UMIDIGI F1 sees refresh with a new, even cheaper variant

UMIDIGI announced its F1 mobile device in 2018. It combined a respectable MediaTek Helio P60 (with 8 cores at 2.0GHz each) with Android Pie (9.0) out of the box and an exceptionally large battery into a package sold at the equivalent of US$250. Now, it's back in the form of a new variant, the F1 Play. The phone is updated in some strategic ways for an even better price.

The F1 Play closely resembles its sibling, save for a couple of important points. Its RAM is set at 6GB, whereas the original F1 had 4; on the other hand, the Play's internal storage is now 64GB, although the first version shipped with 128. This is balanced out with an even bigger battery in the new variant, it packs 5150mAh, whereas the F1 had 5000. However, and possibly most importantly, the F1 Play incorporates 48MP+8MP rear camera sensors, instead of the 16+8MP set-up found in the original.

This means that UMIDIGI is overtly taking on the Redmi Note 7 line with the F1 Play. The OEM makes this even more obvious with a poster that compares it to the non-Pro Note 7 right on its AliExpress page. This graphic outlines the similarities between the two: the Redmi runs on the Snapdragon 660, which is comparable to the P60. However, the F1 Play also has a bigger battery, as well as faster charging (18 watts to the Redmi's 10). The new F1 variant also wins in terms of price: it is US$199.99, whereas the 6GB Note 7 can be had for closer to $210.