Umi rome x front camera. The most beautiful budget smartphone

This is the official instruction for UMI Rome in Russian, which is suitable for Android 5.1. If you have updated your UMI smartphone to a more recent version or “rolled back” to an earlier one, then you should try others detailed instructions instructions for use, which will be presented below. We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with the quick user instructions in question-answer format.

Official website of UMI?

You have come to the right place, because all the information from the official website of the UMI company, as well as a lot of other useful content, is collected here.

Settings-> About phone:: Android version (a few clicks on the item will launch the "Easter egg") ["Out of the box" Android OS version - 5.1].

We continue to configure the smartphone

How to update drivers on UMI

You need to go to "Settings -> About phone -> Kernel version"

How to enable Russian keyboard layout

Go to the section "Settings->Language and input->Select language"

How to connect 4g or switch to 2G, 3G

"Settings-> More-> Mobile network-> Data transfer"

What to do if you turned on child mode and forgot your password

Go to "Settings-> Language and keyboard-> section (keyboard and input methods)-> check the box next to "Google voice input"

Settings->Display:: Auto-rotate screen (uncheck)

How to set a melody for an alarm clock?

Settings->Display->Brightness->right (increase); left (decrease); AUTO (automatic adjustment).

Settings->Battery->Energy Saving (check the box)

Enable display of battery charge status in percent

Settings->Battery->Battery Charge

How to transfer phone numbers from a SIM card to the phone memory? Importing numbers from a SIM card

1. Go to the Contacts app
2. Click on the "Options" button -> select "Import/Export"
3. Select where you want to import contacts from -> “Import from SIM card”

How to add a contact to the blacklist or block a phone number?

How to set up the Internet if the Internet does not work (for example, MTS, Beeline, Tele2, Life)

1. You can contact the operator
2. Or read the instructions for

How to set a ringtone for a subscriber so that each number has its own melody

Go to the Contacts application -> Select the desired contact -> click on it -> open the menu (3 vertical dots) -> Set ringtone

How to disable or enable key vibration feedback?

Go to Settings->Language and input -> Android keyboard or Google keyboard -> Vibration response of keys (uncheck or uncheck)

How to set a ringtone for an SMS message or change alert sounds?

Read the instructions for

How to find out what processor is in Rome?

You need to look at the characteristics of Rome (link above). We know that in this modification of the device the chipset is MediaTek MT6753, 1300 MHz.

Settings->For Developers->USB Debugging

If there is no "For Developers" item?

Follow the instructions

Settings->Data transfer->Mobile traffic.
Settings->More->Mobile network->3G/4G services (if the operator does not support, select only 2G)

How to change or add input language on the keyboard?

Settings-> Language and input-> Android keyboard-> settings icon-> Input languages ​​(check the box next to the ones you need)

The Umi Rome smartphone was born under interesting circumstances. This model was initially announced as having unparalleled performance at a price of $90. In comparison “on paper” with competitors, Umi Rome emerged victorious in almost all disciplines. The eight-core MediaTek MT6753 CPU looked more attractive than its quad-core counterparts, the AMOLED screen was a rare guest in this price segment, and the 3 GB of RAM was an exception to the rule - which Xiaomi Redmi 2, which is related to the UMI Fair, have a modest capacity of 1 GB, and are offered for about the same $90.

After the release of the smartphone, everything fell into place, including the price. Currently, Umi Rome is offered at retail for $115, and the lower price turned out to be a promotional and temporary one. Now the Umi product has much more competitors, and for an additional payment of $20-25 you can buy a Umi eMax Mini with a FullHD resolution screen and a Qualcomm SoC. How well will Umi Rome perform in such a crowded and competitive environment?

OS and interface

The Umi Rome smartphone comes with firmware version 3.01, based on Android 5.1 OS. At the time of writing this review, firmware version 3.03 was available, which can be installed by following or using the Umi RootJoy program. I used the second option. I note that RootJoy still has a bug with downloading the firmware to the wrong folder C:\Users\挟褉邪\Documents\download\ROM; to start the update procedure you will need to specify the path to the archive with the firmware manually. After this, the process will proceed without user intervention and will take about five minutes.

