Exclusive: UMi X1 unboxing and hands on video!

Our UMi X1reviewphone arrived at Gizchina’s office this weekend! Take a look at our unboxing video and quick hands on of this high performance dual-core Android phone!

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First of all I would like to thank Andy at Uredeal for sending me the UMi X1 for review. Uredeal are also currently the only stockist of UMi phones who are able to ship internationally!

Best of all Gizchina readers have been offered a $15 discount on the UMi X1 if you use the following Uredeal discount code: usd15offGizchina.

Buy the UMi X1 from Uredeal now!

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UMi X1 Specifications

The Umi X1 is one of the new breed of Android smart phone from China which have managed to bring high performance to customers at affordable prices.

The X1 boasts a dual-core MT6577 CPU clocked at 1.Ghz, 1GB RAM, 4GB of built-in memory, a 4.5 inch 1280 x 720 display and 8 mega-pixel rear camera all wrapped up in an extremely attractive, and thin body.

Our X1 shipped with Android ICS 4.0.4 and features Baidu input and Go Launcher, but for this video I have replaced Go Launcher with Xiaomi’s MIUI launcher which I personally prefer.

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There is also a range of accessories available for the X1 including a range of plastic covers, protective cases and screen protectors, although I’m not sure if the a screen protector is need as the screen features a Gorilla glass style anti-scratch coating.

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UMi X1 dual-core MT6577 phone unboxing and hands on

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I’ll spend some time with the UMi X1 and I will prepare an in-depth review over the next week or so, so keep posted for updates.

Also don’t forget to use the promotional code usd15offGizchina when ordering your Umi X1 from Uredeal to save $15!

Buy the dual-core MT6577 UMi X1 from Uredeal!

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Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author
Andi

anywho
November 4, 2012
With the new google phone being at $100 more, do you think this phone has enough value to compare? The new Nexus looks pretty sweet.
- Niko
  November 4, 2012
  i choose x1 over nexus 4, because of i need the dual sim feature, will choose main stream handset over the chinese android if i don’t need it, except for xiaomi with miui rom
  - anywho
    November 4, 2012
    Very good point. I’d forgotten about the dual-sim. I wonder why the main-stream never have dual-sim. After all, it’s really practical.

Niko
November 4, 2012
ow, i’m so jealous of you Andi, still waiting for my X1 to arrived..
can’t wait to see your in depth review of this beauty
and if you have time, maybe you can write step by step on how to root, install recovery, and custom rom using shuame.com tool, because it seem way more simplier than using standard tool (problem is we gizchina reader who also purchase x1 from uredeal, can’t read chinese)

kaskuser
November 4, 2012
Can you test the strength of the screen,
with key or cutter maybe?
are this screen is strong as gorilla glass or not?
🙂
- Niko
  November 4, 2012
- - Wow, awesome, thanks for the video!
  - Zopper
    November 4, 2012
    umi x1 looks like crap comparing to gorgeus jiayu g3
    - kaskuser
      November 4, 2012
      g3 is great.
      but without pics or video from andi it’s hoax for me :))
      i dont trust this company and their delay reason.
      this company make many good online seller name going bad with delay.
      and make some scamer got much money with they claim of stock like (ac*******er.com) they claim in stock since august and success to scam much people who not patient for this phone without investigate about this site 1st.
      - teja
        November 4, 2012
        Good News .
        Jia Yu G3 can root and install custom rom released by le frog . details of all rooting and installing procedure explained here .
    - dz
      November 5, 2012
      Are you serious? You actually think the phone in the video looks good? It looks like cheap chinese TAT to me. Honestly, you need glasses if you think that looks good. “Welcome back to the 80s” is what i thought when i saw that phone.
      - dz
        November 5, 2012
        I was referring to the jiayu G3 looking like cheap tat. The umi x1, on the other hand, doesn’t look too bad.
        Amazing how some blind people actually think the jiayu g3 looks good. These people need their eyes tested for sure.
  - dz
    November 5, 2012
    Bloody hell, that phone looks so CHEAP. Welcome back to the 80s. Wouldn’t like to be seen with a block phone like that. You can tell it’s cheap chinese TAT from just one glance at it.
    I’m left to wonder if the chinese have any style. I think even i could design a phone that doesn’t look so shit.
    - dz
      November 5, 2012
ziddu
November 4, 2012
Andi
what u think about newman n2 ? its already open for preorder for 269 dollars is it worth to buy that device .
Igor
November 4, 2012
It can be rooted? Can we install a MIUI rom? And what about upgrades to Jelly Bean from the manufacturer? Thanks for the replies
- - November 5, 2012
    what about upgrades to Jelly Bean from the manufacturer?
    this is my main issue…
    I am among UmiX1, ThL W3+ and Jiayu G3, but they all come with 4.0…
    - Igor
      November 6, 2012
      I was thinking to buy it for my GF for Christmas but I prefer to spend 100 $ more for the Xiaomi Mi One S Youth Version. I live in Italy and there the phone’s prices are so high!

