UMi C1 Unboxing

We get a first hands on look with the UMi C1 “quad-core killer” from Chinese phone maker UMi. Is it the phone that UMi have hyped it up to be, let’s take a look and see.

UMi’s thrid phone of the year (so far) is the UMi C1. The C1 comes after the UMi X1 pro, and UMi X3 smartphones, and share’s most of its design and even manufacturing processes from the flagship UMi X3. UMi are calling the C1 the “Quad-core Flagship Killer”, obviously they believe that this is ‘THE’ mid-range phone on the market today, and they are hoping a bit of OnePlus’s market style will rub off on them.

We received our UMi C1 just recently and quickly unboxed it to take a look at just what this quad-core phone is like in the flesh.

UMi C1 Unboxing

When you take the C1 from its box it comes wrapped up in a plastic bag and comes with a screen protector in place, with that said the screen protector was rather scratched up on our sample and will need replacing. Under the phone the box opens up to reveal a micro USB cable in a separate box and mains charger also in its own packet. You will also discover that UMi have printed the quick start guide on the inside of the packaging rather than in a separate booklet.

Umi C1 Design and Feel

UMi are quite proud of the design and manufacture of the C1 and point out that the rear plastic panel has a “baby skin” finish (hmmmm) and that the chassis is made from steel and can be seen externally around the edges of the handset. The steel frame has been polished up to give a bright shiny bezel that runs around the entire outside top edge of the UMi C1, and is similar in look to the white Meizu MX3.

When taking the phone from the box and inserting the battery the lightweight of the phone is unmistakable. Personally I prefer a little more heft to my phones to give the impression of solid construction. The lightweight of the UMi C1 is sure to impress some and does feel nice and comfortable in your pocket, but it does not feel particularly durable.

UMi C1 Specifications and Features

The UMi C1 specifications are pretty standard for a phone of this price. The processor is a 1.3Ghz quad-core chipset, from Mediatek, there is 1GB RAM on board and the screen is a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720p panel. UMi are tell us the rear camera is a 13 mega-pixel shooter, a Sony IMX179 in fact, but the F2.4 aperature is a little disappointing when similar phones have an F2.2 or better.

Removing the rear panel shows space for a Micro SD, dual SIM and place for a 2430mAh battery. As the C1 doesn’t have the Mediatek MT6290 model the phone only has support for 3G and GSM, but there could be an LTE version in the future (along with a 2GB RAM model too).

UMi C1 Unboxing Photos

So far I haven’t had much time to play around with the UMi C1, and am currently charging the handset for a full review. From the specs, and the build of the phone the C1 seems to be like an average phone for the price. If it had come earlier in the year priced at $139.99 then it would have made sense to buy, but with other phones costing similar money and with LTE and even octacore processors, the UMi C1 seems a little late to market.

We will post a full review after getting back from the Meizu MX4 launch next week.

[ UMi ]