If you’ve seen my review of the Umidigi A7s and thought, damn, I really like this phone, but can’t deal with the bottom-tiered specifications, then say hi to the Umidigi A9. While it is remarkably similar to the A7s in the looks department, with 3GB of RAM and a Mediatek Helio G25 processor, the A9 sets itself apart from that phone. Unlike the A7s, it can handle some more tedious Android smartphone processing. It also comes with a beefier battery pack. But I guess the most important question still is, is the Umidigi A9 a solid buy? Let’s find out!
Umidigi A9 – what’s in the box
With the A9, it’s same old same old as far as it concerns what they’ve included in the box. You get a USB C cable, a 10W charger, a clear TPU case, some warranty cards, and of course, the phone itself. There’s no glass screen protector, no earphones, or any of that fancy stuff you’d find in more premium Android smartphones.
Umidigi A9 – design and build quality
The A9 is a direct replica of the A7s, so if you’ve seen my review of that device, then you have a pretty solid idea of how it looks and feels. If you’ve not, here’s a short description; it’s a polycarbonate (plastic build) with rounded edges and a textured back. The phone is thick and feels heavy on the hand, but that’s all in tune with its massive 6.53-inch screen and 5150mAh battery. There are very thick bezels and a massive chin too, and again this is in following with the overall design theme of the A9.
The textured polycarbonate back really stands out, and I dare say it’s the one most impressive design feature of the A9. It gives the phone a sophisticated look that sorta dumbs down the archaic feel brought on by its heaviness and thick edges. Of course, there’s the now very familiar plastic rim wrapping around the screen of the A9. I talked about this in my review of the A7s, but essentially this rim is prone to picking up scratches, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why it’s there in the first place.
At the front, the screen is indented by a customary teardrop notch which blends into the top bezel of the A9. Overall, I’d score the A9 a 6/10 in the design department for its mundane but still somewhat inspiring look and a very average build quality.
Umidigi A9 – Specs and performance
Aboard the A9 is the entry-level MediaTek Helio G25 with a max clock speed of 2.0Ghz. Paired to 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage on the A9, it’s a setup that can deliver some mild to modest performance numbers.
Apps on the A9 open smoothly, and the general UI/UX feels fluid and intuitive. I did register some lag when multitasking, and it seemed to be worse when I’d just switched on the phone. That’s a tell-tale sign that at any point, the A9 is at the fringes of its performance bandwidth. Indeed, much like on the A7s, you cannot run demanding games without encountering stutter or outright crashes. The graphics processor on the A9 is the lowly rated IMG PowerVR GE8320, which sums up the situation with performance.
The silver lining is that the A9 ships with 64GB of internal storage by default with provision for expansion via a MicroSD card. 64GB on a sub $110 phone with everything else on the A9 is quite rare, although it’s fair to note that the storage is of the slower eMMC type compared to the UFS 2.1 storage deck on the A9 Pro.
Umidigi A9 – Camera performance
The camera setup on the A9 is a triple cam config and although I’m always quick to say camera performance is not a numbers game on the A9, the camera numbers give a fair hint of the phone’s camera quality. The aperture size, in particular, caught my eye. For both the rear and front camera systems, Umidigi has gone with an aperture size of F2.2. If you’re familiar with smartphone cameras, you’d realize that this is a small aperture (usually reserved for just front cameras) that cannot let in enough light. True to that fact, the Umidigi A9’s camera is poor in low light conditions.
In bright daylight, the A9 manages to shoot some okay pictures with a fair amount of exposure, brightness, and just the right amount of saturation. I think the portrait mode on the Umidigi A9 is also really cool, at least compared to the poor showing of a portrait setting on the A7s. The bokeh was decent, and background separation looked very natural.
Overall the entire theme with the A9’s camera system is consistent with what you’d see from the typical cheap Android smartphone – okayish in well-lit conditions and not so good in poorly illuminated settings. The only exception to this rule, however, is the Oukitel C21 (if you’ve not read my review of that device, read it here.
Umidigi A9 – display quality
With the A9, Umidigi has opted for a HD+ display with an actual resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels and a screen refresh rate of 60Hz. Not stellar numbers but for a budget phone this is more than enough.
