UMIDIGI launched its latest Bison series rugged smartphones, and this series is undoubtedly one of the best budget rugged smartphones that offer us value for the price, which was the latest version is Bison GT, but now Umidigi Bison Pro is the latest upgrade of this series is equipped with great specifications in terms of the Helio G80 processor, up to 8GB + 128GB, Android 11, AI Triple Camera or even a large battery capacity and most importantly, the durable design with IP68 & IP69K protection, and as a bonus, it has an infrared thermometer 2.0, regardless About it, How well does it perform and if it’s worth the upgrade, all this and more in this review.
Umidigi Bison Pro Features
- OS: Stock Android 11
- CPU: Mediatek Helio G80
- GPU: Arm Mali-G52
- RAM: 8GB , ROM: 128GB
- Display: 6.3″ FHD
- AI Triple Rear Camera
- Battery: 5000mAh
- Dual 4G Network
Design And Build Quality
The design in the Umidigi Bison Pro is solid and durable, as it features a large screen on the front of 6.3 inches screen and on the back a high-quality synthetic rubber layer with a length of 164 mm and a width of 79.6 mm with a solid metal frame that gives you a kind of large thickness of 12.7 mm. It feels great when you hold it in your hand despite its weight of 265 grams, which is considered heavy and this is normal in a durable phone, I hope its performance is worth it. If you ask me about the manufacturing quality, there is nothing to complain about, it’s the closest thing to a flagship Phone because Umidigi has always been working on providing quality products to users all over the world at an affordable price.
On The Front
In front of the device is a full screen measuring 6.3 inches with very thin bezels on the sides, and at the bottom, there is a not narrow chin, in addition to the Dot Drop notch from the top that contains a 24MP camera in the middle of the top for taking selfies and video chats, which we will talk about a lot soon.
On The Back
From the back, it is the same solid design that we are used to in the BISON series. It comes in black and gray colors. It also has triple cameras, flash and infrared thermometer in the upper left corner, and there are three small points (Perimeter & mic). In the middle of the back is the name “BISON” with a unique symbol that is expressed, just below it is a lanyard hook, and next to its a speaker, and in the corners, there are cushions for extra protection and comfort when holding the phone.
Ports And Buttons
As for the ports, the phone comes with a USB Type-C port from the bottom with another microphone, while there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack at the top. The buttons are, as usual, the power button and the fingerprint button, the volume button, the dual SIM with the memory slot. It should be noted that there are two customizable shortcut buttons on the sides with orange color.
Waterproof
The Bison Pro is covered by high-quality synthetic rubber and rated with IP68 and IP69K, which means it is dust-resistant, scratch-resistant, shock- and drop-resistant, and water-resistant up to 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes. Moreover, it can withstand high pressure and high-temperature washing test, and withstand 100 bar (1450 psi) high water pressure and 80°C high water temperature.
Umidigi Bison Pro – Display Quality
Even in 2021, if you’re talking about a Chinese budget smartphone, it will most likely be an LCD IPS screen, and that’s what the Umidigi Bison Pro offers, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad, because it’s a big 6.3 inches FHD+ with 19.5:9 aspects ratio And a very good resolution of 2340 x 1080 gives you bright, sharp colors and wide viewing angles which are more than great for consuming visual content on YouTube or otherwise (AMOLED is still the best). However, the screen is well protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and the touch screen works even if you’re wearing gloves.
In short, with the Bison Pro I will not say that its the best screen, but in the mid-range category, you will get the best value for what you pay, a large and high-quality screen suitable for media consumption, whether you are watching the video, playing games or browsing the social media.
Umidigi Bison Pro – Cameras
One of the main points of the Umidigi Bison Pro is the cameras. In terms of their specifications, there is nothing to worry about, but the last word remains in the actual performance.
Triple Rear Camera
On the back, you get a Triple-camera setup that features a 48MP Sony primary camera, 1/2” image sensor, 1.6μm 4-in-1 superpixel, F/1.8 aperture with 6-element lens, For the rest of the cameras, you have a 16MP wide-angle lens with a 117-degree field of view and a 5MP macro lens with 2.5cm distance.
So far, the technical specifications are good, so let’s move on to the realistic performance, in photography under good lighting, the cameras can take really good pictures and capture a lot of details and with beautiful color saturation, so I liked the cameras, but in the night photos, they lacked quality with that, still more than just good cameras considering the price.
Front camera
In the forefront of selfies or video chats, you get a 24MP Sony camera with an F/2.0 aperture and with an impressive algorithm, and several modes to choose from.
Video Recording
You can record videos on 1080p 30 fps from both front and back cameras in well-lit environments with some poor stability.
Umidigi Bison Pro Performance
If we talk about performance, Umidigi Bison Pro offers great performance in most of its basic and entertainment uses such as browsing the web, watching videos on YouTube, using social media applications, even play games, as everything worked efficiently and without facing any problems with stopping applications or high degrees.
