One thing that Android brings to the table other than an awesome operating system in its own right, is of course its open source and free to use model. This allows smaller players in the game to create a handset and compete purely on specs and of course price.
This is where loads of Chinese manufacturers – both small and large – come into the fold, players like Huawei and ZTE and of course smaller ones like Meizu and Oppo. However there are many other manufacturers that we haven’t heard of that are starting to make waves, Xiamoi and UMI are a couple, and this brings us to the new UMI X2, a 5″ quad-core 1080p beast — all for $260 USD.
What the UMI X2 brings to the table for the price is quite impressive. It has that 5″ 1080p 441ppi LCD display, powered by a MediaTek MTK6589 1.2GHz Quad-Core processor with graphics powered by a PowerVR SGX544 GPU, sports 32 GB of expandable internal storage and 2GB of RAM, running on an impressive 2500mAh battery. For the imagery they have thrown in a 13 MP shooter on the rear and a 3 MP front facing camera. The device ships with Android 4.1, with 4.2 to follow.
Would you buy something like this for the price, or stick with the name brands? Are handsets like this and the Oppo Find 5 going to start making a big splash?
Sold, my wife would love it
I’d want to be pretty sure as to what 3g frequencies it supported before I handed over any cash.
850mhz and 2100mhz so no regional Optus.
There is actually a model that supports 900/2100 and some have suggested that they both unofficially support 850/900.
WTF…i’m sold
Cheaper than a screen replacement for a top end phone.
Too right I would. This is what is bringing the big name prices down. This is going to hurt Apple in expanding markets
At that price if it lasts a year I am extremely happy.
Is it just running stock? Will be interesting to see how quickly they update, if so. I guess the fact that they’re launching with 4.1 is an indication that they’re not going to push updates out super quick after they’re released.
As others have said, interested in seeing a review!
It think if you buy a budget phone like this, then accept if for what it is. Its 4.1, and that’s probably what it shall remain at. No big deal. At this price keep it until something else attracts your attention.
Fair point. My point was just that IF it’s running stock, and IF they did keep it up to date (which shouldn’t be a huge effort really), there could be a real opportunity for them … especially at that price point …
This is too much of a steal. So cheap!
if they offer the same warranty and promise a firmware upgrade, i would like to try my hands on one of them. but then having a quad core cpu doesn’t mean it will be lightning fast. probably wait for a review in youtube.
Just beware that the MTK6589 uses ARM’s Cortex-A7 architecture, which is the new low-powered but but lower-performance architecture. Expect performance to be just a bit behind Cortex-A9 chips like Tegra 3 or Exynos 4.
Of course it’s perfectly good for this price range, but I just wanted to point out that there are differences between quad core and quad core.
This is 100% correct and a very good point.
I would buy it to replace my S3 if the battery is better.
I’d want to read a review first. But for $260, sounds like a good replacement for kids old Galaxy Ss.
I want it