I want to start by saying I was very skeptical about buying this phone because I have never heard of UMIDIGI. Lets face it, $200 is $200. To me that is still a lot of money to take a risk on a brand I have never heard of. Within the last year I have had a Galaxy S8, Xiaomi MI A2 Lite, and a Motorola G6 Play(for comparison). Below are the reasons why I got rid of those phones and chose this phone...
Phone must have:
1. Large battery with good battery life (sorry Galaxy S8)
2. All LTE bands for US (Sorry Xiaomi I need band 17)
3. A decent processor (Sorry G6 Play....so SLOW)
4. NFC
5. 1080p (not necessary but definitely a plus)
6. Decent camera
I find myself drawn to the phones India and China get because they are practical. Midrange specs with good battery life and decent camera, I don't need a flagship phone. When I used GSM Arena's phone finder and put the specs in I was looking for(including LTE bands), this was the only phone that kept coming up that was in my price range. So I decided to take a chance on the F1 since it had all the things I felt were important in a phone.
I have been very pleased with the phone so far(3 weeks of use now)! There are a fewsmall problems, I'm not sure if these are related to UMIDIGI software or Android Pie, since this is my first phone with Pie. The main issue I have is some of my home automation like Ring and August don't receive notifications unless I am already in the app. I don't get notified when somebody rings the door bell or my August lock doesn't auto unlock(working with August on that). There again, I don't know if that is an issue with Android Pie or UMIDIGI. I don't get notificatons for my Messenger app either. I have made sure notifications were turned on for those apps and battery optimization was turned off. I get all the notifications for phone calls and texts which is most important to me.
The battery life has been really good! That might be why I don't get my notifications, but its been worth it. I can typically go 2 days without charging. I attached pics of some of the battery usage. Note last charge time and screen on time.
Camera is decent, not as good as my S8 but wasn't expecting it to be. Sometimes I have to take a picture several times in order to get a good one. The picture of my dog was taken in complete darkness, it took 3 tries to get that one. The picture of my shoes was with the Bokeh effect turned all the way up. So if you don't mind taken a few pics in order to get the good one, then this camer will work for you.
There has been 2 software updates so far, one when I first got the phone and one within the last couple of weeks. The latter fixed a bug with deleting pictures, the trash label was partially missing. Now with that update there is a bug where changing to multiple windows and clearing them individually the window shakes for a few seconds. Nothing big but I hope UMIDIGI will come out with a software update to fix that too. I think if UMIDIGI stays on top of their software updates they could be the next Xiaomi. Software was really my main concern about buying this phone. It would be REALLY NICE to see UMIDGI started using Android One platform.
I tried to touch on some of the things that weren't out there. If you want to know about the screen, finger print reader, sound etc.... I think that has been covered well enough with other reviews....
UPDATE: There was another update and it fixed the window shaking problem I had. Pretty impressed that they have been updating the phone to fix minor bugs. Keep it up UMIDIGI!
Would like to see a security patch update though...
UPDATE 2: At work I have noticed that my phone calls have been less than stellar. When making a call I put it on speaker phone and watched the screen and noticed that it will switch from 4G to 3G when making calls. I work at a camp and it is isolated, we have 4G towers at camp so we have really good 4G signal but we have almost no 3G. Needless to say this has been a problem, not having a signal for phone calls, and when I do they have been choppy. I don't think this is an issue with UMIDIGI but with Cricket/ATT. They don't recognize unlocked phones for VoLTE. I talked to their technical support to no avail. Just to make sure I checked my unlocked Moto G6 Play and it does the exact same thing. Now this was never a problem at my house where we get a really good 4G and 3G signal. This has been enough of a nuisance at my work that I had to get a new phone. Since it had to be a Cricket/ATT branded phone in order to get VoLTE I picked up the Motorola G7 Supra since battery life is the most important thing for me.
I have also noticed some connectivity issues with Bluetooth headphones. It losses volume for a split second and then comes back on. This might happen every 5 minutes or so.
For people complaining about short battery life they must have a rogue app or something. I have never had less than 40% battery life left at the end of the day, and that was using my phone a lot.
All that being said I still really like the phone. It looks like my son will be upgrading to an F1.
The camera is great, both the fingerprint scanner and face unlock work fast. The phone runs super fast, plays games with no lag. Plus it looks amazing. Im not usually one to leave reviews but i had to for this. I had a tiny bit of trouble in the beginning but that was do to metropcs not Umidigi(if you have metro be sure to call and have them switch you over). Will update if anything go's wrong.
Great price! It has many features - very good cameras, very large screen, lightweight, powerful, fast, good camera, quick charging, Android 9 Pie with no bloatware. 128GB storage and 4GB ram. and it does run on on MetroPCS with no problems.
So far so good. Yes, it's only been one day but I am highly impressed. The feel is perfect. It doesn't have that scary feeling of being dropped like an iPhone. I'm taking the risk of not using the case that comes with it and removing the plastic film screen scratch protector that came already applied. The weight of this phone is right where a phone this size should be if not slightly lighter. For $200 it's a hands down absolute must have.
Super impressed with the F1. I had looked for some time at other similar phones but had concerns with LTE compatibility with at&t in the US. Works perfectly with at&t. Don't be fooled by the lack of an LTE badge on the screen, it clearly is LTE capable. Speedtest in my home on at&t is consistently over 30meg.
I'll simply echo the other 5 star reviews here. Very impressive phone, and a spectacular bargain.
