UMi’s list of smartphones continues to grow and as the companies back catalogue increases owners of older models are wondering if their phones will ever get Android 5.0 Lollipop.
In response to concerns about which UMi phones will receive a Lollipop update, the company have posted a hand drawn roadmap of updates on their Facebook page. For UMi owners there is both good and bad news.
The bad news is that due to limitations caused by Mediatek the UMi Zero is not going to get Android 5.0. Owners of the UMi newer and future models though are al in luck.
Android 5.1 Lollipop is already available for the UMi Hammer via UMi’s RootJoy tool. The UMi eMax will receive Android Lollipop in August while the UMi Iron has Lollipop out of the box. UMi have also gone on to confirm that the UMi Hammer S with USB Type-C will also come with Android 5.1 out of the box.
What do you think of the news? Are you a disappointed Zero owner or are you happy that UMi have cleared things up?
[ UMi ]
Lol pretty disappointing for Zero owners, mostly the ones who have paid the launch price, the phone now can be found for about $179 and being the MTK6592T 2.0Ghz version and the Amoled screen could be considered a nice, just nice, deal. For MTK devices the lack of updates is always something that must be considered (not the point here, but this year that is the only reason for Mediatek don’t be reliable for overall consumers over the Snapdragon 64bit junk) I only wonder, What is the magic made by Doogee and iOcean, both updated to Lollipop old phones with the old chipset. The $75 cheapest Doogee Leo was updated to 5.0.
The 6592 really can’t take advantage of anything that 5.0 has to offer. This has nothing to do with Mediatek or Snapdragon, it has to do with the individual companies. Mediatek has no control over what Umi does or doesn’t do. Just updating to 5.0 doesn’t mean anything if its poorly optimized and not updated regularly. I would much prefer having a stable version of 4.4. I have used a few phones/tablets with 5.0 (even stock Android Nexus devices) and they all had a variety of issues and bugs.
I understand your point, but related to Mediatek what I’m saying is probably the source for 5.0 in the MT6582/6592 already exists, as some companies already updated their devices running the SoC, but the companies needs to pay for it each update something common with Mediatek policies. Btw the 4.4 running in the Zero is not the most stable out there.
Even if they do have to pay for it, I’m sure it’s the exact same thing with Qualcomm, probably even cheaper. Personally I have not been impressed with 5.0 at all. I would say its the worst version of Android I have ever used, it feels rushed and incomplete. When it causes Google’s own Nexus line so many problems that is an issue. The Nexus 7, 4 and 5 all suffered numerous issues from it from bringing performance to crashing halt, to draining batteries. And there are still so many apps that refuse to work at all with 5.0.
Yeah 5.0 is really rushed and unstable, some OEMs made a good job optimizing it, usually I feel good with it, but more in Custom Roms than the stock. The 5.1 while not being a big update, is a totally different story, it’s fast and seems pretty stable, running it in my Jiayu and so far for a Beta version its pretty stable, btw I’m also running a Custom Dev build. So far I have a feeling that could describe it better. Android 5 was a biggest change and step for Android, but was rushed. So you get here a 5.0 Alpha, 5.1 Beta, and for the previews that I see the Android M looks to be the stable and complete version of this big change.
I disagree I have used 5.1 and ran into just as many issues. Some are very good at optimizing it, most are not though. The Nexus line is still suffering from memory leak issues even with 5.1.
I agree lollipop is rubbish, have decided not to update my phone and stick with a stable kit Kat rom instead. Hopefully Android M will be a big improvement.
Yea it almost feels like both Google and Qualcomm were completely unprepared for 64 bit and just rushed their products to the market.
The latest UMi ROM 3.10 (Android 4.4.2) is very stable and i have never seen any restart after update.
I have seen worse believe it or not from some of the biggest companies in Asia….
I honestly feel like this is much cooler than just a boring old facebook post. It’s original for sure 😛
Same as THL. I brough THL W8s Great Device bad in software update. See what happen to THL.. So UMI decided to do this…. we as consumer can only boycott.. any device from then just ignore as bad service.. THL end up closing number of retail shop. Look as Xiaomi, they provide Update. Any phone no update does not deserve in the Mobile Market.
Sad UMI ZERO owner… its already bad enough that I bought this phone from AliExpress merchant at USD219, then used it for 3 months, had lots of problems and decided to fail, then sent back to China for a fix (Since May) and I haven’t even gotten the phone back from them yet in the few months when my phone is back in China… UMI released 3 phones… Now I see Zero isn’t getting Lollipop after all…
when a Chinese smartphone is down, I throw it directly.
that’s why this is not always better to buy a chinese smartphone
The only safe way to buy chinese brand phone is to choose big brand like xiaomi, huawei, nubia, meizu or lenovo, they offer quality product and after sale service that is similar to the one you find in western countries.
