Elephone U2 and U2 Pro REVIEW: Pop-Up Camera – YES, Notch – NO!

Every year the Chinese manufacturer Elephone releases the flgship smartphones, which becomes very popular. The secret of popularity is the most powerful specs and latest technologies. All smartphone from the brand have beautiful design. Depending on price category, the phones can be flagship with top features, or budget. In this article we want to review two new flagship smartphones called Elephone U2 and U2 Pro.

The main feature of new smartphones is pop-up front camera. We already saw this technology in Oppo Find X, Vivo Apex and some other Chinese phones. What about Elephone U2 and U2 Pro? Let’s talk about them.

Elephone U2 and U2 Pro: Specifications

First, we should note that specifications below are not officially confirmed. All information is based on leaks and rumors.

Elephone U2 and U2 Pro: Performance

There is not exact information about Elephone U2 Pro processor, but we think it will be Qualcomm Snapdragon 845. The basic model Elephone U2 will come with mid-range processor MediaTek Helio P60. The choice of chipsets is very interesting, because the manufacturer gives preference to two main competitors of the market.

The performance of Helio P60 is still good. The smartphone on this processor scores about 140000 points in AnTuTu. If we talk about Snapdragon 845, then the smartphone scores up to 271000 points.

Helio P60 contains 8 cores divided into two clusters: 4×2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A73 and 4×2.0 GHz ARM Cortex-A53. Snapdragon 845 has the same number of cores and a similar scheme of their location, but here we have the custom Kryo 385: 4×2.8 GHz and 4×1.8 GHz. Technological standards for Helio P60 – 12 nm, while the flagship Snapdragon 845 – 10 nm. These processors have many alternatives, but Elephone made the choice, and we hope new smartphones will have good performance.

RAM and internal memory is similar in new smartphones. They have 6GB of RAM type LPDDR4X. The memory works in dual channel mode with a peak frequency of 1.8GHz. The smartphone supports SD cards, namely microSD. This is hybrid slot for dual SIM or SIM + microSD.

The manufacturer promises Android 9.0 Pie operating system for new devices. The next Android version will be available soon.

Elephone U2 and U2 Pro: Display

The screen is one of the fundamental differences between these phones. The younger U2 Pro display has IPS panel. The diagonal size is 6.26-inches. The image quality is very good, thanks to Full HD+ resolution, 1080×2340 pixels and 412ppi density of pixels per inch.

The elder brother has the same screen specifications, but its diagonal is larger – 6.42-inches. Also, there is AMOLED panel instead of IPS.

The aspect ratio is unusual for both smartphones – 2.167:1. There is 2.5D effect and rounded glass edges, which gives a modern and attractive look. The screenshots and device renders clearly show that smartphones are almost completely bezel-less, but the exact screen to body ration has not yet been specified.

Elephone U2 and U2 Pro: Camera

Camera is one of the main feature of new products. They are fundamentally different here. At the moment we have more information about Elephone U2 camera. The smartphone will have a front-facing Pop-up camera, while the rear camera will have the usual design. The selfie camera will appear when the camera app is opened. The resolution of front camera will be 16-megapixels.

The rear camera will consist of three sensors: 12 + 5 + 5MP. There is too little information about them, so we cannot say about image quality. However, triple camera sounds very interesting. We will definitely talk about it in the future.

As for Elephone U2 Pro cameras, we haven’t much information. There are only a few videos from the presentations. They show that both the front and rear cameras will be located in the retractable pop-up panel, but even this information has not yet been confirmed. It is also known that the main camera will contain two sensors – 12MP and 5MP. The front camera will also have two sensors with 16MP.

Elephone U2 and U2 Pro: Battery

Battery capacity is another difference in specifications of new smartphones. Elephone U2 is equipped with 4000mAh battery, while Elephone U2 Pro will have 3600mAh. Yes, the Pro version has smaller battery, but it comes with better hardware, so the battery consumption will be less.

Elephone U2 has mid-range hardware, so it needs a larger battery. Both batteries are Li-Polymer. New phones will support fast charging technology. Most likely, Elephone U2 Pro will support Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0.

Elephone U2 and U2 Pro: Features

I am glad that both devices have microSD support and fingerprint scanners. Also, they have 3.5 mm audio jack. The phone bodies are made of metal and glass. It is known that new smartphones will have USB Type-C ports version 2.0. The OTG function will be supported for the interaction of various peripheral equipment with a smartphone.

Elephone U2 and U2 Pro: Price

Until now, many publications do not believe in release of these smartphones. The manufacturer did not mention the exact release date. But since there was already an official presentation of the smartphone, we can expect the release in December 2018. Also we don’t know the prices of Elephone U2 and Elephone U2 Pro. The basic model is already available on GearBest for the price $1196, so the Chinese online store prepares for the sales.