I own one for almost two weeks.

It's good and bad at the same time.

Good points
- battery life (especially on standby mode)
- option to choose on screen or capacitive touch buttons
- dual sim (Sim+Sim or Sim+Memory card only)
- fingerprint scanner
- shape and look of the phone - feels and looks like premium device
- no overheating - compared to Snapdragon 810 it feels like beer taken form the fridge vs. red hot bbq briquette
- "Harlequin" LED
- Phone call recorders fully works. For example ARC records speaker + microphone.
-

Unfortunately there is a few major bad points which disqualifies this device as daily runner.
In my opinion as experienced user UMI Super is currently in beta stage. Should be sold only to developers/beta testers.
- 4G doesn't work (some people says it does). Possibly something to do with frequencies used in UK.
- poor GPS signal
- network signal shown is a lot out of reality in poor coverage areas. Shows 50-75% but you going to be lucky if can make telephone call or access internet
- photos taken are pretty bad quality. 3rd party camera apps doesn't work properly (dark photos)
- recorded videos are choppy
- light sensor reacting only to direct light. Light source need to be 90 degree angle. If light source is on smaller angle to the screen UMI Super reads wrong lighting levels (lower than real). This results as having to bright or to dark illumination.


All of the problems have been reported on UMI forum by many users. They seems to be working on software update (they pretty fast with this) as most of them seems to be software issues.

The only one that seems to be hardware related is the light sensor.


My advice is - don't buy it (yet) if you don't want to do full factory resets, flashing new ROM every few weeks and not to be Beta tester.



Excuse my poor language skills but I'm one of those worried about what's going to happen after Brexit

Don't forget to use Topcashback on AliExpress.

I have an Umi Max....a rare one that doesn't have any issues....apart from....it has the pre-release ROM in it.I only learnt this yesterday while reading through the forum.apparently,a few made it out into the wild due to demand outstripping supply.
For now it works fine.time will tell when I go for the nougat release at Christmas.

battery as good as ulefone power ?

Works perfectly well for me on three. Both 3g and 4g no issues whatsoever.

here is a speed test I did a few days ago

Yes:


Three (3)
4G – 800/1800MHz
3G – 2100


Umi super Frequencies Supported: GSM (2G) 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz, WCDMA (3G) 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100MHz, LTE FTE (4G) 800(B20) / 1800(B3) / 2100(B1) / 2600MHz(B7)
3G: YES
4G: YES
Full UK Coverage: YES
Bluetooth: 4.1
GPS: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Sensors: Accelerometer, Light sensor, Proximity Sensor, Fingerprint, Orientation, Gyroscope, Compass, Magnetic (Hall)
USB OTG: YES
USB Type: USB Type-C
SIM support: Dual standby
WiFi: 802.11a, b, g, n 2.4GHz + 5GHz

does this phone works on the three network?

The same one on Tomtop is £129.59 http://www.tomtop.com/tablet-pc-cellphone/cell-phones/umi/p_173197.html?aid=EM0720&utm_source=EDM&utm_medium=EDM&utm_campaign=TT-EDM-EDM0720

this thread on the official Umi forum is interesting and might bring some hope to those with software issues.

I'm certainly looking forward to it

Unfortunately (for those having issues) you may well be right :neutral_face:

Mine is working fine - gps, camera, battery, browser, calls, everything. Sounds like you guys got defective units :confused:

anybody experiencing issues with placing a call? I find myself frequently restarting the phone to be able to make a call

Not sure, but even on the official Umi forum some say their GPS is fine.

I tried it again last night on the way home from work (1st try since the latest OTA) and worked pretty much fine again.

Only issue that sometimes happens (but not often) is when I move off from a junction/roundabout it assumes I've gone a different way but each time that has corrected itself with 5 seconds or so.

Unfortunately we know that a problem with many of the smaller Chinese manufacturers is quality control/consistency and I wonder whether that's the case with the GPS in these phones. Perhaps I just got lucky?

Interesting article about the battery been 3000Mah instead of 4000Mah

http://www.gizbeat.com/10473/umi-super-is-3000mah-battery-not-4000mah/

Already there are reports of poor 4g reception, poor GPS and OTA updates that are actually making the phone worse......

​I use the preloaded browser. worked perfectly before

Which browser are you using? I use chrome and haven't noticed any difference

I updated it but I feel battery consumption is higher and the web browser stutters when you flick between different tabs. ota has made things worse!