I must agree. The merchant at AliEx was very helpful, they just sent me a note telling me that I have a warranty. But UMI will charge USD60 to get my motherboard fixed.. that’s pretty ridiculous.. so what exactly does my 1 year warranty cover?
UMI tech support was of no use at all.. They just asked me to send it back to merchant and it took me so long to send it back to China, now they want to charge me..
With Chinese phones the term “warranty” is often a joke and has no meaning at all.
But the tech support was correct in telling you to return it to the merchant. That is the normal process when buying a phone from a reseller. Once the phone leaves Umi or whoever the brand is, the reseller is responsible for the after sales support. It is like that industry wide.
well you know in china they have this fapiao thing which just means receipt. When you ask for fapiao it includes 17 percent tax asked by the govt. , but if u buy one without fapiao it does not include any tax. I am sure majority of sellers have bought the phone without fapiao and so they are asking money for warranty repairs.
well many chinese sellers on alipay buy opened units from taobao. The phone is new and has warranty and since its not factory sealed box it is sold cheap. Nearly 10 dollars cheaper than sealed one.They also install gapps and tweak rom for additional languages and then ship internationally.
That is not the only safe way but it is a good plan for someone new to the industry. There are smaller brands that offer support and quality that rival the bigger companies and even some of those bigger companies have had their issues. Such as iOcean. When buying electronics you just never know, some units are doomed from the start even with brands like Samsung and Apple. Most people I know who own a Umi Zero have had no hardware issues whatsoever and love the phone. Umi is actually one of the better companies when it comes to quality. The safest way to buy is to get it from a reliable reseller and use paypal.
brand like Xiaomi, Samsung or Apple don’t charge you money to repair a faulty device that is under warranty, while Umi does it.
Finding a reliable reseller won’t change a dime, if Umi wants to charge you money to repair the device doesn’t matter how much the reseller is reliable you will have to pay, good to hear that you like UMi, reselling chinese phone for 3 years now, base on my experience, umi’s phone quality are not the best by far and their after sales service is the worst.
That is not true at all. Xiaomi warranty only applies to people who buy it officially from them. If you buy a Xiaomi from a reseller it’s up to the reseller if they want to honor the warranty, most won;t. With Samsung and Apple the warranty is very limited and anything not covered under their warranty you have to pay for. With Samsung you actually have to pay if you want a “full” warranty, in the US it is $99 and that covers water damage, broken screens and a few other things. Apple does the same thing with its “Apple Care” service. Without buying the extra warranty from Samsung you are responsible for paying for most parts. In fact I dont know of too many companies that offer a 100% worry free warranty without buying an added protection plan. Most warranties just mean that they will fix your phone if it is broken or damaged, it doesn’t mean it is free to you.
you own a xiaomi device, no matter where you got it, just bring it to the xiaomi after sale center and they will repair it.
I am guessing you either haven’t owned a Xiaomi or live in a country where Xiaomi has an official presence. Read through each Xiaomi’s country page and find the warranty section, what you will find is a line similar to this one on the Singapore page:
“This limited warranty is only valid in Singapore, and the product is not eligible for any international warranty service.”
Meaning if your phone wasn’t bought through an official channel for that country you have no warranty. Even if you live in Singapore but bought your phone online from China they can and will reject your warranty. If you live in say the US or Europe you have no warranty at all unless the reseller you bought from offers one. I know this from experience, I had an issue with my Mi3 and had to pay to send it back to Xiaomi and pay for the parts, they gave me a discount on the parts but I still had to pay.
i own a xiaomi, i have xiaomi official presence in my country, i am also reselling xiaomi device for 3 years now, no matter where i get the phone, it can be offocial website, taobao or reseller, i just bring it to after sales center and they repair it.
Outside of an official country that is not possible. If you buy a phone from a reseller and don’t live in one of the official countries you have no warranty.
I might be wrong but maybe it has nothing to do with the aliexpress seller at all.
Umi after sales service is a joke, sometime they try to make some money out of you, they charge you to repair your issue that is cover under the warranty ( i am sure they give you a personnal account to collect the fee) or they keep your phone 2 month to fix it, sometime they keep it 2 month and send it back to you without fixing it at all.
When they started it was such a mess, Umi sales team sold all their stock to wholesaler and make some money( not for the company but for themself) in the process, then the wholesaler sold the phone to reseller with a mark up at the end the phone has a price tag on umi official website and online shop but it was always out of stock and you get the phone for another price.
Now i stay away from Umi
why you didn’t opted for established Chinese brands?
I don’t think Zero could get Lollipop, it has on older CPU, without Lollipop support from Mediatek.