Review of UMIDIGI One Pro - an inexpensive smartphone with NFC and a good camera

UMIDIGI is one of the few second-tier Chinese companies that has made a significant step forward in recent years. A few years ago, its smartphones did not stand out too much against the background of competitors, who were focusing on cheapness, but not on product quality. However, in 2017, quite successful models UMIDIGI S2 and UMIDIGI S2 Lite were released, which showed that this company is capable of more.

UMIDIGI One Pro is a representative of a new mid-range series, in which the manufacturer tried to collect the best features of smartphones from famous brands. It beautifully shines with a gradient color of the back cover in the style of Huawei P20, winks with a "monobrow" a la iPhone X and lures with NFC support, which is usually found only in flagships. At the same time, the device costs only about 11,000 rubles.

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Specifications

Frame	Metal, glass
Display	5.9 inches, 1,520 × 720 pixels, IPS
Platform	Helio P23 processor, ARM Mali-G71 MP2 video processor
RAM	4 GB
Built-in memory	64 GB, the ability to install memory cards up to 256 GB
Cameras	Main - 12 Mp (OV12870) and 5 Mp; front - 16 MP (S5K3P3)
Connection	Combo slot for two nano-SIM and micro-SD; 2G: GSM 2/3/5/8; CDMA1X BC0, BC1; 3G: EVDO BC0, BC1; WCDMA 1/2/4/5/8; TD-SCDMA 34/39; 4G: TDD-LTE 34/38/39/40/41; FDD-LTE 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26 / 28A / 28B
Wireless interfaces	NFC, Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n 2, 4/5 GHz, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, GLONASS, A-GPS
Expansion slots	USB Type-C, 3.5mm audio jack, micro-SD (up to 256GB)
Sensors	Accelerometer, fingerprint scanner, geomagnetic sensor, gyroscope, proximity sensors, illumination
Operating system	Android 8.1 Oreo
Battery	3 250 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions (edit)	148, 4 × 71, 4 × 8, 3 mm
Weight	180 g

UMIDIGI One Pro uses the Helio P23 chip, developed in 2017 for use in mid-range gadgets. The chipset includes eight Cortex-A53 processor cores operating at frequencies up to 2.3 GHz. It is made using a 16nm process technology, the speed is roughly the same as the Snapdragon 625.

Responsible for the three-dimensional graphics is the Mali G71 MP2 GPU, which operates at a frequency of 770 MHz. Its capabilities are enough not only for playing videos and simple puzzles, but also for modern three-dimensional games. The video accelerator supports API OpenGL ES 3.1, OpenCL 1.1, DirectX 11.1.

The UMIDIGI One Pro smartphone is equipped with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of permanent memory. This configuration is the most relevant today, as it ensures the smooth operation of the operating system and applications, and also provides ample space for storing user data.

The main surprise is the presence of an NFC module and support for 15W fast wireless charging. In this price category, no one has ever offered anything like this. However, as our testing has shown, these are far from all the pleasant surprises of the UMIDIGI One Pro.

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Completion and appearance

The designers of UMIDIGIi decided not to bother themselves too much with the work on the packaging, so all the devices of this company are sold in exactly the same black boxes.

The package includes a charger, USB Type-C cable, protective case, paper clip and accompanying documentation. The complete cover is made of high-quality plastic, which imitates leather on the outside. It sits well on the device, feels good to the touch and looks great.

The body of the phone is rather compact, despite the fact that the screen diagonal is approaching 6 inches. This is achieved through narrow top and bottom bezels. So in this case, the notorious "monobrow" was only beneficial.

The screen occupies 90% of the front surface. In the upper cutout there is a front camera, earpiece and notification LED, which notifies in different colors about missed calls, unread messages or low battery.

The side edges are made of shiny silver metal. On the left side there is a slot for a combined tray, in which you can install either two SIM cards, or a SIM card and a memory card.

On the right side there is a volume rocker and a power button, combined with a fingerprint scanner. This placement may seem unexpected, but in fact it is very convenient. Now you perform two actions in one motion: unlock the device and go through authorization.

The bottom edge of the smartphone contains a USB Type-C connector, an external speaker, a microphone and a jack for wired headphones. It's nice that the developers did not abandon it.

The back cover is the most remarkable detail in the design of UMIDIGI One Pro. It is made of glass with a spectacular gradient coating that shines in different colors. Unfortunately, photos and videos cannot fully convey this splendor, so take our word for it - the phone looks cool!

Depending on the angle of refraction, the surface is colored either dark green, then noble blue, or purple. The glass on the back cover has an oleophobic coating, so prints disappear after light wiping.

Overall, we liked the design and build of the UMIDIGI One Pro. The smartphone fits comfortably in the hand, and high-quality materials of the case and protective case deliver only pleasant sensations when using. Combining a fingerprint scanner with a power button only seems unusual at first, but after a while it turns out to be a convenient and logical solution.

