Here it is! UMi X2 hands on video!


Here it finally is, our UMi X2 hands on video! Take detailed look at the design, its performance, gaming capabilities, brief comparison with the JiaYu G4 and more!

We know you have been waiting for this UMi fans, and here it is the Gizchina hands on video with the quad-core UMi X2. As you all know by now the UMi X2 we have been sent to review is a 1GB RAM version with 16GB ROM and he older 1.2Ghx quad-core MT6589 processor, however performance is pretty impressive!

As well as giving you all a good look around the UMi X2 mobil phone, we also go through some of the benchmarks, gaming performance and even offer a few comparisons against the JiaYu G4.

Gizchina News of the week


We hope you enjoy this hands on video, and you are all looking forward to the full UMi X2 review which we hope to publish next week!

For more UMi X2 coverage take a look at these posts:

Are you a UMi fan? Then check out the UMi Mobile International Facebook page!

Watch the UMi X2 hands on Video!

UMi X2 Specifications

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82 Comments

  1. top1
    May 17, 2013

    I wont stop crying until I see a review of the ONLY INTERESTING 2GB ram 32GB rom TURBO / PREMIUM version…..

    seriously….
    Im really wondering how long it will be delayed,
    2 days after the launch nobody has one…
    and despite a benchmark screenshot no other signs of it beeing a total fake,,,

    • cvtren
      May 17, 2013

      I have to agree with you on this. It goes the same for Jiayu and iOcean. Great review Andi!

    • May 19, 2013

      Hey, I don’t even know where to buy one in China. Maybe we should try to get UMI to send us a list of retails that are stocking the X2 Turbo to publish…

    • Sere83
      May 19, 2013

      To be honest I’m not sure why you would be so interested in the 2gb turbo. The Xiaomi MI2A has a Snapdragon S4 pro and will smash the umi x2 turbo in any benchmark, even with 1 gb ram, cost less and be better built, ok less ram and lower res screen but xiaomi are a much more respected brand.

      • Sere83
        May 19, 2013

        IMHO MT6589 devices are only worth it when your paying low prices. $300+ is simply too much, also you would be better off with a 1280×720 display as I think the OS would run smoother and you still wouldn’t see any pixels.

        • Sere83
          May 19, 2013

          You’d better of going for Jiayu G4 low end model, Newman K1 or Vowney V5, then saving for a nexus 5 when it drops. Or just save and get a nexus as UMI x2 turbo will oly be a bit more expensive. The real world performance difference you would feel between a Quad core S4 pro Nexus 4 running stock android optimised by google with 2gb ram in comparison to any mt6589 is huge. Heck for the price of a nexus 4 you could get a xiaomi M2s with snapdragon 600, which gets over twice the antutu score of any mt6589 phone.

          • Lola
            May 20, 2013

            Geez you’re just crushing his expectations

  2. Simon
    May 17, 2013

    I’m seriously considering the ZTE Grand X2 when it arrives on UK shores in August.

  3. May 17, 2013

    Where can i buy the turbo version? I need a reliabe store which ships to Israel.

  4. wolf
    May 17, 2013

    Hi Andi,
    could you test if it has the USB-OTG function? Thanks

  5. May 17, 2013

    quite nice. on video i didn’t see much difference in-game or in usual working stuff from g4. did you?

  6. César
    May 17, 2013

    Um X2 have otg functions? HOW ABOUT HDMI OUTPUT?

  7. May 17, 2013

    Fantastic as always 🙂

  8. ivan
    May 17, 2013

    Hi Andi,
    according to you, which one offers a better user experience (in spite of their price)? Just wondering.

  9. XrainX
    May 17, 2013

    If not already announced, like the Neo did for N003, I don’t think any other smartphone will have OTG or HDMI. These things are not enabled by some menu, but offered by some electronic components. So if UMI or JiaYu didn’t included already that components on the PCB you will not have such features. Why so hard to understand this simple thing?

    Also I don’t understand why people asking from where to buy.