GIJoe
November 4, 2012
Not bad but overpriced, Nexus is a better choise+
many friend of my, had a dead china brand phone… 🙁
(Zp100-,ZTE 970, J G3…etc)
Abdel_BE
November 4, 2012
- dref
  November 4, 2012
  - Abdel_BE
    November 4, 2012
    Yeah, but still if the battery can’t last a day i wont mind having a bigger phone though 🙂
    Especially when using 3g and games….
dref
November 4, 2012
Nice review Andy, this phone definetly look good and well design, please let us know what is your experience after a couple of days 🙂

X1
November 4, 2012
So was your package send with Singapore post? And did you pay any import tax?

Sam
November 4, 2012
Thanks for the video Andi!
I’m thinking of buying this one instead of the Jiayu G3 (you know the story).
I’m always very careful with my phone so having no alloy cover won’t bother me too much.
Few questions though:
Does the battery live long enough?
Can I use the standard Android 4.0 interface instead of this MIUI / GO?
Do you think that the online price will drop when other stores have it?
- TripleThreeNine
  November 4, 2012
  I don’t have the phone yet, but I think I can answer those for you.
  1. I don’t think so, it’d be a good idea to order am extra battery and the battery seat (charges the battery without the need of the phone)
  2. Yes. =)
  3. And yes. People in China get the phone for $159, and resellers probably get it even cheaper. I guess you’ll see this phone being listed for around $190 in a month or so. If you’re not as impatient as me, it’d be a good idea to wait and save quite a bit of the green stuff!
  - Sam
    November 4, 2012
    Thanks for the reply! 🙂
    I’m not in a hurry to buy a new phone so I can wait until more resellers have it, or just see if the Jiayu G3 will ever have a spare stock, because the X1’s small battery bothers me. :/

Mike
November 4, 2012
Hi Andi, your video of the X1 is wetting my appetite and I look forward to your future update. Just one question – do you know if the earphones and case that you featured are part of the standard package or are they extras.
- Evgenij
  November 7, 2012
  I’ll answer that for you: no, it comes as an accessory bundle.leather flip case, extra battery + battery charger, plastic bumper, earphones and screen protector. all for 25$ extra or something.

dref
November 4, 2012
Coming back to the major con ie the battery, is there a bigger one which fits this case?
David
November 4, 2012
Great video,
Will this phone’s 3G work in the uk? Is it possible to get a british 3-pin charger with it?
Thanks.
November 4, 2012
Looks good, can’t wait for the follow up!
Wonder how battery life is like for this phone

November 4, 2012
Hello Andi,
Congratulations for your 1st (for me at least …) product presentation. If I’ve missed others I’ll accept a slap on the wrist.
A couple of queries …
1. You made no mention about OTA updating. Does this manufacturer provide them ? I’m afraid I find the lack of these is a real turn off.
2. Does this maker (or are they planning to …) offer a 6 inch smartphone device. If so, do they present it with the same accessories; and can you provide a URL for sight of their product … please ?
BTW … it’s GREAT to find others working at a weekend.

