Battle of the ultra budget phones. Pt. 1 Umidigi A3

Okay you all know I have the S10+ and the note 10+. And I always have flagship phones on my hip. Many have asked me to review those phones, and I will... Someday. Today I'm starting a series of reviews on what I call ultra budget phones. These are phones that sell for under $150.00 usd. I will also be pitting them against each other to see which one gives you the best bang for your buck. Today it's the Umidigi A3.

The specs on this phone are as follows. 5.5" screen, dual SIM plus Micro SD slot, 12mp and 5mp rear shooters, 8mp front facing camera, rear mounted fingerprint scanner, 3300mAh battery, 2GB ram, 16 GB internal storage,MT6739 Quad core processor, 1440x720 screen res. running Android Pie 9.0.

Now this phone isn't going to blow you away. This is after all a Ultra Budget phone. This is what you get that kid that can't keep a hold of their phone or maybe you just can't afford them a high end or mid range phone. There is nothing wrong with keeping it real. This phone will do just about anything you would need it to do. Now it wont be a gaming phone, the processor just can't keep up. This phone will allow you to text,make calls and surf the web. Facebook and the like as well will do just fine.

This phone would also work just fine for the elderly that want a bit more than a flip phone. You can change the font size to fit their needs.There is lag of course, after all this phone is $80.00 but for the money you get more than what you pay for. (wait for part two to see one that you don't get your money's worth)

The fingerprint scanner works pretty well and is fairly fast. I've had no issues with it. It says it has 2D face unlock but as of yet I haven't tried it. There is a "Pro" version of this device and I will be doing a write-up on that phone and will test the face unlock then.

At the end of this three part post I will have a link to my YouTube channel where you can see this device and the other two in action.

Stop back in, leave a comment or question and I'll try to answer it.

Note 10+... A few things you may not know

The Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is an amazing phone, as a Note device should be. It has its short comings as all devices do, but all in all this is the phone to beat all phones. I'm not doing an un-boxing as every YouTuber on the planet has already done them. I'm here to talk about the things no one or very few are talking about.

Lets get started. First off the "Aura Glow" color is actually "Aura Glow Silver" I like so many others ordered this color because... well its fricking awesome! But no one that I have seen in the tech vlog world is calling it by its true color. Heres a picture of the label on the box mine came in. You will see it says "Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 256G SVR KIT.

So to suport this I also have the Galaxy Buds in Silver, pictured here with the white Buds that I got with the S10+.

They also do the color change, not as dynamic as the phone, but still a nice added touch.

Another feature (and I will do a video of this some day) is a feature where you can open apps from the lock screen by holding you finger/thumb on the fingerprint scanner and swiping over the app. I have it set to open Gmail and Gallery. You can set this up in the settings under lock screen the scroll to App Short cuts. Right now I haven't been using it as I just set it up but I will find this handy as those are two of the most used apps I have.

As you can see in the photo above the camera is full screen. As the phone is set from the factory the only shooting mode with this feature is the "Instagram" mode. But if you go into the camera app and hit the second icon from the right and choose "Full" the whole screen becomes your canvas.
I mean one of the reasons you buy a Note device is the screen size, and this one has the biggest screen on a Note device to date. So why not put that screen to use, after all its beautiful.

The back of this phone is like a mirror.. I mean just like a mirror. I took some pictures of the phone while at a park. I was at a table under some trees. Well you tell me what you think....

Stunning right? here is one of the S10+ under the same conditions

Now lets talk about the lack of a headphone jack. Well hell its gone and I doubt its coming back. I for one don't really mind so much I'm old and my hearing isn't pin point sharp anymore, so I can't tell the big sound difference between wireless and wired headphones. I'm not sure I ever could actually. I know some sound better than others. But if I have a set of wireless headphones that sound good I'm fine with that. I only use the wired headphones when I forget my Buds anyway and that has only happened once in the last few years. I normally give the wired headphones away that come with the device. I did however keep the USB type c ones that came with the Note 10+. As they are the only set like that I have. (Having a backup is never a bad idea).

As I work way to many hours for a man my age I haven't had the time or energy to really put the camera through its paces, but I plan on doing that over the next few weeks. My plan is to start doing video vlogs on tech and photography. I would love to see you come checkout my channel when it gets up and running.

I will have more on the Note 10+ as time permits so check back in a few days and see what is up with me.
Thanks for stopping in, leave a comment or a question and I'll see if i can get you the answers.