Video: UMi Hammer hands on and first impressions


umi hammer review

New for 2015 is the UMi Hammer, a new device from UMi and their first to support LTE with 64bit bit SoC to date. Watch our hands on impressions to see if the Hammer really is as tough as UMi claim it to be.

Rugged phones are usually those huge chunks of rubber that we see with yellow and black design and chunky finish for extra grip. They are perfect for taking out in the wilds and ensuring you don’t smash your phone to smithereens, but they are too big, bulky and unattractive for using on the street.

umi hammer review

UMi decided that their was a niche of users that needed some of the protection of a rugged phone, but in the body of something you won’t be embarrassed to be seen with. The result is the UMi Hammer.

The UMi Hammer has been designed for young phone users in mind, and to that end they have carefully chosen the hardware to offer the best value, make it good-looking and have added enough impact proctection for a few trips down a set of concrete stairs.

umi hammer review

Not only is the UMi Hammer designed to be tough, but it also boast a few up to date features. The chipset is a quad-core MT6732 64bit model, there is dual SIM, LTE, micro SD card, 2GB RAM, and a 13 mega-pixel main camera with dual LED flash. Our pre-production phone came with a tiny 1600mAh battery, but the final specifications say a 2250mAh cell will come as standard.

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Android 4.4 Kitkat comes as standard, and it is a completely stock installation. With a 64bit chip though we are hoping that an Android Lollipop update will be made available, and we assume the phone will also be supported by UMi’s Rootjoy PC suite.

Video: UMi Hammer Hands on first impressions

UMi haven’t confirmed the official retail price, but if we can believe online resellers the Hammer will cost around $160 which is about the same as most other phones with this level of hardware, yet I am not sure how happy I would be hitting similar priced phones with a steel adjustable spanner.

umi hammer review

The UMi Hammer is scheduled for a April 20th release, but you can expect our full review in just a few days.

[ UMidigi.com ]
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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40 Comments

  1. April 13, 2015

    umi make a good phone, but with little a bit bezel its will be better !

    ————————————————————————————–
    חברת UMI מוציאה טלפונים טובים אבל עדיף עם פחות בזל

    • Michel
      April 13, 2015

      What do you mean by bezel ??? also anyone knows where to pre-order this at a good reseller ???

      • April 13, 2015

        bezel is the plastic around the screen
        ————————————————-
        בזל זה הפלסטיק סביב למסך

        • Michel
          April 13, 2015

          Thanks, didn’t know. My english is good but not perfect yet haha.

      • nads
        April 13, 2015

        Geekbuying has it on presale for $140 while some others have it for $150.

        • nick
          April 13, 2015

          to2c has it for 130 dollar with a 20 dollar worth umi voix headphone for free for the first 20 orders. preordered mine. my 16 mohts old boy wont be able to break this screen with a bankcardreader like he did with my jiayu g4 a few days ago..!

      • Niko Nikic
        April 14, 2015

        to2c.com, preordered it today for 130$ and got UMI Voix earphone worth $20 :).

    • iKosh
      April 13, 2015

      They probably sacrificed the bezel size for durability.

      • April 13, 2015

        its so convenient to think like that (:

        ————————————————-
        מאד נוח לחשוב ככה. (:

  2. Mrinal
    April 13, 2015

    This is great! I was looking for a Smart Hammer.. and this one even comes with a sim slot and camera!

  3. Joe mont
    April 13, 2015

    A 2200mah battery? That wont even last a full day.

    • Muhammad Yasir
      April 13, 2015

      pessimist spotted.

    • Riccardo Benzoni
      April 13, 2015

      with this SoC it will

      • sceptic
        April 19, 2015

        2250 will be just a fake number printed on a 1600 mAh battery

  4. TheEvilPenguinGamer .
    April 13, 2015

    Vivo xshot clone

    • Michel
      April 13, 2015

      Not really if you compare the design

  5. iKosh
    April 13, 2015

    Go Andi! I’ve been waiting for this device. Please test the camera and the audio quality. Unfortunately we won’t get realistic data about battery life with that small battery.

  6. Riccardo Benzoni
    April 13, 2015

    it has dual tone flash, wich shoul improve night shoots. very solid and appealing, the battery is a pre-production sample one, final will be 2250mah, enough for a full day usage with this SoC. Very interesting device!

    • Marco Lancaster
      April 13, 2015

      And the Wi-Fi is way fast! Even with the metal build, Umi managed to do a very good antenna implementation.

  7. Sid
    April 13, 2015

    Is it just me or does this phone resemble the Vivo Xshot very much?

  8. Marco Lancaster
    April 13, 2015

    A really nice device! And perhaps maybe the best one until now with the MT6732. When I saw the first news about of this device. I thought “Will be expensive… Like zopo ones” And I’m happy the price has surprised me. And I would say, this is the best value for money device with MT6732. Of course Umi build quality and support will be better than Elephone or Ulefone solutions.

    • Riccardo Benzoni
      April 14, 2015

      yes, Umi’s quality has been always better than the brands you named.

    • Charlles Costa
      April 16, 2015

      Hello Marco, you seem to know a lot about phones, what is you take on Ulefone Be Pro, is it worth to buy than this Umi Hammer? I’ve ordered the Be Pro but I’m very sceptical about it.

      • Marco Lancaster
        April 16, 2015

        I guess Ulefone Be Pro has his good sides, but more of them it due the specs package itself, most present on MTK6732 phones. The camera is average, so if you don’t care for it, it’s ok, but if you expect a good camera. Btw Ulefone is trying to fix their mistakes, like fake specifications (the camera), providing updates, Lollipop is very close to Be Pro owners. But if I would choose between those two. I guess I’ll take Umi hammer, still waiting for a review of it. But i have good expectations for it.

  9. 3_nity
    April 13, 2015

    One more crap from UMI. Zero is my first and last phone from UMI.

  10. nick
    April 13, 2015

    do i buy this one for 140 bucks or the elephone6000 at 120 dollar? worse battery, better camera, better looks, better build.. an easy win for umi? or should i go for the elephone for some reason?

    • nick
      April 13, 2015

      gps reception looks very good on elehpone and not sure thins one has glonass reception?

      • Riccardo Benzoni
        April 14, 2015

        it has, the SoC has it embedded (it’s on every new 64bit mediatek phone)

    • Avital
      April 14, 2015

      I also have the same question. I considered the Mlais M52, as well.
      I hope they would test the GPS on the Hammer; because the UMI C1, for instance, is a great phone but has a terrible GPS.

  11. sailor
    April 13, 2015

    Rugged phones are usually waterproof. Is this ip67 or ip68?

  12. Airyl
    April 14, 2015

    Hey, it’s the Vivo Xshot!

  13. Guest
    April 15, 2015

    Does anyone knows how is the battery life and build quality on the UMI Zero? I know we aren’t talking about UMI ZERO but I am looking for new device to buy and I want to try out some China phones.

    • 3_nity
      April 15, 2015

      Just buy from another brand. Not more UMI in my life.

  14. Niko Nikic
    May 18, 2015

    Guys, be aware they’re selling it as 2250mAh battery, but it’s 1750mAh: https://youtu.be/s9lGoF2uU80

  15. Mike Papas
    May 30, 2015

    Elephone is selling the P6000 with supposedly 2.700mah battery. I had it for some months for my everyday use and I dont think it came close to that number. I should mention that with 4G on and minimal use throughout the day it wouldnt last until sleep time! But then again this should be a problem with all mediatek devices. Very poor power management with 3G or 4G. On Saturdays and Sundays, my days off work, when I used it to browse and other stuff I found myself out of juice until 9 pm!!!