Mic
November 4, 2012
Andi how did you change the launcher? Have you installed it by your own or it is already installed on the phone?

Simon W
November 4, 2012
I’ve been enjoying this phone for a couple of days. I really like the brightness and the viewing angle of the screen.
Rooting was very easy with the software tool from shaume.com. The software is not available in English. However it is simple to use: Connect phone, open software, select root.. and it’s done.
Rooting also resulted in installing the clockwork mod, which then makes it easy to backup and flash new roms. It also installs some kind of security/firewall app (which I deinstalled again).
I haven’t tried any custom roms yet. But will do so in the future.
I also installed the upcoming Android 4.2 camera app, which works like a charm (despite the 3d photosphere function).
Battery: The above average user will have to charge the phone every night. However I installed a new and great app from xda, which managed to extend the battery life to two days. It’s called “One power guard” and is available for free from XDA: (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1901526)..
So much for now..
I hope you all get your order next week 🙂
- TripleThreeNine
  November 5, 2012
  - Simon W
    November 5, 2012
    I charged it over night. Took it from the plug at 10:00 am, now at 18:20 pm the stats are as follows:
    Official Battery Stats from System Settings:
    http://s14.postimage.org/4prn1scz5/2012_11_05_18_16_11.jpg
    Battery Stats according to One Power Guard:
    http://s14.postimage.org/67d3dchpt/2012_11_05_18_17_20.jpg
    http://s14.postimage.org/gg5kj65rl/2012_11_05_18_16_56.jpg
    I’m not sure if this helps. Strangely “gallery” takes up a lot of battery. Not mentioned is playstore, chrome and my news reader (which if also used today)..
    - TripleThreeNine
      November 6, 2012
      Hi Simon many thanks. Actually, by ‘battery graph’ I referred to the graph which comes up when you touch the mini graph which you can see in the first picture you posted. That gives a fair idea as to how well the system handles the phone (ie screen off:deep sleep ratio). Sorry I could’ve been more specific in my previous post.
      Thanks again.
      - Simon W
        November 6, 2012
        Ahh ok.. sorry I didn’t know you could click that graph. Well here you go. Today’s stats so far [used a lot of wifi and had the screen brightness on highest level, also turned off the power saving app, because of gaming] 🙂
      - November 6, 2012
        Sorry for the double post.
        I charged the battery for aprox 45min. before I went out for dinner. That’s why the Wifi doesn’t show up anymore on the graph.. seems it resets every time you charge..
      - TripleThreeNine
        November 7, 2012
        Finally =)
        The graph doesn’t look good to me, there’s a lot of battery drain during sleep. Maybe that can be fixed. Lets see…
        Thanks man!
    - TripleThreeNine
      November 6, 2012
      Yes, it does. Anyway, I guess I still couldn’t make myself clear 🙁
      Doesn’t matter, my UMi on the way anyway, so it isn’t as if this’ll make or break the deal for me.
      Thanks, Simon.
- raz5652
  November 6, 2012
  recived my UMi X1 today, looks very nice. but i have a problem, following Andi instruction i have installed custom rom, shaun tool didnt work for me, kept getting error. that custom rom is chinese and i did manage to change it to english, but no cwm on it. conected wifi, enabled sim data and tried google play but it wont conect, browsing works fine but google play keeps givin me error server error, what should i do, i want a clean english rom
- rupi99
  November 7, 2012
  Hi Simon,
  I also rooted my X1 with the shuame tool, clicking on the “root” button with the “#” sign. I got root access but no CWM recovery. It is still the stock recovery with no backup function (booted into recovery with pressing “Volume up” and “Power”). How did you get CWM recovery? I didn’t try to install any custom ROM up to now.
  And how did you delete the security software? I tried do uninstall the chinese letter apps with “ROM Tool Pro” but without success. Now all new installed apps will be scanned and after that I get a windows with Chinese letters and a countdown running, where I have to confirm something (maybe permissions?)

