The smartphones under the budget category are packed with more and more decent specs and coming with less than ever prices. This very smartphone segment is where most users can be found, and Chinese tech companies like Xiaomi and UMIDIGI, are doing quite well to cater to the needs of budget smartphone users. UMIDIGI F1 Play, the most affordable 48MP camera phone from UMIDIGI, shows that it stands directly against the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 in camera, performance and display. Hereās a comparison video, putting the F1 Play vs Redmi Note 7, to reveal which one is the better option if you want a decent smartphone without spending much.
Display
Both the Redmi Note 7 and UMIDIGI F1 Play come with 6.3-inch notched FHD+ displays each with different names for their notches; the UMIDIGI F1 Play has a Waterdrop notch and the Redmi Note 7 Pro has the Dot notch. While both the smartphonesā screens appear adequately bright and vivid, theĀ F1 Playās bezels were less as compared to the Note 7ās which made the viewing experience better on the former.
Camera
The key feature on both phones is the 48MP dual rear camera setup. UMIDIGI F1 Play features 48MP + 8MP and Redmi Note 7 come with quite similar 48MP+5MP setup. The front shooter onĀ Play is 16MP while on Redmi Note 7 is 13MP. Then we see the rear camera comparison in two modes, default mode(12MP) and 48MP mode.
In 12MP mode, the same Samsung sensor on both phones can combine neighbouring pixels into one to get 1.6-micron large pixels when in low light condition. From the dim light samples, both pictures are decent but we can findĀ F1 Play preserves the light sources well and brings out the shadows which means a better dynamic range and contrast than Redmi Note 7.
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Then we look into the 48MP mode samples. It is impressive for both budget smartphones that can capture such detailed photos. And we find more details in the shadows ofĀ F1 Play sample.
Performance
UMIDIGI F1 Play is powered by Helio P60 processor, which has the similar performance with Snapdragon 660 that Redmi Note 7 is powered by, as the AnTuTu benchmark shows below.
And F1 Play packs a 5150mAh big battery while Redmi Note 7 is backed by a 4000mAh one. Both phones support 18W fast charge but Redmi Note 7 is shipped with only 10W Type-C charger, while F1 Play gets a 18W Type-C charger in box.
Others
UMIDIGI F1 Play supports NFC and is a global phone with worldwide bands support. Redmi Note 7 supports local bands according to the region and doesnāt support NFC. In the similar price $200, F1 Play offers more RAM (6GB) than Redmi Note 7 (4GB). Check out the overall comparison below.
Conclusion
With similar performance and display, UMIDIGI F1 Play wins the battle against the Redmi Note 7 in other features. Under $200,Ā F1 Play offers a better camera performance, more RAM, more LTE bands and NFC than the Note 7.
Umidigi could arguably claim the title ‘King of the budget smartphones’. To anyone who wants a solid performing, no frills phone I have been recommending Umidigi for the last year or so.
However, as good as Umidigi has become over the last couple of years, they still have some issues to sort out.
Even though build quality has improved greatly, they still seem to suffer from defective units slightly more than the more established manufacturers.
Customer support, for those small few who need it, is terrible. (Certainly for those customers outside of China).
Software updates only really fix bugs. Security updates are few and far between, if at all. Also you will probably be stuck with the version of Android that the phone comes with. Last year’s phones that came with 8.1 have not and will not get Android 9.0. It is very likely that this year’s phones won’t get an Android Q update either.
All these issues though are common to all the smaller budget phone manufacturers.
I agree and TBH Xiaomi isn’t exactly great in updating their devices as well. You have ot realize that at such a low price point it is hard to have a huge team working on such things.
3 weeks with my F1 Play Pro , very nice , quality finish ,play on it lots of the time ,smooth and fast,good investment
Well, what stands out in this UMIDIGI F1 PLAY is that it has more battery, which for me is very important
I pulled the plug on F1 as well and i couldn’t be happier. I can’t believe i have NFC which i use for google play at this price point. Something failed to be mentioned in the ad is the fact that the F1’s face unlock works really well, it unlocks in complete dark rooms!