Umidigi Bison Pro CPU Performance
Well, Its time to expose Umidigi Bison Pro to some tasks that need more effort and there is nothing better than playing games with high settings, the conditions here differ according to the application, game, or any type of program that need large resources, and because the processor used here is MediaTek Helio G80 octa-core based on 2xCortex-A75 and 6xCortex-A55 at 2.0 GHz and 12mm architecture was one of the most powerful processors used in mid-range Smartphone, this processor it’s present in many models of famous brands such as Samsung Galaxy M32 and Xiaomi Redmi 9, Xiaomi Poco M2, and more, so a Bison Pro smartphone for under $200 is a good deal.
GPU
The graphics processing used here is Arm Mali-G52 MC2 up to 950MHz, not the best, but its value for the price makes up for it so that it performed well in games depends on the type of game and its requirements, and sometimes there is some kind of lag in high games although it did not constitute hitch, and that’s in games like CoD mobile and PUBG. However, all you have to do is play on medium settings, more than those settings, yes you can play games but not with the perfect experience.
Memory
Most of the applications run very quickly and thanks to the eMMC 5.1 128 GB storage capacity, it would be suitable for installing any application you need, with the ability to expand via a Micro SD card to 256GB.
And for multitasking, browsing between applications was smooth because it is equipped with a 4/8GB RAM LPDDR4X dual-channel which is more than enough for most of the tasks that you can do with a smartphone such as keeping many applications or large games running in the background. In Short, for multitasking, this smartphone will give you a very positive experience.
I recommend buying the higher version, it’s suitable for gaming and more productive in multitasking with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, even the price is not much between the two versions.
The Temperature
The temperature on the device during normal use is nothing to notice and during heavy use, there is a slight increase in temperature, but it remains moderate and most of the heat is in the back area only, thanks to the new liquid cooling system consisting of 4 layers for higher performance in heat dissipation.
Playing Content
To play the content on YouTube, was very smooth. You can play videos at a maximum of 1080p at 60 FPS without any problems or lag, And this is the highest quality you can get.
Umidigi Bison Pro DMR Information
Next, let’s take a look at the DMR information and Widevine security. I can tell you I’m a little disappointed with this because it’s only Level 3, so you won’t be able to get HD on Netflix or other streaming services. and this level maybe not be found on all Chinese smartphones without exaggeration. However, you can still enjoy Netflix and all other streaming services in 480p resolution.
Software
The Umidigi Bison Pro smartphone works on Android 11 with UI that has better gesture navigation controls, Dark Theme, and contains most of the features that come with the system, the most important of which is the presence of all Google services, Making the smartphone experience smoother and more personalized.
As I always say, the stock Android system is best for cheap devices, with a simple and smooth launcher for better performance, especially since it does not contain pre-installed apps or games, I really hate this because of the large number of ads, Thanks here it is different. However, it has some toolkit apps but does not burden the device and is without pop-up ads.
Sound Quality
The sound on the Bison Pro is good, the volume is a bit high and lacks bass, but it is acceptable for playing games and watching movies in high quality.
Overall Performance
In sum, the performance on this phone is more than good as a mid-range smartphone focused on daily use and playing games with medium settings and is equipped with a set of specifications and respectable features such as camera, durability, and design make it an interesting experience.
Connectivity
Umidigi Bison Pro is a dual-SIM smartphone equipped with a SIM slot that accommodates two 4G nano-sim cards that support all bandwidth offerings of 4G and 3G and so on, so its expected that you will get wide coverage and good signal quality for making phone calls and accessing the Internet easily, In addition to having a MicroSD card on the same socket.
To connect to WiFi networks, the Bison Pro supports dual bandwidths of 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and of course, there is Bluetooth 5.0. That’s not all, there are also some basic sensors for a smartphone, including a gyroscope, accelerometers, and even an electronic compass.
Note:
Umidigi Bison Pro has NFC so you can make mobile payments ( Supports Google Pay ).
Infrared Thermometer 2.0
The infrared temperature sensor in the Umidigi Bison Pro is real and is located inside the rear camera compartment and it is version 2.0, and it can be used by pointing the sensor towards the forehead of a person or any hot surface and it will show you the body temperature, which is not the same accuracy as a dedicated infrared thermometer.
It’s not a real medical device, however, the temperature readings it shows are very close to the medical device and give you a rough idea of a person’s temperature. How to find it is simple, all you have to do is press the shortcut button on the side provided for this function.
Umidigi Bison Pro Battery And Charging Time
Umidigi Bison Pro has a built-in 5000mAh non-removable Li-Po battery that allows 7-8 hours of continuous use for surfing the Internet, Google, YouTube, and following social media, of course, the time is less when playing games and with moderate use, it will stay with you for a whole day on one charge it mostly takes about 4 hours to fully charge 5000mAh using Type-C with no support for wireless charging, and there is fast charging supports 18W is not very fast but better than the basic 5W or 10W. However, I can say that the battery was not bad.