The standard Android interface is used without additional “decorations”. No and additional applications, unless you count the SuperSU utility, which controls root access, as such. But there are several nice additions in the system settings, some of which appeared in Umi flagships quite recently. We are talking about broad support for gesture control, which can be used both when the screen is off and in many standard applications: camera, browser, player, dialer, etc... There is also a convenient option for updating the firmware “over the air” or using an already downloaded file. Russification is of high quality, there are only a few menu items that have not been translated.

Hardware platform and performance

The Umi Rome smartphone has become one of the most affordable (if not the most) models with the MediaTek MT6753 platform. It is often found in phones priced at $140-$180, but rarely falls below $130. So for its modest $115, Umi Rome offers a really good SoC. It has eight 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 cores and a Mali-T720 GPU - not the most powerful in the family, but goes well with 1280x720 pixel resolution screens, like Umi Rome. The RAM capacity of 3 GB is also the maximum for a smartphone in this price range, the average user is unlikely to be able to fill such a volume of memory.

An interesting fact is that the platform and amount of RAM in Umi Rome are identical to those in much. At the same time, today's test subject has a lower resolution screen, which means it should show better performance in games and related tests. I also tested Umi Iron, so I’ll just run the tests and compare the results.

Oddly enough, in the 3DMark tests the Umi Rome was slightly inferior to the older model, although formally it is in more difficult conditions due to the high screen resolution. But Umi Rome won back in the Epic Citadel test on the popular Unreal Engine with maximum graphics settings. Here the test subject showed 48.9 fps versus 28.5 fps for the Umi Iron. Still, the ARM Mali-T720 accelerator is better suited for a resolution of 1280x720 pixels; in other cases, its strength may not be enough for games with rich graphics. The results of the processor cores of Umi Rome and Umi Iron are identical. We can note the excellent performance of the built-in flash memory in write operations, which is rare.

In real games, the smartphone performed well. In Dead Trigger 2, the frame rate was high and smooth at medium settings; at high settings, fps sometimes dropped in scenes with complex lighting or reflections. Real Racing 3 is very comfortable to play - fps is not sky-high, but remains at a stable average level without sudden “freezes”, which often caused the car to fly into a ditch when playing on the Umi eMax Mini. In Asphalt 8, everything is generally wonderful and smooth. The Umi Rome smartphone turned out to be very balanced and powerful in terms of gaming performance (taking into account the price, of course). Gets noticeably (but not excessively) warm under heavy load back panel to the left of the rear camera, and with it the metal sides. The OS interface and everyday applications run smoothly and quickly, without noticeable lag.

Communications

The MediaTek MT6753 platform has received very diverse tools for communicating with the outside world. Although Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac is not supported (only dual-band 802.11n), but there is support for FDD and TDD LTE Rel networks. 9, Cat. 4, DC-HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, CDMA2000 1x/EVDO Rev. A and EDGE. To access the two MicroSIM slots, you will need to remove the battery; the memory card is installed without these manipulations.

Wi-Fi speed was tested when connected to a TP-Link TL-WR1043ND router (first revision), for which the limit is 300 Mbps at a frequency of 2.4 GHz. Tariff plan provides speeds up to 100 Mbit/s. The smartphone was located at a distance of one meter in direct line of sight from the router:

The download and upload speeds reached 60 and 77 Mbit/s in only one of the three measurements, but this is a decent result, although the download sometimes sags for unknown reasons.

I'll check GPS operation, to do this I’ll turn off Wi-Fi and delete SIM card. The first satellite was found in eight seconds, but it took just over two minutes to establish a reliable connection. And the sensitivity let us down, convincing reception is achieved in the open air or close to a window indoors (in the screenshot). As soon as you move a meter deeper into the room, the signal level drops sharply.

Autonomous operation

Umi Rome is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2500 mAh. This is a very modest figure for a smartphone with a large screen; Although AMOLED is considered an economical technology, the consumption of such screens greatly depends on the brightness of the displayed image. Therefore, some manufacturers specifically optimize the color scheme of the OS and system menus, making the background and other elements black. This extends the period battery life, but in the case of Umi Rome it uses a regular color scheme.

In autonomy tests, Umi Rome performed modestly. Four hours in the PCMark test suggests that gamers will often have to charge their smartphone before the end of the work/school day. All other users can count on a day of battery life with average usage.

Results

The Umi Rome smartphone, priced at $115, has become a controversial but noteworthy proposition. The minimum equipment in this price segment is quite justified and is not a minus. The rustic design with inexpensive body materials is also a logical consequence of the low price. Camera performance has become one of the significant shortcomings that may stop a potential buyer from purchasing Umi Rome. I also remember the mediocre battery life and quality of the voice and ringing speakers.