    Regarding the UMI, now after all this promotion made by GizChina to the HD displays in the last 6 months, now I am afraid MTK is not ready for 1080p. At least with the non-T version.

    Even many hate JiaYu because of delays I think they made the best decision until now for MT6589 regarding the display size. type (bright!) and resolution. As I already said few weeks ago, most of the brands will fight on the 5.0 display market and take everyone just a little piece of the cake, but the G4 is almost alone in the 4.7 market.

    I was always asking why most chineses not included a damn 1 cent cheap LED for notification? My very very old Sony Ericsson GSM phone had an notification LED many many years ago. How stupid can be this?

    Andi, thank you for the comparison. Just great even if you should use same smartphone image to compare the brightness.

    • May 17, 2013

      This is a UMi X2 hands on video, I just happened to have the G4 next to me while I was making the video. A full comparison video between the G4 and X2 will be up next week.

  10. anony
    May 17, 2013

    Damn, that was nice, it’s amazing how well MT6589 handle 1080p.

    • Vladi78
      May 18, 2013

      are you sure ? maybe in game (not sure what resolution was set) but menu browsing was one big laaaag after another. Am I alone who see it ? To me Jaiyu HD is better option with this chipset.

      • anony
        May 18, 2013

        Beside the obvious vellarmo lag I don’t see any laaaag. But eh, maybe you should go with S600 phone instead if you call those laaaag.

        • May 18, 2013

          I don’t notice any either when I’m using it…

  11. Simon
    May 17, 2013

    From this video review of prefering the Jiayu G4, but I don’t know why they cannot give a definitive launch date. I just hope it is as late as August the final production model of the Jiayu G4 is very polished. Not favouring the Umi X2 at the moment. Great video though.

  12. VIKAS TOMAR
    May 17, 2013

    Dear, Andi

    In video u said its 1.2 Ghz processor, So it means its not a TURBO version as it has 1.5 Ghz processor.

    Am i right ?

    • May 17, 2013

      Yes you are right

  13. May 17, 2013

    Thanks for the video i think i will go for the Jiayu then wich was my first choice anyway 😀

  14. Rocker
    May 17, 2013

    Is there any hope of the Turbo version having a MHL port? It cant be that much more to include can it? I was going to go with the G4 but they didnt think to include it either, it should be a standard feature for phones released today, its nice to have more connectivity options should you ever need them.

    • Simon
      May 18, 2013

      What is a MHL port

  15. May 17, 2013

    Now everyones thinking better about chosing the umi X2 lol
    My first choice was the G4 because of the screen 4.7 and the 720p resolution. So the cpu and gpu will be able to handle those much better than the 1080p resolution.
    And let’s not talk about the 3000mah battery. If these batterys are well made then the G4 should be getting more than 12+ hours than the X2.

    My only cuncern is the LED of the G4… I hope that in the final version they will include the LED on the G4.. because if they don’t I will get very pissed… and maybe choose another phone lol

    Waiting for the final reviews regarding all these matters! 😉

    • stachu
      May 17, 2013

      Fully agree. I am also waiting for G4 mainly due to 4.7 screen and LED notification. I do not care if screen is 720p or 1080p as I will not see this difference. Currently I have 5.3″ phone and it is a little too big for some pockets, that is the reason for change. Max screen size for me now is 4.5-4.7″ and there is currently no competitors on dualSIM, 4.7″ market for G4

      • Simon
        May 18, 2013

        I think anything over 5″ is way over the top

    • May 17, 2013

      There is an LED notification light on the G4

      • May 17, 2013

        Yes I know there is an LED for the notification, because I saw your other video regarding the G4. What I meant is that the G4 doesn’t have a backlight on the capacitive buttons… my question is.. will it get on the final version? Thanks!

        • May 17, 2013

          Ah I see, no I don’t think it will

          • May 18, 2013

            If it wont that would be a bummer

    • Does the Umi X2 have a notification LED? There’s no mention of it in the video. It’s a feature I love in my Mi2.