Oh, and the included nice case and the pre-applied screen protector is above and beyond. Even received the US charging brick which was unexpected. Nice!
Feature Product
- Operation system : Android 9.0 and Network:3G: EVDO BC0,BC1;3G: WCDMA 1 /2 /4 /5 /6 /8 /19;3G: TD-SCDMA 34 /39;4G: TDD-LTE 34 /38 /39 /40 /41;4G: FDD-LTE 1 /2 /3 /4 /5 /7 /8 /12 /13 /17 /18 /19 /20 /25 /26 /28A /28B. UMIDIGI F1 is an International model phone, please check compatibility with your carrier prior to purchasing.
- 6.3" Waterdrop Full Screen 2340 x 1080 Resolution FHD+, 409 PPI: UMIDIGI F1 Smartphone has 19.5:9 edge-to-edge all-screen design with remarkable 92.7% screen-to-body ratio, and within-cell and LTPS technology, supporting a full screen of distinct clarity and vivid colour.
- 128GB ROM + LPDDR4X 4GB RAM: UMIDIGI F1 Unlocked Phone with Helio P60 AI 2.0 Ghz 8-core CPU Processor. 4GB RAM, 128 GB storage + Micro SD compatible up to 256GB (not included) + dual nano SIM card capability.
- 5150mAh Big Battery with 18W Fast Charging: UMIDIGI F1 Cellphone with big 5150 mAh battery for tons of screen-time on a single charge and ultra power saving mode to extend your charge even longer. Its 18W Fast charging replenishes the massive power swiftly.
- 16MP+8MP Dual Camera with F/1.7 Big Aperture, and 16MP high-resolution selfie. Letting you capture professional and artistic photos in a single shot with an ultra-fast focus time.
Description
I really like the look of the phone and the build quality seems good for the price. Camera is below average and I find the mono speaker to be pretty distorted. I do like that they kept the 3.5mm headphone jack and the battery well above average. The adaptive brightness doesn't seem to work very well, and I can't turn the brightness down as far as I'd like to for night time use. and my hotspot doesn't work, though others claim it does. Also, if listening to headphones while its charging, there is a definite buzz in the background.
edit: got an update on March 1 that improved the camera, which is nice. it also broke a couple things. so hopefully they keep up the support. also got hotspot to work by adding "dun" to the apn type setting.
also, just announced on March 5, the F1 Play - with 48MP camera and 6GB RAM and 64GB storage- for $250, so might want to consider that
Purchased this as a secondary phone for Pokémon Go. Was expecting noticeable differences from my top of the line flagship main phone but was pleasantly suprised by it. You cannot find a better phone for this price. Great work Umidigi. Keep it up.
Pros:
- Amazing battery life.
- Supports more bands than most other budget and Chinese phones. Like B12 (Tmobile) so this phone is great for USA customers.
- Great build quality, although plastic the huild quality still feels high end.
- Comes with screen protector and case which is great since its next to impossible to find cases for this phone, even on eBay and Ali express.
Cons:
- Camera
- Fingerprint sensor not functioning 100% properly it seems.
Personally though for my use these cons are irrelevant.
I will update this review in a month if anything has changed.
EDIT: (2 Days In)
Only complaint so far is the case. Fits well and seems decent however it's too slippery/no grip. Recepi for future drops...
It works on My Metro PCS (T-mobile) network. No drop-offs. I live in Denver, CO. It works with the following bands in the U.S. LTE band 2(1900), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 12(700), 17(700), 25(1900), 26(850), 41(2500). T-mobile (Metro PCS) support bands 1900, 1700/2100, 700, 600. I am happy with everything about the phone. It does; I repeat it does have FM radio. Some review sites stated that it doesn't. For me being a sports radio junkie this was an important feature. The only thing I regret is that I can't listen to the radio in blue-tooth mode like I could on my Moto G4 Plus. Other than that no issues. Fast processor for gaming. 128gb memory on-board plus the 256gb external card I added make this thing a walking library for all of my movies and music titles with lots of space left over. I am not a big phone camera person. The quality of the images it produces are just good enough not to be crappy but for sharing with friends and family it is more than adequate. Overall for 186.00 US dollars on Amazon it was a great deal. I hope this is helpful for anyone looking for a good midrange cellphone. The best place to check for compatibility information is "frequencycheck (dot) com".
Had the Umidigi F1 for about 1 month. Can't believe I bought for about $200. It's done everything that was promised. Use it on the Mint Mobile network, but mostly on my WiFi network. My friend paid $800 for his machine, does the same thing. Charges lickety-split. What more can I say.
Update 5/21/19. Have used the phone for 3 months. Working perfectly. Just renewed cellphone Mintmobile prepaid plan to 12-month subscription. After the discount, the plan costs me $165 (+ tax) for 12 months, 3Gigs of data per month. At home, I use the automatic wifi feature (no cellphone charge for data.) Works flawlessly. If the battery is less than 40% ( I think) it charges on fast charge, otherwise it charges on the slow charge. The fast charge is really fast. For $200 for the phone this was an excellent buy.
I purchased the Umidigi F1 a few weeks ago and have been enjoying the phone. The 6.3 1080p display has been really good. The battery life that I have been getting on this phone has been amazing. I am averaging over 30hrs off the charge each time. I like how it is running Android 9.0 straight out of the box. The build quality is another good feature on this phone. I have more expensive phones that doesn't feel like this phone. The P60 processor does a great job handling playing heavy games. Overall for the price of this phone you get a lot. Yes its works in the USA
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