Umi Rome is interesting primarily due to the powerful eight-core MediaTek MT6753 platform. An important plus is the presence of 3 GB of RAM - an outstanding indicator for this price. Game lovers will love the combination of the ARM Mali-T720 accelerator, which demonstrates good performance in conjunction with a 1280x720 pixel resolution screen. As a result, Umi Rome can be called an ultra-low-cost gaming smartphone with a platform from a more expensive segment.

But there is one more point that I wanted to summarize. This is the Umi Rome screen, which according to Umi's claims and specifications uses an AMOLED matrix, but at the same time demonstrates high black luminosity. In LCD screens, this effect is provided by the backlight, which AMOLED does not have. In order not to be unfounded, I photographed the Umi Rome screen, and on the right in the first photo is the screen of the old LG Optimus Sol, which actually uses an AMOLED matrix:







In both cases, the brightness was set to maximum, and LG's advantage in black depth is obvious. The luminosity of the black field in Umi Rome changes with the brightness of the screen. It appears that the Umi Rome (in all copies or in certain batches) uses a non-AMOLED screen, which is not consistent

Competition is doing its job slowly but constantly, this is confirmed by the price and characteristics of the UMI ROME X phone. This is the younger brother of the popular UMI ROME with simpler characteristics. Of course, the smart has certain disadvantages, but there are many more advantages for your money, let me remind you that it is a little more than 60 dollars. After all, just a year ago it was absolutely impossible to get such a device for this money.

Let's look at the characteristics stated by the manufacturer:

Let's start reviewing and testing UMI ROME X, check the declared characteristics, learn about the advantages and disadvantages of this smartphone model.

UMI ROME X Equipment

UMI ROME X comes in a simple but reliable box, included from the factory charger 1 Ampere and a meter cord micro usb - usb. There is also a semblance of instructions, but who will read it? The phone's specifications can be found on the bottom of the box.

A pleasant bonus when purchasing may be the availability protective film and a silicone bumper. At the bottom of the article is a link to a verified official seller from the UMI company, which supplies smart with useful gifts.

UMI ROME X appearance

The phone is produced in two color options - black and gold; the review considers a black smartphone. UMI ROME X immediately captivates with its stylish, graceful appearance. The aluminum insert around the perimeter of the case stands out especially; it pleasantly cools the hand and pleases the eye with the shine of the metal. I would like to note that the phone is well assembled, nothing wobbles or creaks.

Let's look at the smartphone from all sides; there is nothing on the left side; on the right side there are aluminum on/off buttons and a volume rocker. When using, the metal rattles a little, but this does not spoil the overall impression, since the buttons are pressed very pleasantly and clearly. Bottom connector micro USB and two holes for the speaker (the left one is only for symmetry, since there is only one speaker). At the top there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

The lower part is covered with a plastic lid that snaps tightly into place. There is also a camera located here, which is extended a couple of millimeters, which in operation will undoubtedly result in abrasions on the lower edge of the outer lens. There is a dual flash located under the camera.

UMI ROME X is equipped with a 2.5D LTPS HD screen with good viewing angles. At the top of the front side there is a 2 MP front camera, a tiny selfie flash, sensors, and an earpiece. At the bottom there are control buttons and a microphone. Placing the microphone on the front improves its sensitivity, but contributes to rapid contamination of the hole, especially in the warm season. There is no second microphone for noise reduction. There is also no color event indicator.

Under the bottom cover there is a 2500 mA battery (declared by the manufacturer), two slots for mini SIM cards and a slot for a micro SD memory card. Below, see the results of weighing the smartphone and the battery separately.

As weighing showed, the seller indicated that the weight of the smartphone was underestimated by 10 grams.

To summarize, the design of the UMI ROME X case is quite worthy, one can only guess which phone model served as an example and inspiration for the Umi company. If you don’t take into account the weight of the smart phone, which is reduced by 10 grams, and the camera protruding above the body by a couple of millimeters, then everything is fine here. Let's move on and see what the performance tests show.

UMI ROME X hardware testing

AnTuTu Benchmark showed 24628 Antu parrots, which is quite decent for such a price.