pridz
November 4, 2012
Hi Andy,Iam awaiting the umi x1,could you do a walk through of rooting and flashing the rom ,when time permits.Thank you for your time with this phone,it is this that has persuaded me to buy the phone,well that and the price.Thanks again,Pridz
rhs
November 5, 2012
Antelife has too x1 for $220 shipped.
Hrtr
November 5, 2012
Can you confirm me if language is Portuguese Brazil?
Thanks
- - Simon W
    November 5, 2012

frink_gr
November 5, 2012
Hey Andi,
thank you for this review!
Do all of the accessories you present in the video are included? with any order on Uredeal?
thank you!
- Niko
  November 5, 2012
Henrik Johansson
November 6, 2012
Is the GPS working well on this one, is there a working magnetic sensor as well?
deepak
November 6, 2012
Mleo
November 6, 2012
Andy, please, your opinion
what options with gorilla glass or similar with 1gb ram 4 gb rom up to $ 220 USD? and who deliver before Christmas?

Matt Parsons
November 7, 2012
- Mleo
  November 7, 2012

stevos
November 8, 2012
Andi,
It’s good to hear that you received your phone so promptly! I ordered TWO of the X1s on October 23rd. From what I can gather from Sing Post, the phones have not even left mainland China yet.
Right now, I believe there are many impatient buyers like me who are wishing they had waited for the Nexus 4. I would have received them before these two phones are delivered.
Beware the Singapore Post option!
David E
November 9, 2012
It would be really appreciated if anyone could could give their impressions on battery life ! I have the option of changing my order from a Jiayu G3 to the UMi X1 and need to decide if it’s worthwhile.
Robin
November 9, 2012
I ordered my Umi X1 on 22 October, with Singapore Post, the tracking number gives no information. I’m in contact with Uredeal. There are checking what’s wrong. Looks to me the whole shipping of that week (26the October) went wrong.

raz5652
November 9, 2012
David E:
Battery life is not that bad, but it gets alot better after you install “One power guard” from XDA mentioned in Simon’s post above. easy last 2 days with normal usage.
Robin:
I ordered and paid mine on 26th Oct and was shipped on same day, as i received email from urdeal. But tracking information was visible on EMS after 3 days. Received mine on 6th Nov.
- Robin
  November 9, 2012
  @raz5652
  I think DHL and EMS as shipping methode is ok, but the regular post with Singapore post not. I’m reading on uredeal website in the comments that the problem was the President elections in China and the security that causes the delays. I hope that the excuse for next week the delay is not Christmas shopping…
  - Niko
    November 9, 2012
    i used EMS, and got a pretty bad delay on shippment, order 27 oct and now still my phone still back and forth in BEIJING for over a week 🙁
    if by next midweek my phone still in BEIJING , i will ask them to change shippment method using DHL, if they can’t i will open dispute in paypal, and seek other seller, maybe etotalk, or antelife..
    it’s so frustating jeezzzzz
pridz
November 9, 2012
andi thanks for the rom flash, after i factory reset and select zip from sd card i keep getting E:signature verification failed,instillation aborted .I put the zip into root of sd card but get same result.Any ideas from anywhere would be greatly appreciated,Love the look and feel of phone,mike

TripleThreeNine
November 12, 2012
Hello all, here is my review of the UMi X1 – http://yash3339.blog.com/2012/11/12/in-review-umi-x1/
- raz5652
  November 12, 2012
  very nice review. i got the phone aswell and been using it, i totally agree with the whole review.
  i would like to suggest one thing “original Earphone”, while i used it to make & receive calls while driving, i got complain from my friends that they cant hear me properly, mic is very low (can you pls check it). but when i used blackberry headphone, it was clear and loud.
  All would like to request if you can pls do a tutorial for rooting and installing custom rom. u are welcome to use http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=34007918#post34007918
  - yash3339
    November 14, 2012
    Hey raz5652 🙂
    I just saw your comment now, haven’t tested the mic on a call yet, but I tried it with the sound recorder yesterday. It sounded pretty clear to me. I’ll still try it on a call and let you know.
    Yes, I saw that thread, thanks! I’ll do the tutorial soon (having exams at the moment 🙁 ). Also a custom ROM..
    And I saw your comment you’ve installed CWM right? How did you exactly do that, can you tell me? And also, I am not able to take screenshots with any screenshot app, are you? The screens which I have put on my review, I used a windows tool called ‘screencaster’ which shows you your phone’s screen on the computer and then printed the screen and cropped it out.
    Thank you!