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Screen and sound

Smartphone UMIDIGI One Pro is equipped with a screen with a diagonal of 5, 9 inches and a resolution of 1,520 × 720 pixels, which gives 285 dpi. The pixel density is not very high by modern standards, however, individual dots can only be seen when carefully examining the screen from a very close distance.

Almost all Chinese manufacturers now use high-quality displays, for which it is difficult to make serious claims. UMIDIGI One Pro is no exception. The image on the screen looks sharp and sharp. The matrix demonstrates rich colors, correct color balance and a good supply of brightness. There is an automatic backlight adjustment depending on the ambient light. You can activate a special night mode, which does not have a harmful effect on the eyes with prolonged use of the gadget in the evening.

The company's website says that when playing music in the phone, two speakers work at once, which provide a stereo effect. In fact, this is not the case. There is only one speaker, and although its sound is quite loud, it is completely normal in terms of frequency characteristics. Connecting headphones saves the day. When using a high-quality headset, music lovers can well enjoy the good sound of their favorite tunes.

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Performance

The Helio P23 chipset roughly matches the performance of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625, which in turn is still one of the most popular platforms for mid-range smartphones.

The results of synthetic tests showed that the speed of the UMIDIGI One Pro is in no way inferior to such popular models as Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite or Redmi S2. This performance is quite enough for a comfortable solution to any user tasks. Applications start quickly, there are no lags or slowdowns. Thanks to the presence of 4 GB of RAM, switching between already running programs is almost instantaneous.

For fans of gaming, this smartphone can also come in handy. Helio P23 is, of course, not an ideal solution, but its speed, combined with a small screen resolution, still allows you to run almost any mobile game. Although, to achieve a comfortable frame rate in the most sophisticated games, you will have to use medium graphics settings.

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Autonomy

The smartphone has a rather plump body, so we were hoping that the manufacturer would equip it with a good battery. However, the One Pro has a 3,250 mAh battery - even less than the younger model. In this case, the thickness of the case is probably due to the presence of wireless charging.

In the PC Mark Battery test, which measures the device's battery life while performing common user tasks, the UMIDIGI One Pro lasted 7 hours and 27 minutes. All this time, the smartphone was with the screen on. This means that one full charge should be enough for a full day of normal use. If you set a goal, then you can stretch the battery life up to one and a half days.

Unfortunately, we did not have the opportunity to test the operation of wireless charging, but the manufacturer claims that when using the proprietary UMIDIGI Q1 device, the smartphone can be fully charged in just an hour and a half.

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Camera

The smartphone has a main camera with two modules. The resolution of the first is 12 megapixels, and the second, used during portraits, is 5 megapixels. The first pleasant surprise is that the second sensor here, unlike many other Chinese phones, actually works. In Stereo mode, the smartphone perfectly highlights the central subject and beautifully blurs the background around it. Below are some photos taken with the second sensor.

The quality of the pictures in the usual mode did not disappoint either. We tested the UMIDIGI One Pro in bad weather, when the sun was almost completely obscured by clouds. But this did not stop the camera from taking good pictures with correct color reproduction and good detail. Pay attention to how correctly the automation selects the parameters for different objects.

And even during the evening walk, the UMIDIGI One Pro did not disappoint us. In difficult low-light conditions, the camera was able to capture almost artistic images. An excellent result that not every branded smartphone can repeat.

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Software

The word One in the name of the model seems to hint at participation in the AndroidOne program. This is not true. UMIDIGI One Pro is not affiliated with this Google initiative.

Nevertheless, the smartphone boasts a completely clean version of Android 8.1, which is completely devoid of third-party applications and services. Out of the box, only a minimal set of Google software is installed, including Google Maps, YouTube, Google Photos, Chrome. All the rest of the software will have to be installed independently from the Google Play application catalog.

The smartphone is equipped with an NFC module, so it can be used for contactless payment and authorization. The manufacturer has received all the necessary certificates, so Google Pay is installed without problems. We tried to pay with UMIDIGI One Pro in the store - everything is fine.

The operating system runs smoothly and without brakes. On the first day of testing, there were several failures when unlocking the device, one of which even led to a reboot. However, in the following days, two firmware updates were released that fixed this problem. Let's hope that the enthusiasm of programmers will not end and they will also promptly release patches further.

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Outcomes

As a result of testing UMIDIGI One Pro, we got a completely unambiguous impression of it. This is one of the most worthy devices that you can buy in the category under 15,000 rubles.

In terms of design, assembly, quality of materials, UMIDIGI One Pro is in no way inferior to much more expensive smartphones. A modern chipset and a sufficient amount of RAM make it easy to solve any user tasks. The connection works confidently, there are no problems with determining the location. The camera shoots well not only in the daytime, but also in the evening. Cherry on the cake - NFC and wireless charging.

At the time of this writing, the cost of the UMIDIGI One Pro smartphone is 11 729 rubles in the GearBest store and 12 162 rubles in the official store on AliExpress.