IUNI U3 finally goes on sale in China, 2k, 3GB, 801 for $320


iuni u3 launched in china

The IUNI U3 has finally been released to buy in China, and is already being snapped up by eager Chinese smartphone fans

The IUNI U3, is the 2nd phone from Chinese smartphone and ROM maker IUNI, and continues the companies short tradition of releasing flagship devices at a low price. IUNI have gone for the 1999 Yuan price point for both the U2 and now the U3, but when compared to Xiaomi’s latest phone the newcomer is a whole lot more attractive.

IUNI have upped the size of the U3 to 5.5-inch and given the resolution a boost to full 2K, however the phone is still nice and compact with a narrow and short body. Compared to the OnePlus one the phone is more compact, although thicker, and it is only a hair larger than the 5.36-inch Meizu MX4.

Gizchina News of the week


In China the 1999 Yuan price tag gets you a Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB RAM, LTE, and even dual SIM support. IUNI OS has also been recently updated to offer English as well as Chinese, suggesting an international push is imminent.

IUNI U3 photos

International buyers hoping to get their hands on an IUNI U3 are reminded to check the bands and network support in your country to ensure 3G will work. Current versions of the U3 are only designed for China Mobile 4G LTE.

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.

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86 Comments

  1. Mocca
    September 14, 2014

    IUNI U3 has the far better GPU inside compared to Meizus MX4 but does it have IR and NFC and SD-Slot? Because this is what I’m still missing. LTE is not important for me right now.

    • desponent
      September 14, 2014

      Andi please answer at least about the SD card.

  2. ufg
    September 14, 2014

    This phone would be irresistible if the design wasn’t so generic mcgeneric face in my eyes.

    • Rob
      September 14, 2014

      I think this ‘generic’ look helps keep the costs down. Sure they could spend months producing a beautiful looking phone, but the price point would go up and it would become just another generic phone in the grand scheme of things. It’s the price point that makes this phone stand out, rather than the bland design, and this is its USP.

  3. manohar basavaraju
    September 14, 2014

    Andi, would you mind sharing trust worthy international reseller with competitive price pls? This phone for its price in China looks like a steal deal. But I don’t want to pay 150+ USD for the reseller only to ship it to my address….

    Any info about it in your future reviews and News would definitely please the Reader and then your post looks complete. I hope you take this suggestion as supportive and implement it soon. Thanks in advance

    • Jason45
      September 14, 2014

      Chinese resellers usually add about 40-50 dollars on top of the official price.

      • christiian
        September 14, 2014

        But why?
        The people who build the smartphones together just earn 16-33 cent per hour. How many hours work the resellers to send it abroad?

        • Jason45
          September 14, 2014

          They still need to pay for workers, they also may pay extra money to get the phones because popular Chinese phones are sold out fast (look at Xiaomi, Huawei, etc). They also most likely have a warehouse to store the phones and that costs money.

        • Angry Mobile Nerd
          September 15, 2014

          Uhhh your information is a little outdated. Most Chinese factory workers in the south are getting anywhere from $1.50 to $2.00 USD per hour now.

          And the resellers mark it up because they want to make a profit, duhhhh!

    • Simon
      September 14, 2014
  4. Jason45
    September 14, 2014

    Are there any reviews about the screen? Based on several reviews i have read, 2K is overkill on 5-6 inch screen, you won’t see any large differences at all compared to 1080p screen and 2K screen uses more power.

    • Cuerex
      September 14, 2014

      the lg g3 is already out, why don’t you go make a comparison yourself and don’t rely on other opinions? don’t tell me you have no local shops which provide phones

      • Jason45
        September 14, 2014

        I have seen it already and just like the reviews, I don’t see any differences at all, so it is basically a marketing feature in my opinion

        • September 14, 2014

          My opinion is it isn’t worth it on a 5-5.5″ device. If you don’t care about battery life then maybe but it definitely does drain the battery more quickly. You can look at most of the battery test comparisons between the LG G3 and the Samsung S5 and the HTC M8. The S5 and M8 are 1080p and last much longer. I would maybe buy into the 2K display on a tablet or on my Huawei Mediapad X1 which is 7 inches and has a 5000 mAh battery, but other than that……..

    • joe
      September 14, 2014

      I remember when 1080p screens came out and people said it was overkill and that there was no noticeable differences at all compared to 720p screens on phones and all it did was use up battery life.

      Technology marches ever forward.

      • desponent
        September 14, 2014

        And it is, 720p with good panel looks far better than 1080p with crap panel.

        • Stefan
          September 15, 2014

          No shit Einstein!? The fact is though that a good 1080p panel looks better than a good 720p one.

          • desponent
            September 15, 2014

            Problem is lots of manufacturer, even Sony, uses crap 1080p panel. Capiche?