rupi9
November 17, 2012
Meanwhile I have the X1 one week in my hands. It is a very fine phone and everything works well.
But with one big exception – the GPS. On my phone it works very bad. It takes long time until I get a satellite fix. And when I’m moving I always get interruptions. I use a gps.conf file especially for my area, but it does not help.
I have read that I’m not the only one with problems. On XDA is a thread for X1, where other people tell the same.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1978103&page=4
There is a hardware fix on a chinese page but I don’t want to do that:
http://bbs.shuame.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=401965
Andi, how is your experience regarding GPS? Is it working well? Maybe you could get in contact with the manufacturer and tell him about this problem? Hopefully it is only a software issue.
Thanks
- November 18, 2012
  I have had mixed results with phones with Mediatek chips but overall the GPS has worked but it is very slow to connect. I have heard there are various patches which can improve this but I have not tried one out myself.
  - rupi99
    November 19, 2012
    Hi Andi,
    thanks for reply. Maybe in MTK phones at all the GPS is not the strongest. But in the UMI X1 it is not usable, it’s scrap. A friend of mine has the Jiayu G3 with the same MTK6577 chip and the GPS works excellent. Another one has a quite unknown Bedove X12, also with MTK6577 and GPS works.
    Meanwhile the official UMI forum has reopened and there are a lot of complaints about GPS.
    http://91umi.com/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=320&extra=page%3D3&page=1
    http://91umi.com/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=579&extra=page%3D2
    I could not understand everything (used Chrome with translation), but I see that even in China the people have problems with GPS. At least with specified production lots.
    Maybe the complaints about GPS were one of the reasons for the closed forum during the last weeks.
    More and more I come to the conclusion that it is a hardware problem :((

Lukas
November 21, 2012
Hello Andy,
I have received my UMI X1 yesterday. I was pretty pleased by the time I have started charging it while downloading. It has turned off and could not be turned on for about 8 hours. It booted and worked properly as long as I have put it into charger again (the same story, currently dead…). Any advice for me? Thanks
Lukas
- - Lukas
    November 22, 2012
    Andi, they have sent me a ROM (see here http://translate.google.com.hk/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&sl=zh-CN&tl=en&u=http://bbs.91umi.com/forum.php%3Fmod%3Dviewthread%26tid%3D652%26extra%3Dpage%253D1) and said it may help.
    1) Do you think it may be a software?
    2) could you post a How to manual? I am new to these ROMs…
    Thanks for help
    Lukas
- TripleThreeNine
  November 22, 2012
  Hey. Before contacting the seller I reckon you check the battery first, because there is protective tape on the battery contacts. You might have missed it.
  - Lukas
    November 22, 2012

szynom
December 3, 2012
UMI X1 It works with (from) WCDMA 900MHz
lipton
December 10, 2012
Anyone using UMI X1 with T-mobile US network?
rupi99
December 14, 2012
Hi Andy,
on Antelife I have read, that there will be an updated version of UMI X1 with better Screen, Camera and GPS.
http://www.antelife.com/blog/new-update-bring-great-improvements-to-umi-x1.html
Do you know, when this version will be available?
- December 14, 2012
  I’m not sure if it will really be an updated phone or rather a ‘fixed phone’ some Umi X1’s had dodgy GPS antennas and dead pixels on the screen. I bet these ‘improved’ versions just have all the bugs worked out.
uzicohen
March 21, 2013

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UMi X1 Specifications

Gizchina News of the week

UMi X1 dual-core MT6577 phone unboxing and hands on

Andi

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