UMIDIGI A11 - A cheap “BEAST” with Android 11 and iPhone 12 style for less than 90 €
With the arrival of summer, the sales of cheap smartphones undergo a surge and this is also due to the fact that with the end of school, many children are now the right age to approach the world of technology but also that in to go on vacation you prefer to bring the so-called "forklift" from the beach. However, the market is full of cheap smartphones and almost always, when you think you have made the deal you find yourself with a wreck in your hands that is also difficult to resell. But it does not always go wrong, indeed today we present a device that knows its stuff and that also offers a new function of its kind. Here is UMIDIGI A11 in our complete review.
The company renews the unboxing experience by abandoning the sad black color of its boxes in favor of a sunny yellow, which is also cheerful due to the equipment it offers. In fact, inside we find:
- HUMIDIGES A11;
- Transparent soft silicone protective cover;
- Fast guide;
- USB Type-C data transmission and charging cable;
- Wall power supply with European connection and 5V-2A / 10W output;
- Screen protection film (already pre-applied on the phone);
- Pin for removing the SIM tray.
UMIDIGI A11 revolutionizes the concept of economic smartphone starting from the design, as it comes with premium finishes and equally top materials. In fact, we have a rear body made of opaque anti-reflective glass and anti-fingerprint treatment, available in the Mist Blue and Frost Gray colors, in which the BEYOND DREAMS writing stands out, which gives the phone iconicity and is recognizable among the many devices that copy the design. other terminals.
Also on the back we find the bump camera that offers 3 optics as well as the Dual Tone LED flash and a special sensor used to measure the temperature. Oh yes, a real non-contact infrared digital thermometer with which you can measure body temperature as well as objects. It is certainly not a medical device, but I must say that the accuracy was realistic when compared to the classic infrared thermometers for pharmacies or the scanners that we find in shops / hospitals.
A killer feature that makes the UMIDIGI A11 unique which also amazes for its iconic design with flat edges, to be clear in the iPhone 12 style. The frame is in fact made of metal where we find the 3,5 jack input in the upper part mm for wired earphones while the main microphone, the USB Type-C input for charging the device with OTG support and the mono-type system speaker are located in the lower one.
The latter does not shine for sound efficiency, in the sense that the low tones are practically almost absent, but it offers a good listening volume and this will allow you to listen to TV series, music, etc. even on the beach, during the hours in which children get louder.
Walking along the left side of the smartphone, we find a button, which allows you to recall some functions and / or applications by making a single, double and prolonged pressure on it. The key is programmable and for example I have associated the recall of the thermometer with a single touch, the ignition of the torch with two touches while holding it down, I can directly access Youtube.
Above this button, we find the SIM tray, capable of hosting two in nano format as well as a micro SD with support up to 256 GB, without sacrificing the functionality of the Dual SIM Dual Standby, also of the 4G VoLTE type, or with signal 4G on both SIM slots at the same time. In terms of connectivity I have never hooked the 4G + signal but on the other hand the 4G has always been stable and above all fast. Even as regards the calls, I can not complain about the reception and audio quality of the same.
Moving to the opposite side of the SIM tray, UMIDIGI A11 offers the volume rocker and the power button, which in turn integrates the biometric sensor for fingerprint recognition. This solution not only allowed to obtain a clean design of the smartphone, but gives general modernity, considering that the trend of the various OEMs seems to be moving towards this solution. The release is always done in a precise way, unfortunately not very fast, especially if we have sweaty hands. In this case we could rely on the unlock with the face, even if the latter is not the fastest, but still reliable even in low light conditions.
UMIDIGI A11 is a rather important smartphone from the point of view of the dimensions that are expressed with values of 162,2 x 75 x 9,2 mm and a weight of 222 grams. Not very light but still usable in certain contexts, even with a single hand, as the weight is well distributed along the entire axis. Dimensions and weight are partly justified by the integration of a 5150 mAh battery that supports "fast" charging at 10W. The actual duration depends as always on your use, but in my case I have always brought home almost two full days of use, totaling about 7 and a half hours of active display.