  5. Herod2k
    September 14, 2014

    The mobile phone is not on sale. The official website still say pre-order…

  6. iMat2.9
    September 14, 2014

    Anyword if they’ll release an International Version?

  7. Carl Jhonson
    September 14, 2014

    micro SD support ????

    • September 14, 2014

      nope there i no micro SD card support in IUNI U3..

      • desponent
        September 15, 2014

        What is the top left slot for then?

        • September 15, 2014

          Damn!! is that IUNI U3….i read many articles no one mentioned it supports SD card…where did you get this image from!

          • desponent
            September 15, 2014

            PCOnline ch review. I don’t get it too, many of the review never conclusively state if it has sd or not, but IUNI themselves doesn’t say that it has SD in their official site.

            It’s all so confusing.

            • mf1gt3r
              November 5, 2014

              I’ve seen a pic proving it does.

        • mf1gt3r
          November 5, 2014

          That is an SD slot. With a SD card inserted.

          • desponent
            November 5, 2014

            Andi said in his review that it doesn’t have one though. He has the phone physically.

  8. Simon
    September 14, 2014

    When is the International/English Rom being released ?

  9. Guest
    September 14, 2014

    IUNI U3 has the far better GPU inside compared to Meizus MX4 but does it have IR and NFC and SD-Slot? Because this is what I’m still missing. LTE is not important for me right now.

    • desponent
      September 15, 2014

      Andi please answer at least about the SD card.

  10. Matthew Wright
    September 14, 2014

    Can someone confirm that it will work on 3 (Three) UK, network’s 4G bands.
    From what I can work out, it should, but another persons confirmation would be great

  11. ufg
    September 14, 2014

    This phone would be irresistible if the design wasn’t so generic mcgeneric face in my eyes.

    • Rob
      September 14, 2014

      I think this ‘generic’ look helps keep the costs down. Sure they could spend months producing a beautiful looking phone, but the price point would go up and it would become just another generic phone in the grand scheme of things. It’s the price point that makes this phone stand out, rather than the bland design, and this is its USP.

  12. manohar basavaraju
    September 14, 2014

    Andi, would you mind sharing trust worthy international reseller with competitive price pls? This phone for its price in China looks like a steal deal. But I don’t want to pay 150+ USD for the reseller only to ship it to my address….

    Any info about it in your future reviews and News would definitely please the Reader and then your post looks complete. I hope you take this suggestion as supportive and implement it soon. Thanks in advance

    • Jason45
      September 14, 2014

      Chinese resellers usually add about 40-50 dollars on top of the official price.

    • Guest
      September 14, 2014
    • Guest
      September 14, 2014

      But why?
      The people who build the smartphones together just earn 16-33 cent per hour. How many hours work the resellers to send it abroad?

    • Jason45
      September 14, 2014

      They still need to pay for workers, they also may pay extra money to get the phones because popular Chinese phones are sold out fast (look at Xiaomi, Huawei, etc). They also most likely have a warehouse to store the phones and that costs money.

    • Jason45
      September 14, 2014

      They still need to pay for workers, they also may pay extra money to get the phones because popular Chinese phones are sold out fast (look at Xiaomi, Huawei, etc). They also most likely have a warehouse to store the phones and that costs money.

    • Angry Mobile Nerd
      September 15, 2014

      Uhhh your information is a little outdated. Most Chinese factory workers in the south are getting anywhere from $1.50 to $2.00 USD per hour now.

      And the resellers mark it up because they want to make a profit, duhhhh!

  13. Jason45
    September 14, 2014

    Are there any reviews about the screen? Based on several reviews i have read, 2K is overkill on 5-6 inch screen, you won’t see any large differences at all compared to 1080p screen and 2K screen uses more power.

    • Cuerex
      September 14, 2014

      the lg g3 is already out, why don’t you go make a comparison yourself and don’t rely on other opinions? don’t tell me you have no local shops which provide phones

    • Jason45
      September 14, 2014

      I have seen it already and just like the reviews, I don’t see any differences at all, so it is basically a marketing feature in my opinion

    • Jason45
      September 14, 2014

      I have seen it already and just like the reviews, I don’t see any differences at all, so it is basically a marketing feature in my opinion

    • Paul Koutras
      September 14, 2014

      My opinion is it isn’t worth it on a 5-5.5″ device. If you don’t care about battery life then maybe but it definitely does drain the battery more quickly. You can look at most of the battery test comparisons between the LG G3 and the Samsung S5 and the HTC M8. The S5 and M8 are 1080p and last much longer. I would maybe buy into the 2K display on a tablet or on my Huawei Mediapad X1 which is 7 inches and has a 5000 mAh battery, but other than that……..

