Zuhaib's UMI X2: A great value for money smartphone!

Well readers we are back again with another guest review about the UMI X2. I know now everybody will start groaning about the delivery schedule by Androidguruz and how you might be still on the first list and are yet to recieve your device which you booked more than 3-4 months ago!

Well this article is for Androidguruz as much it is for the readers. For one single fact that if they do not pull up their socks and start deliveries of the UMI X2 as promised what a lucrative opportunity they are missing in the Indian market. All the new releases the Gionee E6, the Canvas4, the Spice FHD every phone (except the Auxus Nuclea N1) has turned out to be a disappointment in terms of specs as well as pricing.

Androidguruz we know that you have signed up the service agreement with Salora for service and also with the Mobile Store for sale of your devices but can you please just deliver the phones without any more reasons of "Customs", "turbo upgrades" et al? or else you won't have happy customers like Zuhaib left!

Dont forget to read the review by Shiva on his X2 too

Cheers,

Mohit

GizChai

UMI X2 REVIEW BY ZUHAIB

FIRST THINGS FIRST!!!!!

I pre-booked on March 26, 2013

Paid Balance amount on May 9, 2013

Got the device on June 24, 2013 (white one, just as I ordered)

ONE MORE THING BEFORE I BEGIN

UMI India has no idea about the delivery schedule. I got a second call for address verification and colour confirmation on June 24. When everything was verified, the executive told me that the handset will be shipped that evening. After about half an hour later, I received my X2 through Bludart!! The rest about UMI India operations you all can yourself imagine!!

BOX PACK

Comes in a book-like packing. You turn over the leaf to reveal specs and the contents. This is kind of a smart packing that saves UMI space and allows it to ship more units in a given consignment. That being said, it is really very sad that UMI has not been able to justify it. Many pre-bookers are still waiting for their devices (you can see Umimobile Facebook page just to get an idea of the trash talks and bashing UMI India has been receiving).

THE CONTENTS

You get the handset (of course!), the Apple-ish USB charger and data cable. You also get two screen protectors. Moreover, the phone itself comes with a screen guard pre-installed on it. You do not get a flip cover/silicon case and ear/headphones. The last part is hard to digest considering the fact that earphones are made available even in the Rs. 1000 Fly brand mobile!!

DESIGN AND HANDLING

Design looks strikingly similar to Samsung Galaxy series albeit the physical Home button. I have the white version. It has got a nice glossy finish. The battery cover additionally has some glitterati effect to it. The handset feels a bit heavy when compared to some others in the same category. The X2 is with a very thin bezel that adds up to the front view of the phone. You get the power/lock key and volume rocker on the same side (right side). This is both good and bad. Good in sense that if X2 is with a flip cover (which I hope it would someday), you don’t feel jittery while raking up the volume with the cover hampering the access to the rocker (if it was on the left side). The bad is that you will most often than not end up pressing the lock key instead of the volume down button.

The battery cover has speaker grille spanning throughout the centre. But once you open the device, you will notice that the speaker itself is only towards the lower right side (not in the centre). Well, this doesn’t impart anything negative to the X2. It just highlights the after-thought that must have gone while making the battery cover.

The quality of plastic is not very good. But considering the cost and overall specs of the device, I will live with it.

TOUCH CAPACITIVE KEYS

It is still very fresh in every “X2 pre-booked” mind that there was a border issue with the prototype version. That is long gone in the final version but at a certain cost. The lower bezel which harbours the touch capacitive keys looks a bit broader than it actually should have (probably they have extended it to hide the border). The other thing that is an eyesore for many X2 users in the “light leakage” from the capacitive keys. Again, this might be because they have used the same quantity of plastic material but have applied it over a larger area (extended lower bezel), thus making it less dense leading to light leakage! It’s my personal hypothesis. I might be wrong ;)

USER INTERFACE

It comes with stock Android Jelly Bean V4.2.1.

STORAGE 

It has 32gigs of internal storage, of which you get around 27GB for apps/games installation. The same can be installed on the external storage too!! I do not know how much external storage it supports but I have a 32GB Class 10 micro SD card, and it works pretty well.

It has 2gigs of RAM, out of which around 1.3 GB is available when the phone is in idle mode with basic mandatory services running.

The device comes pre-rooted (with SuperUser app pre-installed).

The device also comes with many Chinese apps which are of no use if you don’t understand Chinese! So, in 

effect, they are kind of bloatware for majority of Indian users. I uninstalled them to free up more space on the device using a third party uninstaller from Google Play (as you cannot get rid of them through usual means).

IN-CALL/SPEAKER OUTPUT

The speaker output is on par with any Android device, knowing the fact that the stock media players in this operating system tend to have low volumes. You can crank up the volume using some third party softwares available freely.

The in-call volume is on the lower side. You will have difficulty communicating with the caller while on a busy traffic-stricken road, pubs, etc.

NOTIFICATIONS

The mobile does have a LED notification indicator adjacent to the earpiece. It flashes green/red while in stock device, but some other developers’ apps may modify it so it then blinks green/red/blue at different stages (Like it does with Du Battery Saver app).

CAMERA

Quality is good on both primary as well as front cameras. Obviously not on par with some leading players in the market, owing to the fact that they use better optics than X2. 

BATTERY BACKUP

My device lasts one full day (10-12 hrs.) with moderate use.

GAMEPLAY AND APPS SUPPORTED

The devices supports all the latest apps out there. The only exception being Facebook Home. I still haven’t been able to get it running.

As far as the games are concerned, I have tested almost all the graphic-heavy gaming titles and mark my words: ALL OF THEM RUN FINE!

Some of them I have listed 

Real Racing 3, Temple Run Oz, BIA, NFS Most Wanted, Asphalt7, N.O.V.A.3 and Batman.

Only Iron Man lags  but I don’t like it anyway so it doesn’t matter to me at least!

CONCLUSION

The handset is worth the money spending. Yes, there are glitches, like light leakage and notification LED light visible through the earpiece when in dark. But if you are not that much a critique, you will be easily at ease with your X2. Feels good in hand and while lying on the table too!! The specs pack a punch and get people drooling over them, literally (Yes, it is still not outdated, although being a Mediatek 1,2Ghz not a Turbo version). The Full HD 5 inch screen is a treat to watch. Viewing angles are very good. Multi-tasking is buttery smooth and get the job done without skipping a beat.

Pros: Everything starting from the price itself!!

Cons: Light leakage, quality of plastics used and the most important ones: AVAILABILTY and its handling by ANDROIDGURUZ :)