Hi,
looking to upgrade my phone. Is the Umidigi F1 Play my only solution based on my requirements below?
Required:
- minimum 6" 1080p
- large battery, minimum 4500mAh
- NFC
- Band 28
- USB-C
Don't care about:
- camera
- waterproof
- OS
Any Alternative to The Umidigi F1 Play?
Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 29/04/2019 - 13:31
Last edited 29/04/2019 - 15:25 by 1 other user
Last edited 29/04/2019 - 15:25 by 1 other user
Comments
Which one?
Asus Zenfone Max Pro (M2) ZB631KL is all that comes up on gsmarena that's similar but no NFC and no band 28.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/415055#comment-6565681
they have variants of same model that supports both NFC & B28
but i don't know which seller has them
https://www.gsmarena.com/asus_zenfone_max_pro_(m2)_zb631kl-9410.php
NFC: Yes
Ah cool, didn't realise they had different models
If you don't care about the camera then you could get the Umidigi F1 (non-play) instead. I got one recently, but if I had realised that the Play was so similar in price then I would have spent the extra money. The non-play is a good phone still.
For the $10-20 I'd probably just get a Play since it's a few months newer.
If it's important to you, I have the F1 (non play) on Boost and it supports VoLTE - even though it's not on Telstra's VoLTE support list.
I use Boost so this is great to hear. Thanks!
What are your opinions of the phone so far?
I've had the phone for a bit over a week now. I'm very impressed with it. It's a big phone, and reasonably heavy due to the big screen and big battery. The battery lasts a solid two days. I unplugged my phone at about 8am this morning, went to work, made calls, got my security tokens, played games at lunch, played games after work (total 3hrs 15min screen on time today), and it's currently on 71% with an estimated 38 hours of battery remaining. I know the battery will degrade in a year or two, but I feel like even when it's getting worn out it will still last a whole day without issue.
The OS is good. It's android 9, and it's close to stock. A few options have been cut out from the settings (that I've found), but otherwise it seems stock. It didn't come with heaps of bloatware! I'm not too concerned about whether umi puts out updates TBH, I normally keep phones for about two years, and if I'm still on 9 in two years then I won't care.
It came with a screen protector already applied, and a rubber case. I don't normally bother with phone protection, my last two xiaomi's were still working when I decommissioned them, my two previous phones before that were suffering from hardware failures, but not from impacts; but I've left the screen protector and case on this phone as they fit perfectly - as they're factory items.
The camera on the ordinary F1 could be better. It's not bad, but it's certainly not as good as a current flagship from Apple, Samsung, Huawei, etc. The only port of the Google Camera app I can get is version 2.x - which is quite old. I think this is because of the mediatek processor; there are lots of ports for snapdragon phones. Similarly, if you need to get a vulnerability based root (not sure if you can get it any other way on this phone) then I wouldn't hold my breath. I found the same thing on my xiaomi with a mtk processor.
The NFC works, although I don't use it much as my bank has it's own app (flaky) instead of supporting Google Pay. The NFC definitely works though - as I have used it a few times.
The processor (P60) is fast enough for everything I've done. I play a lot of games, but not serious ones, just arcade and strategy style games.
128gb of storage is more than I need, but I had no other use for my 64gb microsd so I put that in there and currently have 192gb of storage.
The fingerprint unlock is not as accurate as my last phone. It sometimes takes a couple of placements to recognise. The phone has face unlock as well, but that only works in well lit areas.
That's about all I can think of. Basically, I'm very happy with the phone, it's not perfect but I think it's pretty solid for ~$300
Thanks heaps. Really appreciate it. Just ordered one :)
asus zenphone max series