  16. m1k0
    May 17, 2013

    Could you show screen under microscope?
    Is there additional battery?
    Cases for phone like Samsung S View Cover?
    microUSB compatibile with MHL?
    photo sphere (Android 4.2),
    bluetooth version?
    WiFi Direct capable?

    P.S. Maybe you should use better video recorder?

    • XrainX
      May 18, 2013

      Yes, the S View Cover is the greatest cover until now, but I think the phone software must be adapted also for this option to show all the needed info in that window. And it must offer the option to speak at the phone without opening it.

  17. winder
    May 17, 2013

    hi Andi,
    i have this problem with all the phones from china. not just UMi X2.
    in each website i look (etotalk, pandawill, antelife……) i see different dimensions, so it is really confusing, how can i know the real dimensions of a device and the UMi X2 specifically?
    i’m looking for a device with max width of 70mm, less is better.
    please help….

    thanx

  18. So7t
    May 17, 2013

    Andi, can you confirm if it is Gorilla Glass??
    Thank you

    • May 18, 2013

      UMi are telling me yes it has. I have to give this sample back to them, so I can’t try and break nuts with it 🙁

  19. Dp
    May 18, 2013

    Update: Apparently Antelife won’t sell the Turbo edition. According to them it will still be the old processor. It will be in future batches but not this one, which I find pretty disappointing. Maybe Andi has some new news directly from UMi?

    • May 18, 2013

      I know Antelife are working pretty closely with UMi so I assume (hope) they have their facts straight.

  20. May 18, 2013

    Hi Andi,
    In the hands-on video UMI X2 still has Black Bar in the bottom. Please clarify about this Black Bar issue. Whether it will not be rectified in the final version too…???

    • May 18, 2013

      Yes it is there on the model I have, although I really don’t notice it. I will confirm with UMi on Monday what is happening with this.

      • Anuj
        May 19, 2013

        Kindly let us know with this black bar at bottom issue andi…And why UMi is not able to fix it…

        • May 20, 2013

          I can only tell you that it is still there on the pre-production sample we have. Perhaps they have fixed it, but I have a feeling even when I ask them I won’t get a straight answer…….

          • I wouldn’t put my hands in the fire for it. Umi may be a decent company, but as most lower-brand Chinese companies it’s still shady in some departments.

            They probably still didn’t fix it and are expecting to be able to fix it before official launch, so there’s no talk of it. They don’t seem very upfront on the issue side.

  21. Frank
    May 18, 2013

    Hey Andi,

    from what I’ve read the X2 doens’t have dual sim active.
    Can you say something about this?
    I’ve also noticed that the cpu does support dual sim active and even dual sim radio feature.
    Travelling between 2 countries it’s a very important feature for me.
    If I can’t receive calls on both cellphones, that hurts. Also, if it’s dual sim active is not supported
    how do you make the switch between sims?

    Thank you 🙂

    • May 18, 2013

      Hi, UMi have also told me that this is the case. I’m not sure why this is, but JiaYu have also done it.

      • Frank
        May 18, 2013

        Thanks for the quick reply Andi,

        Do you think it’s possible they receive a software update later on,
        so that it will become possible to get dual sim active?
        I’m not aware of how this feature works but if the cpu can manage this feature already,
        I wonder why they chose not to implement it.

        • XrainX
          May 18, 2013

          Even the MT6589 offer Dual Sim Active as a much requested feature, until now, with shame, no chinese smartphone presented on GizChina have this option. I understand that to have Sual Sim Active the smartphone need to have something like dual antennas. So if they don’t planned two antennas on the PCB, the smartphone will never receive Dual Sim Active option by some firmware update.
          The chinese manufacturers are not smart regarding the whole view of a product. The see today, not tomorrow.

  22. ChinaWizKid
    May 18, 2013

    Heard, its Camera has been changed. Earlier somewhere read they r using Sunny, some local Chinese brand. Now what? Those who are going to have X2 would be having 6589Turbo, 2gb/32gb version, and that too, with different camera mounted on it. So, final piece, if at all, and when comes, would be dramatically different than what is being shown here. Pathetic, what an attitude and approach towards customer by UMI.