This benchmark also shows other smart parameters

Data from CPU-Z:

Testing sensors, touchscreen and GPS receiver

UMI ROME X has a gravity, light, and proximity sensor. It is worth noting that during a conversation, when you briefly remove the smart phone from your ear, the proximity sensor does not work, and you can tap your ear, but this happened extremely rarely.

One of the weakest points in this smartphone is the touchscreen. And even failure to recognize just two touches at a time can upset the user the most; the touchscreen is not accurate; when pressed in one place, the tap is triggered with a movement of several millimeters. In addition, pressing in the upper and lower areas of the screen, which are approximately 1 cm wide, is especially problematic. When using the UMI ROME X touchscreen, it seems that in addition to accuracy, pressing force also matters. I also note that the touchscreen reacts to pressing by foreign objects, such as a wire from a headset, the inside of a pocket or bag. I advise you to disable double tap unlocking and always lock the screen before putting down the phone, otherwise random calls and launching several dozen applications at the same time cannot be avoided. If you need an inexpensive smartphone with a 5.5-inch screen and a high-quality touchscreen, I advise you to take a closer look at the model, it has a 5-touch touchscreen, is very responsive and accurate, and the price is not much more.

As you can see, the tests did not show anything unusual, everything was expected. On the positive side, it is worth noting the fast GPS. Among the shortcomings - incorrect operation touchscreen and periodically turning off the proximity sensor.

1. The phone was purchased with my own money.
2. A phone was bought for a 9-year-old boy.
3. Akhtung - warning. To the gentlemen who intend to tell me in the comments that for a little more money you can buy a phone n times better, I inform you that the review is “charged”. And in heaven there will be not 72 virgins waiting for them, but 72 virgins. With the establishment renamed to the opposite. Think about it - do you need it?
Gentlemen who have the habit of downvoting under the pretext “the product is IMHO guano, I’ll give a downvote for the review,” please pass by so as not to end up in the company of the gentlemen from the paragraph above.
4. I didn’t hide much under the spoiler, because the habit of many authors towards this is somewhat saddening. Fortunately, there is a lot of Internet everywhere, and poking (clicking) to view the next photo is somehow not comme il faut...

So, recently my son cracked his smartphone.

Conversations with him about “by the sweat of his brow, the lack of family ties with Rothschild,” etc. were held. Surely they are familiar to any parent, and I will leave them out of review
Realizing (with a slight strain of memory of my bright childhood (sigh)) that this emergency was not the last - the financial limit for a new one was limited to 50 US dollars. (The 5 missing to the final amount were taken from the culprit’s piggy bank).
Well, then it’s done search work in a fairly wide and muddy swamp of super-budget employees, the hero of the review was fished out.
Thanks for the recent one. Helped me a little in choosing.
By the way. because I’m writing this review “for the soul”; I don’t owe or owe anything to any Chinese - there won’t be such a complete and good review. For an abundance of graphs, measurements, screenshots, etc., it’s better to look at Syncaine.
Here are screenshots from banguda about the purchase. I scraped off part of the amount with previously accumulated points. It’s good that in this store it’s easy to pin them.


Here is the link to the site - official page phone -
And here are the characteristics copied and pasted from 4PDA:
Processor: Quad-core MT6580
Cellular: GSM/WCDMA
Display resolution: 1280x720
Type touch screen: Capacitive screen
Display size: 5.5
Number of SIM cards: Dual SIM cards
Release date: 2015
RAM: 1 GB
Band Mode: 2SIM/Dual-Bands
Processor manufacturer: MTK
Camera: 13.0 MP
ROM: 8 GB
Operating system: Android
Features: GPS Navigation,E-mail,FM Radio, MP3 Playback, Touch Screen,Bluetooth,Wi-Fi, Memory Card Slots, Video Player, Gravity Effect, Front Camera, Message,GPRS
Battery type: Removable
Battery capacity (mAh): 2500mah
Language: English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Italian, Norwegian
Size: 153.5x77x7.9
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900
3G: WCDMA 900/2100
CPU: MTK6580 Quad Core
OS: Android 5.1 Lollipop
A few words “why exactly him”:
- allegedly a Sony camera stated in the description.
- naked Android. All these whistles and tricks screwed on by the vast majority of manufacturers are very annoying. Whatever you need, I’ll download and install it myself.
- 2 SIM cards and one memory card slot. The widespread combination is some kind of fierce fur-bearing animal.
- at least somewhat digestible hardware inside and a good screen.
- simply prettier (of course, completely IMHO) among the Chinese cousins.
I’ll put the 3-week delivery under a spoiler, strongly doubting its usefulness to anyone.