Thanks for the heads up, got it last night after reading your post. No real noticeable difference for me so far although the speaker does seem a little louder but that could just be my perception

Slight disappointed they didn't make any progress on camera photo quality

ota is already available - downloaded it earlier today

Yes I had no customs issues either so for a total of £126.xx delivered if feels like great value (so far)

In the official forum there's talk of another OTA update sometime in the next few days (but again let's wait and see)

Yup, I got mine yesterday - my thoughts exactly.

Also no customs charge. For the price this thing is a really high end feeling phone. Really impressed with the screen and overall build quality/slickness of the OS.

Got mine a few days ago and so far (still early days) I'm very impressed. Yes the camera is poor but I'm hoping software updates will improve that. Also sound could be a bit louder but it's still perfectly usable for me as is.

For the price I'm really impressed with the rest. Build quality is excellent, screen is lovely, touch responsiveness is good, the few time I've used GPS (with google maps) it's been as accurate as any other Android phone I've used for the entire journey. Speed is very, very good, everything runs quickly although I've not tried any games. WiFi, Bluetooth all connect and run fine.

Battery life is really good. I'm getting two days from a full change on medium usage.

Regarding 4G, wherever there is a decent 4G signal (I'm on the Three network) I've got some really good reception all day. Here is a screenshot of a speed test I did this morning with the phone just on my desk at work. Where the 4G signal is weak (like at my home) it sticks on 3G all the time but my 3G signal is stronger then I remember it on my previous phones so I'm not unhappy with that.

No, I still got it. Didn't want to go through the hassle of returning it ( taking 2-3 weeks, and then to recedive refund or new phone) I bought voda smart ultra 6 since n its been a brilliant phone for a year, then 2 days ago decided to just die! :disappointed:

Ugh, that sounds like a nightmare. I hope you got your money back.

I sent a phone back to China after it was miss sold as having 4G when it just didn't. It only cost about £15 via the Royal mail cheapest option. It got me a full refund on PayPal (minus the return postage).

Everything.. lol! Kept restarting, wifi cutting off, heating issues, battery dying after 30 seconds etc.. battery ordered n battery is K, anyway finally after finding a decent ROM, cannot access gallery or use camera. lovely display on the phone, so nice n thin, but wasn't given a full test by the company

What was wrong with it?

Umi??? Never again.. Umi Zero was and still is worst experience ever...!

Fast charging works a treat.... sod it, lovely phone!

So mine arrived today.
Bit bashed in transit due to retailer putting a UK plug adapter on top of the metal tin.
It's heavy (expected) and feels good quality. Camera takes decent pics and GPS is quick and accurate

Yeah the Xiaomi mi5 is nice but if I was to choose again it would be the Xiaomi Mi Max

personally if I was to get an import I would go for the Xiaomi mi5 , literally flagship phone, obviously at a steeper price than this though. however not only do you get better spec, but also better software.

Yeah $199.99 - £150.67 I'm getting now

Flash price £152.15 inc discount now?

Your fault sounds software based, try flashing the latest rom from umi website.

Wow that actually helped!!! However after about 1 minute on, the problem came back so clearly not something I can fix myself :disappointed:
Amazing that I get better support from here than the manufacturer :smiley:

That is unfortunate, have you tried a hard restart try pressing power button for at least 10 seconds and your phone should reboot

Unfortunately I have to change my mind, after owning owning this phone for just 5 days, my phone's screen deleped a hardware fault in the middle of me typing a text messsage.- no bump or fall, just me holding the phone and suddenly book, half the screen is garbled now :disappointed:
What a rubbish phone after all and I suspect the return/ replacement procedure will literally take months.

Yes, but you can't have 2 sim cards insrted & a micro SDcard at the same time, you have to sacrifice one of the simcard's if you want to have a micro SD card

​Umi site also states it has dual 4g sim

I've got one of these, just over a week and I think it's a brilliant device for the money. I took it as an alternative to an Elefone M3 the release of which seems to be delayed time and time again but I'm really happy with it. I haven't used the camera much yet but it seems pretty decent using "A better camera" app. 4g works perfectly on giffgaff (O2). I came from another Chinese phone, a Ulefone Be Touch 2 but this one is on a completely different level, flawless so far and superior in every way apart from the internal non removable battery and the fact that the dual sim has to be sacrificed for additional memory card. This seems to be a pattern being followed by other Chinese brands which is a shame.

2 OTA updates in the first week which suggests there are bugs that I haven't found. This is a bargain at this price. Hot from me

Paypal have their own protection, and its exactly that their own protection, if they refuse you then you have no form of recourse.

When you purchase anything over £100 on your credit card your covered by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, this is much stronger than paypal as its an actual law, the cover it offers is also for a longer period.