The screen is an IPS panel. Unlike the IPS panel on the A9 Pro, it looks sorta washed out. Whites appear greyish, and there’s just a bit of the eye-catching color pop you’d find on its pricier cousin the A9 Pro. The A9 however makes up with its large – 6.53 inches large, to be precise – screen. So, watching movies or playing the limited number of games this phone can be somewhat engaging.
Umidigi A9 – Battery capacity
The battery department is the one place where the Umidigi A9 really stands out. The phone comes powered by a beefy 5150mAh battery which is kinda unheard of at this price range and certainly unheard of in Umidigi’s latest smartphone releases. Right of the bat, as I used the phone, I could tell the difference.
The A9 manages to retain power between charges with the paroxysmal battery drains I noticed on the A7s absent from this phone. I can categorically say it will last you a full day of usage if you charge to 100%. If you manage to keep everything light and easy, this phone can even go a day and a half – maybe two. It’s that good.
I guess the only downside is the 10W charger supplied by Umidigi. It’s not exactly a fast charger, and from my experience, it’ll take some 2 hours to get the A9 from 0-100%. The phone comes with USB-C as standard, so naturally, I plugged in the fast charger from my Oppo A93. As you’ve probably guessed, charging time dropped by a whopping 50% to just under 1 hour 10 mins.
Umidigi A9 – Extras
No review of an Umidigi smartphone will be complete without a mention of Umidigi’s now-iconic set of smartphone extras. If you’ve been reading my reviews, you’re probably tired of hearing me mention customizable button, AI thermometer… Right, skip this part if you’re a frequent reader. For the uninitiated, let’s get to it, starting with something you’re already well familiar with the fingerprint sensor.
Fingerprint – facial recognition software
On the Umidigi A9, you get a centrally placed back-mounted fingerprint sensor as well as facial recognition software. Both work as you would expect them to, and I have no complaints whatsoever.
The A9, like most of Umidigi’s recent releases, comes with a left, side-mounted customizable button. This button can be mapped to a variety of functions, and it’s a feature I find quite handy because, of course, I’m a shortcuts person. If you’re like me, you’ll absolutely appreciate the ease and convenience brought on by the ability to map single-click, double-click, and hold-action on the customizable button to a long list of smartphone functions.
The infrared thermometer
If you’re a hypochondriac who’s wary of the Covid pandemic, Umidigi’s has got just the right personal Covid feature for you – an infrared contactless thermometer. You can use it to take fairly accurate body temperature readings and provided an object’s not too hot temperature readings for objects too.
Umidigi A9 – Pricing and availability
For $105, you can get the A9 Pro on AliExpress, and pretty much every other dealer of Chinese manufactured smartphones – it’s available on Banggood, Amazon, and Gearbest as well. Given the overall feature list of the A9 Pro, I’d say this is a fair deal.
What’s not to like
I could go on and on about what’s bad on the Umidigi A9, but let’s be frank here, this is a $106 smartphone that includes a HD+ screen, a massive 5150mAh battery, and Android 11 out of the box. There’s also a couple extra features that complement these main standout points so that when you picture all of it together, it’s easy to forgive the A9’s shortcomings.
But just so I’m objective, you might not like the lackluster screen or the not-so-good camera quality in low-light conditions and the weight of this phone.
Should you buy the Umidigi A9?
Absolutely! Surprised at that? Well, let me explain. In continuing with what I just said in the preceding section, the A9 has a lot of drawbacks, but all of that don’t matter when you factor in its price. It’s a 106-dollar smartphone, and while I’d have been quick to recommend the Oukitel C21 in its stead, that phone now costs about 109 dollars, not to mention it doesn’t run Android Eleven.
The A9 is a well worth upgrade of the A7S, and overall it’s a somewhat complete package for a budget Android smartphone. You’ll love it for the excellent battery life, the fact that it runs Android Eleven out of the box, and to some extent, its design. It shoots good pictures in daylight too, so there’s something for picture lovers. I’d buy it without overthinking if I needed a dirt-cheap budget Android phone that does all the basics right.