Additional information

The packaging is great. Designed for the most severe pest - the Ukrposhta employee. The box is made of polystyrene foam, and in it a box is wrapped in polyethylene foam. No, really - having experience of a couple of hundred parcels from abroad - this is the best. Bangood is a big plus.




The box itself and its contents are the first evidence of ultra-budget. Well, at least they put the charger in, and that’s good.
It (the charger) is most likely not bad. Not slag for sure. We won’t use it; there are 2 XiaoMi Powerstrips for charging phones and other small items. Very convenient...(And yes, I am not a Xiaomi fan. I only use overstrips and a router)

It is worth noting the presence of a protective film “from the factory”.
On last photo crossed out the non-working speaker, or rather the holes above its absence)
Either the manufacturer has unified it with older models, or they simply burned an extra 10 holes for symmetry. There is sound, and it is loud. There's nothing more good to say. (Music lovers may experience convulsions when listening.) Well, okay - you can watch cartoons and films.
Next, I will briefly go through the main functions of the device.

Phone - dialer. Everything is fine. The reception is no worse than the parents (Amazon Fire and ZTE Blade A1). Audibility is good, there are no third-party noises, echoes, etc.

Camera. I don’t know what design genius decided to move it a couple of mm from the body. I doubt that this somehow improved the quality of the photo, but it definitely provided 100,500 extra scratches on the lens.

And immediately the first (and only!!!) disappointment in the review: the quality of the photo sucks.
If in sunny weather the photos somehow turn out well, then in the evening or in a darkened room it’s sad. If Sony is there, then I am the Prince of Denmark.
Here are some photos. During the day, the quality is quite satisfactory, except that the focus is caught strangely, but I’m nitpicking. But in the evening and under artificial lighting - darkness)






















Photos of the “rodent” were taken with a flash. Same process conditions - different output quality. That is, for a “successful” shot you need to take five unsuccessful ones. And if the subject of the photo does not sit still, you don’t have to bother - you won’t get a normal photo(

The flashlight is excellent. Among all the gadgets and telephones, I have only seen better ones from Motorola Defy+. The same brightness is in mine ZTE Blade A1. I can't take (anything) good photos in a darkened room - but believe me - the dual LED works better than most flashlights.

I read several reviews of Umi Rim X - and each one emphasized “chic design, more expensive than paid”; “expensive metal frame”, “pleasantly cools the hand”; etc. While reading, I wanted to play around, but when I received it, not so much anymore) Umi turned out to be a really stylish product. (Even if its design has been compromised by someone).

It’s just that this very metal frame has quite a noticeable effect on WiFi reception. The comparison was carried out by going down 2 floors - inside the apartment, my XiaoMi nano router provides excellent reception for all devices.
The first screen is from the champion among home devices - the Amazon Fire phone. (This American gets home Wi-Fi even in a store near his house.)

The next two are from Rome X. If you hold it straight (with the screen straight up), the reception quality is quite acceptable


But if you turn it a little, it drops noticeably.


Amazon doesn't have such a trick. No matter how you turn it, the signal level is the same.
Of course, you won’t feel this difference in the room next to the router - however, it must be admitted that metal in the phone case is sometimes the enemy of good things.

OTG and navigation functions are declared, but are not in demand by the phone user), respectively. I won't describe it. A flash drive with microUSB at home “blinks” when connected and is detected
To copy files from/to your phone(s), I use this method -

Almost immediately after purchasing the phone I purchased a case. .

By the way, I don’t recommend taking it. It cost me half the price (I used the 5/10 coupon) and this is its red price.

Conclusion:
+ Large and high-quality screen;
+ good satisfactory performance as a phone and tablet. The picture is somewhat spoiled by the pair “metal frame - stability of Wi-Fi reception”;
+ bug-free (for now) phone firmware. During the entire period of use there were no problems. (pah-pah-pah);
- crappy camera. That is, it is quite ordinary for this class of super-budget employees, but it was announced and expected by Sony...
-/+ battery, of course, is not the ultimate dream. But (naturally IMHO) all of them in the capacity range of 2000...28000 mAh are options for daylight hours. And in our case, it “dies” in the evening or late at night - it’s not critical. In phone mode (this is when the little one carries a tablet with him) it takes 3 days.