Personally anything under £100 I use paypal anything over I use credit card.

Exactly... should... but it doesn't.

Definitely no support for Three Network 4G

I'll test BT mobile 4G in few days

Yes, don't use a debit card!

EDIT: Just wanted to add there is a competition on Umi Facebook page to win 5 UMI Super and 15 VR Box, LINKY HERE!!

UMi Lucky Giveaway! Good luck! ‪#‎giveaway‬ ‪#‎smartphone‬ ‪#‎vrbox‬ ‪#‎umisuper‬
Rules:
1.Like UmiOfficial
2.Share the post.
Prize:
1x VR BOX will be giveaway when we reach 3,000 shares
1x VR BOX will be giveaway when we reach 5,000 shares
1x VR BOX will be giveaway when we reach 8,000 shares
1x VR BOX will be giveaway when we reach 10,000 shares
1x VR BOX will be giveaway when we reach 15,000 shares
1x UMi Super & 1 x VR BOX will be giveaway when we reach 20,000 shares!
The giveaway will end on June 30th.
We will select the Lucky Winners at Random on July 1th.

You didn't specify you are talking about a credit card

Me, I don't do apple

This or iPhone 6s

Surprised to hear that, countless reports of people getting their money back only because they paid using Paypal.
Can't see any advantage in paying using your mastercard. The site you yourself recommended outlines the shops that offer Paypal for a reason...

whereas I use my mastercard for all on my online purchase's, maybe the odd small purchase here and there with paypal

According to the specs this should support 4g on all UK networks.

I did run Antutu about 3 times on each phone.
Like I said, the Snapdragon 3D test is visibly smoother.

But what are you saying, that MTK is faster? As it seem to be pretty much common knowledge that Snapdragon is overall superior in both speed, performance, support, reliability (GPS signal and so on).

Nice, and it lists the sellers that do or not offer Paypal as a payment option.
AliExpress doesn't offer Paypal, that excludes them for me.

Gearbest/banggood seem to do Paypal

Antutu scores are worth nothing.

Try to run antutu couple of times than you'll see throttling coming in.
After that compare overall user experience of the phone.

Currently I have few devices. One of them scoring 82000 antutu points. But you know what ?
UMI Super feels faster and it's only 45000.

Antutu gives a loads of points for graphic, which is really bad because graphic is not important if you're not playing intensive games like N.O.V.A. as for every other games basic GPU it's enough.


About smoothness.
To compare any phones first you need to switch off animations in developer settings as some phones comes with setting set to x1 some others with x0.5.

Yes buying from China direct is risky but can be rewarding, I currently have Meizu MX 4 Pro 32gb which I love, here's hoping umi can come up with the software update that everyone wants for this 'super' phone

Though I bet when you bought, someone wrote something about UMI being the 1st, 2nd or 3rd manufacturer in the world/China, so must be good. There is a risk associated with these chinese phones (and yes, I know the iPhone is "made" in china as well)

I was just about to post the same, Snapdragon version of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro Prime (yeah, long name) sells for similar money but it will give you better performance out of its 6 cores, and with less heat.

Snapdragon 650 6 cores scores 78000 in Antutu and the 3D video test is visibly smoother than the 8 cores MTK in this, which scores about 52000 in Antutu.

Same retarded shared slot for second SIM/sdcard though, which kind of kills all the fun for me

I hope so as I really would like to keep this phone.

I have a feeling the 3rd update is going to be the winner

Yep. its called 16/06/16 but it doesn't solve much of the problems. Possibly causes more of them.


Changelog for this FOTA:

- Fingerprint accurancy fixed (yes)
- Camera optimization (even worse)
- Touch screen optimization (possibly)
- Battery lifetime support up to 10hours screen time (yes)
- Virtual button setting moved to quick manual (yes)
- Background task clearing add into "Setting", remember to make your own white list or you will receive your message delay or only when you turn on the app. (for example, add wechat to white list or you will not see any coming till you open it) (yes)
- Wifi connection optimized (yes, a little)

This one or £140 XIAOMI Redmi Note 3 Pro 32GB ROM 4G Phablet - SILVER
5.5 inch Android 5.1 Qualcomm Snapdragon 650
64bit Hexa Core 1.8GHz
Fingerprint ID
3GB RAM
16.0MP + 5.0MP Cameras FHD Screen

Willmyphonework.net is really useful in telling you which phones work with what carriers!

That's quite surprising as three use bands 800 & 1800 both of which this phone (is supposed to) support.