    • anony
      May 18, 2013

      Heard it’d also eat your dog. Evil UMI!

    • May 18, 2013

      Oh, I’ll have to check this. Where did you hear that?

      • ChinaWizKid
        May 19, 2013

        Here is the link – http://bbs.91umi.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=158824&extra=page%3D4

        which (google) translates to –
        Tucao never optimized machine is very powerful, so no evaluation! Our moderator before used the high quality rice X2 1.2 g of engineering machines, although not perfect, but you can see the quality rice X2 this leap, including workmanship and use of materials, in addition, according to the Superman camera vision and overexposure optimization has been unsatisfactory has changed the supplier of the camera, sensor module from the United States OV, but according to the Superman rumors that the effect is much better than Sunny, 6589T problems recalled, it seems stable quality rice, absolutely exclusive. Has been my character publish this post (a little selfish, I hope you will help us to appeal to the next Superman to me earlier another high-production version, holding low with engineering machine, really looking forward to the production machine, you know)

  23. FTP
    May 18, 2013

    Hi Andi,
    Thanks for the great hands on video of X2 and G4

    I am eagerly waiting for a full review of XiaoMi M2A? Did you get hands on M2A?
    I saw one review from JT Geek where its mentioned that Audio is not that great.
    So i am waiting for your review 🙂

  24. Varun Gaba
    May 18, 2013

    Hi Andi,

    Can you confirm from UMI people that what is the status and when will we get the handset in our hands in India

  25. Shaun
    May 19, 2013

    Well this does it for me. Looks like it’s not a bad phone, but it’s definitely worth waiting for the Neo N003. The MHL and OTG features make the phone shine even if it doesn’t get the turbo CPU.

  26. May 19, 2013

    Hi Andi,

    The MediaTek website says it’s dual sim dual active, but i have read comments from people using Micromax Canvas HD(A116) having same problem, only one sim active (it uses the same older MTK6589).

    In your final review of the UMI X2 could you please put up the SAR values.

    Also is there a way to check if the camera sensor is really 13MP or is it just software gimick of 13MP cause I just read an article of a Custom ROM for Micromax A116 where using the ROM can change the 8MP camera into a 12MP camera.
    http://www.droidacid.com/megahd-v2-stable-4-2-1-rom-for-micromax-a116/

    Thanks,
    Anirudh

    • XrainX
      May 19, 2013

      You should read the previous comments at least about the “active” word. Ctrl+F

      • May 20, 2013

        For mediatek dual active seems to be that when you are incall the other sim can be data enabled. I see this on a official mediatek video on YouTube.

        • XrainX
          May 20, 2013

          In the description of the video is wrote Stand-By, not Active. More mistery.

  27. May 19, 2013

    Andi pls tell me wich version of Ram (1GB or 2GB) has 14525 Antutu score in this article: https://www.gizchina.com/2013/05/10/umi-x2-turbo-benchmarks-published-our-first-look-at-mt6589t-power/

  28. May 20, 2013

    The internal storage is 16/32 gb. Does that means that i can use the whole storage space for installing apps. Because the images on antelife are saying internal storage is 1.48 gb. and phone storage is 26.77 gb.

    • May 20, 2013

      The storage is 16GB/32GB minus the Android install and whatever else is preloaded on them.

      • May 20, 2013

        Thanks Andi. That was fast:). So that means yes. I can use the whole storage for apps.

  29. Besides all other obvious stuff other readers already mentioned in their comments, I don’t get that silver band around the phone if it’s plastic. It makes the phone uglier for no actual purpose.

    That is, no actual functional purpose, because in videos and photos it will look like a metal frame and will surely trick many people.

  30. ChinaWizKid
    May 20, 2013

    This is new announcement from UMI super moderator – so called Superman –
    Back-illuminated second generation of 13 million camera has not changed, aperture is F2.0, tomorrow I will find the project department camera specifications, all development will only be better, will not shrink. Network license and test report I will upload and factory production site in addition, your doubts I will strive to dispel all I can do so be it.