For a regular user, the battery will easily last for a whole working day, depending on your usage such as the times you open the screen, and the type of applications you run, also it suffices for more than 9h consecutive of watching videos. however, its performance was good and this is mostly because it is equipped with stock Android 11 doesn’t have many pre-installed programs, even the interface is simple without any complications or processes in the background and this is what limits battery drain.
Conclusion:
If you ask me if the Umidigi Bison Pro smartphone is worth buying or you can recommend, my answer is definitely yes, and this is due to the experience that it will give you that it is a med-cost smartphone and the price does not exceed $200, I think Bison Pro is one of the best Rugged smartphones in 2021 with a stylish design and decent specifications in terms of the screen, cameras, and even the battery is acceptable with the addition of a scale Infrared heat, although this feature does not make this phone better, And all this does not mean that it is flawless because cannot watch Netflix in HD resolution. however, the Bison Pro will not disappoint you.
Umidigi Bison Pro Price And Where To Buy:
The Umidigi Bison Pro Smartphone is currently available on the Aliexpress store and Banggood for a very good price So, don’t miss out on this great deal. And to view its price or buy it, you can access the offer by clicking on the store icon.
Packaging Accessories
- UMIDIGI BISON Pro Smartphone
- Power Adapter
- Type-C Cable
- Screen Protector (pre-applied)
- Quick Start Guide
Umidigi Bison Pro Specifications
| Model | UMIDIGI Bison Pro |
| Colors | Storm Gray, Hack Black |
| Network | 2G: GSM: B2/B3/B5/B8 3G: WCDMA: B1/B2/B4/B5/B6/B8/B19 TD-SCDMA: B34/B39 4G: FDD-LTE: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/28A/28B/B66 TDD-LTE: B34/B38/B39/B40/B41 SIM Card Slots: Dual SIM Dual Standby(2 Nano SIM Card + 1 Micro-SD Card) Features: 4G Dual SIM; 3-choose-2 SIM slot, One function as a SIM card slot or a Micro-SD card slot, the other as a SIM card slot |
| Hardware | OS: Android 11 CPU: MediaTek, Helio G80, 2x ARM Cortex-A75 + 6x ARM Cortex-A55 MPcore, up to2.0GHz, Octa-core GPU: Arm Mali-G52 2EE MC2, up to 950MHz RAM: 4/8GB, LPDDR4X dual-channel ROM: 128GB, EMMC 5.1 Card Extend: Yes, Supports expandable storage up to 256GB |
| Display | Display Size: 6.3″ (measured diagonally, ~92.7% Screen-to-body ratio) Type: Capacitive touch Screen Material: Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Resolution: 2340*1080, FHD+, 19.5:9 (~409 ppi density) Touch: Capacitive multi-touch |
| Rear Camera | AI Triple Rear Camera: 48MP+16MP+5MP 48MP main camera, 1/2” image sensor, 1.6μm 4-in-1 superpixel, F/1.8 aperture, 6-element lens 16MP ultra wide-angle camera, FOV 117° 5MP macro camera, 2.5cm macro distance Features: 48MP HD, Ultra wide-angle mode, Steady handheld night photography, AI scenes detection, Macro mode, Portrait mode, Panorama mode, HDR, AI Beautify, Ultra wide-angle edge distortion correction, Dual LED flash, Face recognition, Real-time filters. Rear camera video features: 1080p, 720p, 480p video recording, 30fps |
| Front Camera | Ultra-clear Front Camera: 24MP F/2.0 aperture, 5-element lens Features: AI Beautify, Face recognition, Selfie countdown Video features: 1080p, 720p, 480p video recording, 30fps |
| Language | Multi-language |
| Battery & Charging | Battery: 5000mAh Fast Charging: 18W Charge Interface: Type-C |
| Other Features | WIFI: IEEE802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth HID Positioning: GPS, Glonass, Galileo Sensor: Side-Mounted Fingerprint Sensor, Barometer, Infrared Thermometer Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Electronic Compass Unlock Options: Side-Mounted Fingerprint Scanner Audio File Format: PCM, AAC / AAC + / eAAC +, MP3, AMR – NB and WB, APE, WAV Video File Format: Supports H.264 (Baseline / Main / High profile), MPEG4 (Simple profile / ASP) and other video formats FM Radio: Yes OTG: Yes NFC: Yes Earphone Port: 3.5mm Microphone: Dual microphones OK Google on Locked Screen: No Notification LED: No Independent Customizable Button: 2 independent customizable buttons (Push-to-Talk & Underwater Camera) Operating Temperature: -20℃ – 55℃ Certification: IP68, IP69K, MIL-STD-810G; FCC/ CE/ MSDS/ UN38.3/ MIC/ PSE |
| Size & Weight | Product Size: 164*79.6*12.7 mm Product Weight: 265g |