As a result: despite the existing shortcomings, if given a second chance, I would buy Umi Rim X again. Yes, there are disadvantages. But not critical. And for the money paid, I couldn’t find anything more worthy.

The unstable political and economic situation in the country has led to a significant rise in price for everything. Now many users who want to buy a decent smartphone for an adequate amount are increasingly looking towards the Chinese market, where little-known manufacturers offer devices with excellent characteristics for really “ridiculous money”. Among them is the company UMi, which is actively promoting a smartphone. The manufacturer promises us an excellent design, a powerful hardware platform, high-quality camera modules, a large AMOLED display, and all this for less than $100. Tempting, isn't it? This approach turned out to be very successful and led to a wave of pre-orders.

Thanks to one of our readers, who kindly provided us with a smartphone that had just arrived from the Middle Kingdom for testing, we will try to figure out what a potential buyer should expect from this device. Let’s start the review of the new product traditionally with technical characteristics:

Manufacturer and model
Type, form factor	Smartphone, monoblock
Communication standards		850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz
		900 / 2100 MHz
		800 / 1800 / 2600
High speed data transfer	GPRS (32-48 Kbps), EDGE (236 Kbps), HSDPA (up to 42.2 Mbps), HSUPA (up to 5.76 Mbps), LTE Cat.4 (up to 150 Mbps )
SIM card type
CPU	MediaTek MT6753 (8 x ARM Cortex-A53 @ 1.3 GHz)
Graphics adapter	ARM Mali-T720 (up to 450 MHz)
	5.5", IPS, 1280 x 720 (267 ppi), touch, multi-touch up to 2 touches, protective glass
RAM
Persistent memory
Card reader	microSD (64 GB)
Interfaces	1 x micro-USB 2.0 1 x 3.5mm mini-jack audio jack
Multimedia	Acoustics
	Microphone
	Main	8 MP (f/2.4), software interpolation up to 13 MP, autofocus, LED flash, video recording in 1080p format
	Frontal	2 MP (f/2.8), LED flash, video recording in 720p format
Networking capabilities	Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4/5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, GLONASS
	Accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor
Battery	Li-ion, removable: 2500 mAh
Charger	Input: 100~240 VAC eg at 50/60 Hz Output: 5 VDC e.g. 1 A
	153.8 x 77 x 8 mm
	Black/Gold
operating system	Android 5.1 Lollipop
Official guarantee	12 months
Manufacturer's website

Delivery and configuration

The UMi ROME smartphone comes in a white compact box made of thick cardboard, which is characterized by a discreet appearance and good information content.

The delivery set includes only the essentials: documentation, charger and USB cable.

Appearance, arrangement of elements

Many are trying to copy the design of market leaders - Apple and Samsung products. UMi ROME was no exception, which imitates in many ways: a similar metal frame (really metal), smooth curves of the side edges and general stylization of small details. True, if the front panel is tempered glass, like the Korean flagship, then the back side is made of matte, but rather easily soiled and even slippery plastic. Overall it looks very good and is not perceived as a budget device.

Despite the rather large diagonal (5.5"), the phablet can be operated with one hand thanks to the rounded edges and small side frames around the display (4 mm on the side, 16.5 mm on the top, 17.5 mm on the bottom). However, , for confidence it is better to use both hands, which reduces the risk of dropping the rather weighty device (177 g). The smartphone is available on the market in two colors: black and gold.

On the front panel, we separately highlight the flash for the front camera. The remaining elements are quite familiar: earpiece, proximity and light sensor, front camera, microphone and standard set touch buttons.

On the lower side there is a micro-USB port and a multimedia speaker (under the perforation on the right), and at the top there is only a 3.5 mm audio jack. The left side is empty, and on the right you can see the volume rocker and the power key. The control buttons are located quite conveniently, but their excessively sharp edges leave an unpleasant tactile sensation, although you won’t be able to cut yourself.

On the back of the device there is a main camera lens and a dual LED flash. Removing the cover provides access to a replaceable battery, slots for two Micro-SIM cards and a microSD memory card. It is worth noting that the lens is covered with plastic, which is easily scratched even by microfiber.

The build quality and rigidity of the UMi ROME case is at a good level: nothing creaks and the glass is not pressed through. There is only one extremely unnoticeable gap at the edge of the upper right corner (on the back side).

