Living with UMIDIGI A5 Pro: a user story and review

In this personal story and UMIDIGI A5 Pro review, EyeBeekay, shares the story of how he came about this interesting smartphone and his experience so far with it.

So I suddenly found myself unavoidably  in need of three phones at the same time. I ended up buying a UMIDIGI A5 Pro, and I have not regretted it in the least bit. Here is my story and review of this budget smartphone.

The COVID-19 lockdown made it necessary to get two phones for online classes for two members of the household, and another phone for Madam, whose phone gave up the ghost suddenly. Eventually, I gave my phone, Xiaomi Redmi7, to Madam, and shifted to the UMIDIGI A5 Pro.

This was something unplanned and in these Buhari-nomic times, demanded the applications of some creative thinking to address. I have not regretted this move.

I had heard of the UMIDIGI ( pronounced YouMyDigi – YouMiDigital) brand earlier and it came to mind again. So I went online and carefully read what people’s brand experiences had been – with my first port-of-call being Nairaland.

Generally, most people that have used the phone submit that UMIDIGI smartphones are totally awesome value for the money.

The reservation I had was that UMIDIGI do not have an official presence here in Nigeria, The same thing was true of Xiaomi at a point in time, yet that did not stop people from ordering it from abroad – and you would be on your own if the phone develops a problem – like the screen shattering, or the charging port developing a problem.

I took the plunge with UMIDIGI and bought two UMIDIGI A3s units and the A5 Pro from Jumia. I noticed that replacement screens are available for the phones from Jumia.

Here are the key specifications of the UMIDIGI A5 Pro:

• Operating System/OS: Stock Android 9 Pie
• Display: 6.26-inch, 2280 x 1080 pixels, 19:9 aspect ratio, double-sided 2.5D Curved Glass, In-Cell LTPS screen, waterdrop notch.
• Colours: Space Gray. Breathing Crystal.
• Build: Glass + plastic frame
• Dimensions: 156 x 5.9 x 8.2 mm
• Weight: 203g
• Processor: Helio P23 chipset, 1.8 GHz Octa-core, Cortex-A53
• RAM: 4 GB
• Storage Memory: 32 GB
• Rear Triple Camera: 16 MP main sensor + 5 MP depth sensor + 8 MP 120-degree ultra-wide angle lens; 1080P video
• Front Camera: 16 MP lens
• Battery Capacity: 4150 mAh
• Battery Charging: 10W charging.

Comparing at the price viz-a-viz the specifications, it is clear that we have a gem – a little-known gem- right on our hands. But how does it fare in everyday use?

UMIDIGI A5 Pro Review: What using it is like

It is when you hold the phone in your hands and feel its glass back, the impeccable premium finish, and the razor sharp screen, that you truly appreciate what has been accomplished for such peanuts ($100).

If you have any reservations, all it will take to completely change your perception is to actually hold the phone in your hands and use it for 10 minutes.

From the specifications, you can see that the phone even supports Glo’s old 4G LTE band and most other LTE bands. It is apparent that the brand deserves to be better known than this.

So far I have not had any problems with the phone. Nothing at all. Works flawlessly

The only slight complaints I have about it are as follows:

1. The the battery life (average of 12 hours under heavy use) is not as fantastic as what I was used to on my former Xiaomi Redmi 7 which routinely did 18 hours of heavy use.
2. It lacks an Infrared remote blaster, which my former phone had, and which was quite handy in controlling all the electronics in the house.
3. The phone tends to heat up a little bit if you’re using it while simultaneously charging it. The heating is not alarming, but it is noticeable in this situation.

Apart from these, the UMIDIGI brand is one I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically recommend to anybody who is not uppity about brand, but is merely after utilitarian value. This brand drivers VALUE.

A long time Mobilista, DeolaDoctor, who also owns a UMIDIGI A7 Pro, a model that is above the A5 Pro, said, “I really didn’t see any difference between this my UMIDIGI and other brand-name high-price phones I have used in the past.”

In addition to being a medical doctor, he is also a professional photographer. He says the camera performance of the phone is right up there compared to the much much pricier phones in the market. I wouldn’t know as I do not do photographs and hardly ever use the camera on my phones.

For a photography expert to say this, this is quite an accolade for this modest (in price) phone. He should know, having used premium phones from the iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy Note series, and everything in between, in the past.

You will find the A5 Pro on Jumia for ₦40,000 to ₦44,000 now. Its bigger brother, the A7 Pro, is even better value right now, compared to when I bought my A5 Pro.

In my opinion, you should not continue to waste your money by running after high costing well-known brands – when in practical terms they do not offer anything significantly better than some other lower-value brands like the Xiaomi and this UMIDIGI.

Author: Ibukun Olaoya