Through Yu Unicorn, the company has repeated its old efforts, but more focus has been given on software and service. This smartphone is in the range of Rs 15,000. This handset is going to face tough competition in this price range. Will Yu Unicorn smartphone be able to challenge Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Review), Lenovo Zuk Z1 (Review) and Moto G4 Plus (Review)? Let’s try to find out.
Look and design
One look at the phone, and we can confidently say that the Unicorn is the best looking Yu smartphone yet. The metal unibody is well crafted. The brushed look adds to the beauty of the phone. The phone is extremely slim at 8.5mm. The weight of 172 grams is a bit on the higher side but we got used to it with usage. The front panel of the phone looks similar to the Oppo F1 Plus while the rear camera section reminds us of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. The similarity in the design is not surprising but we would have liked some freshness in terms of design.
The 5.5-inch full-HD display has sufficient pixel density for sharp pictures and text. There is no problem in reading this display in sunlight. Touch response is also good. The screen has a protective glass of NEG. The borders on both sides of the screen are quite slim. There is a notification light above it and the physical home button is at the bottom. The physical home button has a fingerprint sensor integrated, which works well to unlock the phone.
A single hybrid dual-SIM tray is on the left. Power and volume buttons are on the right. There is a little difficulty in pressing these buttons. The headphone socket is on the top and the micro-USB port is at the bottom. There are speaker grills on both sides of the USB port. The rear has a 13-megapixel camera with dual tone LED flash. The battery is not removable. Unicorn will come with a 10 watt power adapter, data cable and in-ear headset. One thing has to be accepted that the quality of accessories provided by the company has improved.
Specifications and software
In Yu Unicorn, the company has used octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 chipset and 4 GB RAM. With this you will get 32 GB of storage which can be expanded up to 128 GB via microSD card. It is equipped with Wi-Fi B / G / N, Bluetooth 4.1, USB-OTG and GPS. NFC and FM radio features are not present.
Talking about the software, you get an almost stock version of Android Lollipop 5.1 which the company has named ‘Android on Sides’. The enhanced launch has a custom icon set and a new version of the U Around feature has been given in it. The new Around service also includes U Wallet. Using this, you will be able to use your mobile, DTH or data card.
There are not many apps in it. But useful apps like file manager, sound recorder and Uuniverse web browser are present. Unicorn has U’s cloud service available on which you can keep backup of SMS, contacts, call log settings and WhatsApp data.
Performance
Yu Unicorn does a good job in multitasking. Be it loading apps or playing games. Overall, it is a good modern smartphone. The phone did not heat up much during use. This complaint was received while charging a little and playing games. The phone also worked well on our 4G network. The metal back is a bit slippery. During use, this handset almost fell from our hands once or twice. The performance is such that you will be able to play most games easily.
The phone also does a good job in multimedia playback. The speakers produce adequate sound. The music player is integrated with the Gaana app and also has an equalizer.
There is a 13-megapixel camera on the rear equipped with electronic image stabilization and a five-element lens. Photos taken with this in daylight come with good colors. However, while cropping the photo, you will find that there is a lack of detail in them. Even in close-up shots, the focus around the object is not very sharp. In HDR mode, the photo comes with a ghostly effect. This shortcoming was also present in U Utopia. The biggest problem is the slow focus system, which is a cause of trouble even during the day. The camera app takes about a second to lock the focus. After this, one or two seconds to save the image.
This problem is more pronounced in low light. The Yu Unicorn completely lags behind in low light and indoor shooting. The quality of the recorded videos is just okay. You also get a slow motion mode but the resolution is limited to 640 pixels. The 5-megapixel front camera takes decent pictures in good light. Overall, the camera of the Yu Unicorn is not its most important feature. If this is the most important feature for you, then you should consider some other phone.
battery life
The 4000 mAh battery in the handset lasted 14 hours and 46 minutes in our video loop test. In normal use, the phone easily lasted for one and a half days. The lack of fast charging is a problem, but with the charger provided with it, you can get 20 percent battery in just half an hour of charge.
Our verdict
The price of U Unicorn is Rs 12,999. But this is the launch price. After a month, this handset will be available for Rs 13,499. The company is also working to make this handset available in some offline stores. The most important features of U Unicorn are build quality, design, battery life and interesting software services. There are some shortcomings too, such as weak camera performance, weight and lack of FM radio and Wi-Fi AC.
We understand that it is very difficult to make a phone that offers excellent performance in all departments, especially at this price. However, users shopping in this price range are not looking for a super phone. They want an all-rounder handset. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, Lenovo Zuk Z1 and Moto G4 Plus offer all these things. In such a situation, it will not be easy for the unicorn to stand up to these challenges.
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