Display

According to official data, UMi ROME is equipped with a 5.5-inch screen based on an AMOLED matrix with a resolution of 1280 x 720 and a pixel density of 267 ppi. But in fact, an IPS matrix is ​​used here (labeled “H55008BL-B”). It was not possible to find any information on it. She's covered protective glass(the brand of which is not reported) with a good oleophobic layer. There is no air gap between them. For additional protection Factory film applied.

In general, the screen is characterized by good detail, pleasant colors (slightly shifted towards cooler shades) with a sufficient level of contrast and good viewing angles (a slight drop in saturation appears when viewed diagonally). The range of automatic brightness adjustment is sufficient for comfortable work on a sunny day or in complete darkness.

Multi-touch technology processes only two simultaneous touches. Sometimes errors may occur when tapping with two fingers or when moving slowly across the touch layer. It is possible to unlock by double tapping the screen.

Audio subsystem

Despite the two perforated grilles on the bottom edge, there is only one multimedia speaker in the UMi ROME. It provides good sound: the mids and highs are well detailed, but the lows are almost inaudible. The volume is average, but if you are in a noisy place, it is quite possible to miss it incoming call. However, the speaker's capabilities should be enough to perform basic functions (games, video and speakerphone).

The delivery package of the new product does not include a headset, so the sound in the headphones was checked using gaming headphones (impedance 60 Ohms) and in-ear Vivanco HS 200 WT (impedance 16 Ohms). In both cases, the sound is quite standard, without any frills. The volume level is sufficient.

Additionally, there is a radio module for recording and listening to FM radio stations with connected headphones.

Camera

The tested model is equipped with two digital cameras: the main one (8-megapixel Sony IMX164 module with f/2.4 aperture and autofocus) and the front (2-megapixel Galaxycore CG2355 module with f/2.8 aperture and fixed focus). The first can shoot video in 1080p resolution, and the second - 720p at 30 fps. As with the display, the stated characteristics do not correspond to reality: the manufacturer promised a Sony IMX179 module (a similar one is used in), but the output is an 8-megapixel Sony IMX164 with software interpolation up to 13 megapixels.

Considering the price of the smartphone, both cameras are quite suitable. Under favorable conditions, the main module provides good color reproduction and average detail, which suffers when the subject is moved away. This is due to simple signal processing algorithms, and the active operation of the noise reduction system even with a sufficient level of illumination makes its contribution. The front camera has a good viewing angle and allows you to take fairly high-quality self-portraits. It is noteworthy that when using a flash, the picture turns out to be a little more detailed.

The main camera settings menu is quite simple and familiar to Android OS users. There are a considerable number of settings and modes, among which we highlight “Picture-in-Picture” for simultaneous shooting from both cameras.

Examplesphoto- Andvideo shooting

An example of daytime shooting from a UMi ROME smartphone in Full resolution HD at 30 fps

Custominterface

The UMi ROME smartphone comes pre-installed operating system Android 5.1 Lollipop, presented almost in its original form. The main differences lie in the modified Boot animation, a set of icons for standard applications and the main menu, a couple of additional settings items, and significantly accelerated animation of actions and transitions.

The settings menu is also quite ordinary. Access to almost all parameters is open: communication capabilities, appearance, screen settings, sound effects, etc. We’d also like to highlight the “Gesture sensing” and “Smart wake” items for setting up gesture controls and quickly launching basic applications bypassing the lock screen, unless additional security measures are enabled.

The OS runs very quickly and smoothly, even when there are many applications open in the background. For this we should thank the 3 GB of RAM, minimal changes to the shell and the absence of any additional pre-installed applications.

Productivity and communication capabilities

UMi ROME received a 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 SoC processor with eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores operating at up to 1.3 GHz. The graphics are handled by the built-in ARM Mali-T720 core. Volume RAM is 3 GB, and permanent is 16 GB (11.53 GB available to the user). This space can be expanded using microSD memory cards (up to 64 GB). This platform supports OTG mode, which allows you to connect an external USB drive or peripherals(the corresponding adapter is included in the delivery package).

