Elephone U Pro Review

Overview

Elephone U turned up to be quite a pleasant surprise with its excellent build and features, so a review of the Elephone U Pro is more than welcome as it will serve as a base for comparing both models. The main difference between the two is in the system-on-chip department. While Elephone U packs a MediaTek Helio P23 chipset, Elephone U Pro is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 mobile platform which also pre-defines most of the minor differences such as the connectivity options. In addition, the U Pro has a slightly smaller battery capacity than the U -3550 mAh against 3620 mAh, respectively. Finally, Elephone U Pro arrives with Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box, while the U arrives with Nougat and is bound to receive an Oreo update in the future. The other specifications of the two models are identical.

Specifications

Elephone U Pro has the same 5.99-inch curved AMOLED display as the Elephone U. The flexible display panel is sourced from BOE. It has a resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels (FHD+) and is covered with a 3D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The same glass covers the back of the device and in the middle, a stainless steel frame is provided for solidity. The screen graces a thin and lightweight body that houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 MSM8976 Plus system-on-chip. Using the 14nm LPP (Low Power Plus) node, this SoC employs eight semi-custom Kryo CPU core - four 2.2GHz and four 1.84GHz ones. The graphics are handled by an Adreno 512 GPU clocked at 650MHz. There are 4/6GB of double-channel, LPDDR4X RAM clocked at 1866MHz on board. The internal memory measures either 64GB or 128GB and can be expanded with up to 1TB. The RAM and storage are made by Samsung. The camera department of the U Pro is identical to the one on the Elephone U. The rear features two 13MP Samsung S5K3L8 cameras - one takes photos in colour and the other - in black and white. They are aided by an ArcSoft algorithm, PDAF, and a dual-tone LED flash. The selfie shooter uses an 8MP Samsung S5K4H7 sensor and an f/2.0 lens. A future OTA update will bring face recognition to it. A 3550 mAh battery keeps the lights on. It supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and is bundled with a 5V/2A~9V/2A~12V/1.5A quick charger. The U Pro is equipped with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and a single, bottom-firing speaker coupled with an NXP Smart PA amplifier. The device lacks a 3.5 mm jack and a headphone adapter is provided instead. The model supports the following network bands: 2G GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 2.5G CDMA 800MHz, 3G TD-SCDMA (1880-1920, 2010-2025 MHz), 3G W-CDMA (900, 2100 MHz), 4G LTE-FDD (800, 850, 900, 1800, 2100, 2600 MHz), 4G LTE-TDD (1900, 2300, 2500, 2600 MHz) with LTE Cat. 12 speeds as well as a radio with RDS, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Display, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth 5, GPS, GLONASS. Elephone U Pro has a USB Type-C 2.0 port with OTG support and runs on Android 8.0 Nougat with Elephone's overlay on top.

Complete Elephone U Pro specifications.

What's in the box

Elephone U Pro arrives in the same box as its sibling. It is black and very compact, with a finely textured surface that resembles the texture of a fabric. The Elephone logo is imprinted in glossy red on the top of the lid. On the front side of the lid, there's an inscription saying: "Elephone Design" and on the rear side, there's another sign reading "Keep expecting and be surprised." On the back of the box, there's a sticker with information about the model and its main specifications and features. Inside the box, the handset is placed on the left-hand side, while the right-hand-side is occupied by the compartment that houses the charger and USB cable. Below the device, there's an envelope that contains the rest of the accessories. Here's a full list of them:

• 5V/2A~9V/2A~12V/1.5A fast charger (EU plug)
• USB data cable
• Headphone adapter
• 3D curved screen protector
• Transparent silicone case for the back
• SIM tray pin
• Quick start guide