In addition to the battery to justify the size of UMIDIGI A11 is the display, a 6,53-inch unit with IPS technology in 20: 9 format that offers HD + resolution (1600 x 720 pixels). So no Widevine L1 certification, but overall the brilliance of the colors and the excellent dynamic range offered make all this overshadow, especially if this solution allows us to have excellent autonomy.
The MiraVision function is present at the software level for a more painstaking calibration of the contrast and temperature levels, but personally I left the standard settings, enjoying the immersion offered, because overall UMIDIGI A11 enjoys rather contained frames. The symmetry of the display is disturbed only by the presence of a drop notch in which the selfie camera is inserted, above which we find the ear capsule and the proximity and brightness sensors, which I emphasize working wonderfully, especially following the software update just received. No notification LEDs then, but overall it fits, considering the economic nature of the device.
But let's see what animates this UMIDIGI A11, which under the body houses a MediaTek Helio G25 processor, 12 nm octacore solution with Cortex A53 structure and clock at 2.0 GHz, accompanied by a PowerVR8320 @ 650 MHz GPU. GPU think about 3/4 GB of dual channel LPDDR4X RAM memory and 64/128 GB of internal storage unfortunately of the eMMC 5.1 type. This combination of hardware certainly does not shine for speed, but I must admit that I was surprised by the reactivity of the system and above all the general fluidity, completing every required task, even in the gaming sector being able to play titles of the caliber of Call of Duty Mobile , albeit with limited graphic details.
Overall, I never saw any random bugs or freezes and this is partly due to the adoption of a practically stock Android 11 version, with security patches updated to June 2021. In my period of use, however, I received two updates, albeit this is not an aspect on which I would rely so much for the future, especially if you plan to receive Android 12. However, there are navigation gestures as well as all the functions of the operating system, such as dark mode, but we also find some small integration by UMIDIGI, such as the Smart Gestures, including the capture of the screenshot with the swipe of three fingers on the screen etc ..
In terms of connectivity we can then count on a Bluetooth 5.0 module, an excellent GPS with Galileo satellite connection, dual-band WiFi with support for Direct and Display and FM Radio functions. Unfortunately, no NFC or infrared but on the other hand you can't expect much from a cheap device.
And precisely at the level of pretension, we cannot do it even in the photographic sector as UMIDIGI A11 offers on the rear a 16 MP main sensor with f / 2.0 aperture (6 elements optics) to which an 8 MP ultrawide sensor with FOV is added. 120 ° and a 5 MP macro sensor. As for the selfie camera, we rely on an 5 MP 8-element lens with f / 2.2 aperture.
Combination of optics that certainly do not scream a miracle, also because in all honesty the software does not help by offering rather basic functions. At the video level we can shoot both with front and rear cameras, at a maximum resolution of 1080p 30 fps without the aid of any form of stabilization, neither digital nor optical. However, the audio capture by the microphones and the chromatic range captured are good, in line with reality.
Present the HDR but only in manual mode as well as the AI function that recognizes up to 13 different scenes, optimizing the shooting parameters. In reality with this mode there are more disasters that come out of it than anything else so the advice is to shoot in the standard mode. In this case the photos obtained are decidedly decent for the price range of the UMIDIGI A11, which shows the side in low light conditions where the night mode does not seem to work at all.
However, I liked the photos in portrait mode, where the classic Chinese halo disappears to the advantage of an algorithm that can be improved but which does its job well. Even the macros are sufficiently well as well as the shots with the wide angle that return more saturated but still appreciable colors.
PROJECTED IMPACT
UMIDIGI A11 is certainly not a camera phone nor a smartphone that aspires to top-of-the-range performance, but I don't even feel like defining it as the classic forklift, because in the vast majority of the needs of the common user he knows how to be appreciated and such appreciation also comes because of the price.
You can find it for less than 90 euros on the brand's official store through the AliExpress online shop and for this figure you take home a well-made smartphone, iconic in design but above all reliable in software. You can easily use it as your main smartphone as long as you are not a data sheet maniac, but for its price it is the best device you could buy.