The smartphone copes well not only with simple tasks (calls, viewing documents, surfing the Internet, listening to audio and watching videos), but also with modern demanding games. For example, the car simulator Asphalt 8: Airborne runs quite smoothly at high graphics settings (small FPS drops only occasionally appear). IN WoT Blitz Stuttering also occurs at medium settings, but only when billowing smoke from the remains of tanks is displayed on the screen. In all other cases, the picture is displayed quite comfortably even at high settings. Lighter games run without problems. During prolonged maximum load, the body of the new product becomes noticeably hot in the camera area - holding the smartphone is extremely unpleasant, sometimes it seems that you can get burned.

The built-in video player has excellent support audio and video formats, as evidenced by the results of the AnTuTu Video Tester benchmark, which rated it at 692 points.

The UMi ROME smartphone supports modern mobile networks 2G GSM, 3G WCDMA and 4G LTE Cat.4. Support for two SIM cards is implemented on the basis of one radio module.

The quality of calls is at a high level and does not cause any comments. The speaker and microphone perform well. The vibration alert is average in strength and pleasant in timbre.

Communication modules are represented by dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0.

Operation of modules wireless networks pretty standard: everything connects quickly and holds the connection well.

Also in UMi ROME there is a global geopositioning module with support for satellite GPS systems and GLONASS. Cold start takes just seconds.

Autonomous operation

The tested model is powered by a replaceable lithium ion battery capacity 2500 mAh. With a moderate load with 50% display brightness (calls, SMS, music, a little Internet), it will last for a day.

As a result of watching HD video (MPEG-4 / AVC, MKV container, 4 Mbit/s stream) at 50% display brightness with Wi-Fi and GPS modules turned on, the device was discharged in 5.5 hours. A gaming simulation using Asphalt 8: Airborne with 100% display brightness and Wi-Fi and GPS modules turned on drained the battery in just over 2 hours.

The estimated battery life according to the PCMark benchmark showed 4 hours, according to the Geekbench 3 test results - 4 hours and 17 minutes, while the GFXBench benchmark showed a result of 159 minutes. In all cases (except for the gaming one), the display brightness was 50%, and the Wi-Fi and GPS modules were activated.

It is worth noting that the battery behaves quite “chaotically”: it charges slowly even from a 2-amp charger (seems to be a limitation on current intake), and when it reaches 90%, the charging speed drops significantly (it rarely charges up to 100%, usually stopping at 98- 99%). When discharged from 9% it immediately drops to 3-1%, although the remaining charge can last about 20 minutes.

The battery charging time from the complete unit (5 V, 1 A) is about 3.5 hours.

Results

Let’s not hide the fact that even before testing began, we had many reasons for optimism, but reality made its own adjustments. Judge for yourself, the manufacturer promised us a high-quality AMOLED screen, an excellent main camera module represented by Sony IMX179, an 8-core MediaTek MT6753 processor, 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of ROM at a cost of $89 at the time of the announcement. The combination of such characteristics is typical of more expensive devices.

In practice, we got a decent IPS screen, but only with support for two simultaneous touches. The place of the advanced module was taken by the 8-megapixel mid-range Sony IMX164 with software interpolation up to 13 megapixels. There are also complaints about the battery, which behaves strangely when discharged. And the starting price has increased to $109. The remaining parameters correspond to the stated ones, so the smartphone demonstrates simply excellent performance, including when running modern 3D games. Among the positive things about UMi ROME, we can highlight the pleasant appearance with decent workmanship, almost stock Android 5.1 Lollipop and a set of all necessary communications.

The very fact that certain stated characteristics do not correspond to reality is upsetting and reduces the degree of trust in the brand, but in the end the smartphone turned out to be very interesting for its price category.

Advantages:

• pleasant appearance;
• good 5.5-inch HD IPS screen;
• good digital camera modules (8 MP and 2 MP);
• excellent performance of the hardware platform based on MediaTek MT6753 and 3 GB of RAM;
• 16 GB ROM with support for microSD memory cards (up to 64 GB);
• USB OTG specification support;
• support for two SIM cards and the necessary network capabilities;
• full support mobile networks 4G LTE;
• almost stock Android 5.1 Lollipop;
• relatively affordable price.

Flaws:

• discrepancy between certain declared characteristics and actual ones;
• The protective glass of the main camera lens is easily scratched;
• Multi-touch technology only supports 2 simultaneous touches;
• noticeable heating of the case under prolonged maximum load;
• strange behavior of the battery when discharging.

We would like to express our gratitude to our reader Dmitry Polskikh forsmartphone provided for testing.

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