Edition and now, many well know manufacturers like Samsung have started offering this special color. Even UMi is supposed to join the party as the report claims that the UMi Iron Pro will also have a Rose Gold edition. This will be a great color option for those who would like something in Rose Gold for a much cheaper price tag.

As for the other specs, the UMi Iron Pro will reportedly come with the octa-core MT6753 chip with 3GB RAM and 16GB of storage. The front will feature a 5.5- FHD display as its predecessor. There will be three different security options like fingerprint recognition, voice unlock and finally, EyePrint ID. The phone will also come with the new USB  Type-C port replacing the old MicroUSB 2.0.

Looks like a decent device in the making. The Rose Gold color option is definitely an added plus. We will keep you guys updated with more features in the coming days.

The post UMi Iron Pro Will Also Come In Rose Gold Color appeared first on Gizmochina.

The UMI IRON PRO will be the successor to the UMI IRON.
The design seems to be nearly the same. But the PRO will have USB TYPE C and also a fingerprint scanner on the rearside. And it will of course still have the notification LED on the front.

It appears that the UMi Iron Pro will look physically similar to the current Iron, but will get a single piece rear panel. The current Iron has a metal main body with plastic at the top and bottom, the Pro has a single piece. At this stage we don’t know what material it will be, but being a ‘Pro’ we hope for alloy at least.

 

Also on the rear we see the same camera and dual LED locations, but now there is the inclusion of a fingerprint scanner too. The UMi Iron Pro will also feature an eye scanner running of the front camera. A 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display is the same spec as the original, and we see the LED notification bar at the bottom of the phone has been retained. The final details we know at this stage of development are a USB Type C 2.0, 3GB RAM and Mediatek MT6753 chipset.

Overall the specs are similar to the original UMi Iron, but that chipset choice seems odd and a little misleading. The octacore MT6753 is not a high-end processor, and has a low power GPU which isn’t suitable for hardcore gaming. It’s fine for standard phones but not something a ‘Pro’ level device, for that we would like to see a Helio X10 at the very least, a P10 or X20 would have suited too.

We suppose it all boils down to price, but we feel tat UMi Iron 2 might be a more suitable name, and the UMi Iron Pro should pack a little more punch. What are your thoughts?

Source:xiaomitoday

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