    • Guest
      September 14, 2014

      I remember when 1080p screens came out and people said it was overkill and that there was no noticeable differences at all compared to 720p screens on phones and all it did was use up battery life.

      Technology marches ever forward.

    • desponent
      September 15, 2014

      And it is, 720p with good panel looks far better than 1080p with crap panel.

    • Guest
      September 15, 2014

      No shit Einstein!? The fact is though that a good 1080p panel looks better than a good 720p one.

    • desponent
      September 15, 2014

      Problem is lots of manufacturer, even Sony, uses crap 1080p panel. Capiche?

  14. Herod2k
    September 14, 2014

    The mobile phone is not on sale. The official website still say pre-order…

  15. manohar basavaraju
    September 14, 2014

    for 449, we can go for Meizu MX4 only. Better build quality & features. i wanted to buy IUNI with decent price. not overpriced.. Thanks for your answer

    • desponent
      September 14, 2014

      What “features”?

      How do you know it has better build quality?

      Is the $449 price official?

    • joyfuel wings
      September 20, 2014

      Just dont go to pandawill.com . They liar modern thief , their gift is a big scam , very sly customer service . I found them here , I asked Andy not put them on here anymore .

  16. iMat2.9
    September 14, 2014

    Anyword if they’ll release an International Version?

  17. Carl Jhonson
    September 14, 2014

    micro SD support ????

    • G-man
      September 15, 2014

      nope there i no micro SD card support in IUNI U3..

    • desponent
      September 15, 2014

      What is the top left slot for then?

    • G-man
      September 15, 2014

      Damn!! is that IUNI U3….i read many articles no one mentioned it supports SD card…where did you get this image from!

    • desponent
      September 15, 2014

      PCOnline ch review. I don’t get it too, many of the review never conclusively state if it has sd or not, but IUNI themselves doesn’t say that it has SD in their official site.

      It’s all so confusing.

    • mf1gt3r
      November 5, 2014

      I’ve seen a pic proving it does.

    • mf1gt3r
      November 5, 2014

      That is an SD slot. With a SD card inserted.

    • desponent
      November 5, 2014

      Andi said in his review that it doesn’t have one though. He has the phone physically.

  18. Allanitomwesh
    September 14, 2014

    Andi when is the full review? I am especially interested in the battery life .

  19. Guest
    September 14, 2014

    When is the International/English Rom being released ?

  20. Matthew Wright
    September 14, 2014

    Can someone confirm that it will work on 3 (Three) UK, network’s 4G bands.
    From what I can work out, it should, but another persons confirmation would be great

  21. manohar basavaraju
    September 14, 2014

    for 449, we can go for Meizu MX4 only. Better build quality & features. i wanted to buy IUNI with decent price. not overpriced.. Thanks for your answer

    • desponent
      September 15, 2014

      What “features”?

      How do you know it has better build quality?

      Is the $449 price official?

    • joyfuel wings
      September 20, 2014

      Just dont go to pandawill.com . They liar modern thief , their gift is a big scam , very sly customer service . I found them here , I asked Andy not put them on here anymore .

  22. Allanitomwesh
    September 14, 2014

    Andi when is the full review? I am especially interested in the battery life .

  23. David Košič
    September 14, 2014

    It’s great value for the price however it looks very generic.

    • desponent
      September 15, 2014

      Depend on the angle, this looks quite good. Unless you like busy and big design like HTC One.

  24. David Košič
    September 14, 2014

    It’s great value for the price however it looks very generic.

    • desponent
      September 15, 2014

      Depend on the angle, this looks quite good. Unless you like busy and big design like HTC One.

  25. Manish
    September 15, 2014

    How does the phone compares to ZTE Nubia z7 which has global 4G on both the sims?

    • January 21, 2015

      only one sim has 4G.

  26. Manish
    September 15, 2014

    How does the phone compares to ZTE Nubia z7 which has global 4G on both the sims?

    • Coolicool
      January 21, 2015

      only one sim has 4G.

  27. Daniel
    September 15, 2014

    Look here for the best price at this moment
    US $422.99http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4G-FDD-LTE-Mobile-Phone-5-5-2560-1440-Qualcomm-Snapdragon-801-Quad-Core-3GB-RAM/2039082779.html

  28. Daniel
    September 15, 2014

    Look here for the best price at this moment
    US $422.99http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4G-FDD-LTE-Mobile-Phone-5-5-2560-1440-Qualcomm-Snapdragon-801-Quad-Core-3GB-RAM/2039082779.html

  29. Ralph Nicolai Nasara
    September 15, 2014

    IUNI N3 / MEIZU MX4 / VIVO XSHOT / XIAOMI M4?

  30. Ralph Nicolai Nasara
    September 16, 2014

    IUNI N3 / MEIZU MX4 / VIVO XSHOT / XIAOMI M4?