I'm with three too so I hope 4g works

Reportedly, a special version of the Redmi Note Pro with band 20

http://forum.xda-developers.com/redmi-note-3/help/android-6-band-20-redmi-note-3-pro-t3403378

Pity that I have just bought!

Can sell you my one if you want :smiley:

Battery life is good. As expected.
Especially while in standby mode. Barely consumes any juice even with hangouts, whatsapp, gmail (obviously no facebook app).


Almost sold Moto X Force to keep UMI Super as somehow I actually prefer it.

It's going to be great phone once problems get fixed.

Unfortunately it is not at this stage.

I bought the UMI Rome about 6 months ago it's had 4 updates from UMI and the original problems are still there battery life being the main problem UMI say it has a 2500mAh unit but it's been tested as a 1450mAh unit they lie about the specs to draw people in, it seems the updates cause more problems than they solve, if you look on the forums people who have bought a UMI phone say they wouldn't buy a second. All I'm saying is read up before you buy or you will be as frustrated as me.

Tempted as i need a phone with a large battery life, but the 4G and camera problems are worrying me

Haven't tested myself since I'm with Three, so got LTE working since Day 1 without modding anything; but some XDA users reported that they've got LTE working although the signal strength was not very good.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=67516551&postcount=943

From what I understand, more work needs to be done before B20 is fully functional, but it is doable.


I received the phone with unofficial ROM as well, and managed to flash it to the official one using this guide: http://en.miui.com/thread-235865-1-1.html

See I bought Redmi Note 3 from GearBest and somehow- nobody knows why I have unofficial system on it. Its pretty much impossible to get original one. Their version of forum is made by 10yo who likes use color too much and doesn't really knows how how subforums work.

Had some Umi phones - thats whyI would say it's better to stick to Umi -Android - no chance to get inofficial version of it, normal updates.
http://en.miui.com/thread-200858-1-1.html

Umi Super specs & some reviews on kimovil.com

bad reviews on this thing

This website can help pick and compare any 3 or 4 Chinese phones and compare them side by side with all their specifications and ratings out of 10. This is very useful in helping you weigh up what phone is best for you based on all the individual specifications. http://www.kimovil.com/en/

Any of these Chinese phones work ok with O2 4G? Preferably no bigger than 5inch screen..

Umi...... No, just no. I foolishly bought their 1st flagship phone, the UMI Zero. Awful thing. No OTA updates, 6 random reboots a day, battery swelled and the back popped of, GPS was useless, ran hot even with easy background tasks running. Hateful thing. Be very cautious if buying. Make sure you have they funds to buy another phone, you may need to!

do you have any links or more info on unlocking band 20, i have seen a couple of threads in XDA, but I am not sure they have got it to work, if you have something more concrete to look at, would be great.

This or xperia z5

I ordered this phone 3 weeks ago, had to pay VAT on top but still excellent value.
Great battery life, fast cpu/gpu, 4g works for me, great screen, bit heavy, great camera, vanilla Android 6, usb-c, loud speakers, lot's of customisation, dual sim (a must for me) - strangely micro-sim not nano-sim.
Phone has been working great so far, I sold my Sony Z3 and I will be getting two of those instead for the same price.
To sum great value if you don't mind a bit of risk.

Don't get a phone with a MediaTek CPU. My Xiaomi RedMe Note 2 (same CPU) is a great phone but support for the chip is non-existent and its likely that I'll be stuck on Android 5.1 for good. Mediatek don't release drivers so your stuck on the android version you have unless the phone makers bother to release a newer version...
A snapdragon based chinese phone will have a lot better options for upgrading Android in the future.

Forgot to mention - It's Three Network. (directly not piggyback).

I've tested this phone wisely.
Everything was compared to my other phones - Moto X Force, Nexus 4, Huawei P8 Lite, Moto G (first one)

Obviously 4G compared only to X force as others doesn't have it.

IMO Redmi note 3 pro much better choice

You say 4G doesn't work but what network are you trying it on?

Any info on the band 20 unlocking? Is that only with CM13? I am just waiting for the phone to arrive from Geekbuying (bought last Thursday...... $1.44/£).

Yes the free option. Tracking status is still the same this morning but realistically I wasn't expecting delivery before 20 days so any sooner is a bonus

Just purchased added a Hard Plastic Case and Tempered Glass Protector Total $193.04

I'd tend to agree with those commenting on the quality issues of UMI - they tend to chuck out underdeveloped devices and not really offer much in the way of support to fix the bugs - they just sell a new device a few months later and ignore the old ones. Had an UMI Iron - which has numerous bugs, including a known wifi bug that means wifi needs resetting every few minutes. Never fixed. Just replaced with the Iron Pro phone a few months later....which has its own set of bugs...