    • Albert
      May 20, 2013

      Well, if camera will not be changed, the aperture size schould be F/2.4 cse Andi has alredy Umi X2 with F/2.4 (he uploaded pics here). Who is manufacturer of this camera module ? I heard that it is Sunny (chinese company) but maybe they will switch to Sony ?

  31. ChinaWizKid
    May 21, 2013

    UMI X2 is deferred till June 5.

    This is the latest news from them –
    View of the fact that many users worry about quality issues, 50,000 payment time was extended to June 5, the order will remain in effect June 5. We can see that the Collector’s Edition evaluation before considering disposable single payment. Materials complete, the camera changing suppliers is an upgrade not shrink, the factory has been arranged and put into operation, the Collector’s Edition will be issued before this weekend. 5 million units in the production version of the payment has been made ​​in the weekend after the issue of the Collector’s Edition subsequent delivery. Collector’s Edition and 50,000 user payment has been made ​​user decided to refund, please send your orders (order number, shipping information, payment history, etc.) and other details to the customer service email: service@91umi.com 3 working days to handle. Replies may exist due to the saturation of the amount of customer service consulting, slow, I would like him to understand!
    Quality rice X1 first 1000 users and 261 warriors need to buy quality rice X2 user special for exclusive access to the official website, purchase gift mysterious feedback spree. The mysterious feedback spree has purchased the old users will not be able to use in the existing order, thanks to the understanding! For more information, I will issue a separate announcement. Thank you for your support and attention!

  32. May 21, 2013

    Hi Andi,
    From the pictures of the X2 I can’t see kind of protection for the back LED light…some little glass over it? – i feel I can touch the mainboard trough the hole:)

  33. Frank
    May 21, 2013

    Andi,

    I saw the advertisement on the frontpage of the website of the Umi X2 turbo version.
    Do you research these ads/persons before putting them up? ie How sure are you that
    they are they legit? I’m talking about the aliexpress guy btw 🙂

  34. ChinaWizKid
    May 21, 2013

    Just heard, UMI India fans are annoyed due to no response from UMI India representatives.

    Lately, UMI India has said that they would dispatch X2 within in this month (May 2013).

    While X2 production is deferred till June 5 in China, it looks that previous batch production of sub-standard quality (UMI X2 non Turbo version, youth edition, i.e hardly 1gb RAM with 32 GB ROM) is being shipped internationally, including India.

    • Flamer
      May 22, 2013

      so what does this mean if you purchased off a Chinese reseller? they still won’t have their hands on them until after June 5th? or is this just india delayed?

      I hope for UMI’s own sake the neo or the jiayu s1 is not released in the next 2 weeks. I know they will lose my business if they are.

      • May 22, 2013

        I don’t know what is happening in India but it seems the distributor there is spreading false news so that they don’t get in any more trouble with their (already angry) customers. UMi say this is a rumour, Antelife say it is also and say that they will be able to MT6589T versions of the X2 mid June if they need them. However, it remains to be seen what is actually true…..

  35. ChinaWizKid
    May 22, 2013

    As informed earlier, UMI India has shown the color, they r shipping to Indian Customers old version not the 6589 Turbo, and yet they are silent or rather unaware what they will dispatch youth version of 1gb/16 gb or 2gb/32gb model. I guess, the later i.e. 6589 (non turbo) with 2gb RAM/ 32GB ROM which would face glitches.

    UMI remark is still confusing, as they say, – Turbo can’t be released before June, so all prebooked, and full paid customer will get 1.2Gz model’ and no change in price (i guess the hiked prices) for Turbo version which is not known when would it ever get released or not.

    The new customer possibly get after June. But, again who is going to trust them now for this new promise. Beware International buyers. UMI has not only lived upto its expectation but has also spoiled the image of its Country. Chinese Product

    • May 22, 2013

      Does not surprise me! I can’t believe UMi are working with that distributor still!

      • Arshad
        May 24, 2013

        You Mean to say that distributor is cancelled… then wat about the money which we paid to indian distributor

        • May 24, 2013

          I’m pretty sure I never said that!