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro is a much better choice methinks.

The Snapdragon 650's performance is amazing, plus MediaTek phones rarely get much support from the ROM developers.

Also the Note 3 Pro is going to be officially supported by CyanogenMod which is a big plus. The CM13 Nightly ROM is already stable enough to be used daily, also LTE Band 20 can be unlocked.

All and all, no reason to go with this.

There are smart watches that have NFC >

Bulgari Diagono Magnesium

Sony Wena

Neither of which are available in the UK. There's probably more, anyway that's what I found from a 5 second Google search.

I'd choose a second hand LG G3 or similar over this.

UMI, Doogee, UMC, MFI, DCI, Boobeedoowei, Conwon, all just chucking in a few half decent components with little idea of how to nail build quality. Just give me the next Asus please.

I own one for almost two weeks.

It's good and bad at the same time.

Good points
- battery life (especially on standby mode)
- option to choose on screen or capacitive touch buttons
- dual sim (Sim+Sim or Sim+Memory card only)
- fingerprint scanner
- shape and look of the phone - feels and looks like premium device
- no overheating - compared to Snapdragon 810 it feels like beer taken form the fridge vs. red hot bbq briquette
- "Harlequin" LED
- Phone call recorders fully works. For example ARC records speaker + microphone.
-

Unfortunately there is a few major bad points which disqualifies this device as daily runner.
In my opinion as experienced user UMI Super is currently in beta stage. Should be sold only to developers/beta testers.
- 4G doesn't work (some people says it does). Possibly something to do with frequencies used in UK.
- poor GPS signal
- network signal shown is a lot out of reality in poor coverage areas. Shows 50-75% but you going to be lucky if can make telephone call or access internet
- photos taken are pretty bad quality. 3rd party camera apps doesn't work properly (dark photos)
- recorded videos are choppy
- light sensor reacting only to direct light. Light source need to be 90 degree angle. If light source is on smaller angle to the screen UMI Super reads wrong lighting levels (lower than real). This results as having to bright or to dark illumination.


All of the problems have been reported on UMI forum by many users. They seems to be working on software update (they pretty fast with this) as most of them seems to be software issues.

The only one that seems to be hardware related is the light sensor.


My advice is - don't buy it (yet) if you don't want to do full factory resets, flashing new ROM every few weeks and not to be Beta tester.



Excuse my poor language skills but I'm one of those worried about what's going to happen after Brexit

I would say Xiaomi better built, more reliable and with more community support / alternate ROMS etc.

what shipping method did you use? the free option? Not sure if i should use the DHL option

I own a Umi Iron Pro, in my experience, whilst i think the specs of mine were great when i bought it, there just doesn't seem to be any after care with Umi.
there have been little official updates for it (only 2) also no update to Marshmallow in the pipeline.

also, be warned, take the description with a pinch of salt, my camera is absolute tosh, whilst at the time of advertising it, it looked amazing...
and it was promised that it should have been supported by CyanogenMod, but as of yet... zilch

again, whilst the specs look great, Umi are more interested in shelling out phones than supporting what they already have out.

not voted either way as it is a good price but a shoddy company

This or the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro?

I need a good camera and storage :smiley:

Are UMI a decent brand?

Last cheap China phone I bought came with built in malware, lots of hardware niggles and no support of the warranty.

I'm seriously tempted by this but I really don't know if I trust these types of products anymore. Any advice?

Thanks - just had a look and they have a flash deal for the Vernee Thor which I'm tempted for £76. Don't think it's a hot deal so won't post it on here though

Ordered mine from the same seller on 20/06. Already shipped but tracking says is still in China.

Main reason I chose this over the Redmi note 3 pro is that it runs a close-to-stock android marshmallow and they have already released some updates

Tried going through Quidco (7.5% cashback) but can't seem to find the product when I use AliExpress search?

I'd ordered before this thread appeared. Nothing against them except AliExpress itself

Android Wear doesn't make any use of NFC. I have it in my Sony Smartwatch 3

I'm trying BangGood for this Chinese purchase. Not used them before but will let you know.
Normally I use GearBest. They aren't quick but when they send the order they actually take a pic of the parcel with your shipping label including order Id and tracking number as proof

Great specs for the price. Voted hot.
Missing NFC is a bummer.

I've ordered the same phone but via a chinese online store rather than AliExpress (don't quite trust it).
The spec looks great for the price (I'm paying a bit more than this) and I'm looking forward to getting it too!

Don't forget to use Topcashback on AliExpress.