Amazon.com UMI eMAX 5.5 inch Android 4.4 MTK6752 Octa-Core 1.7GHz 16GB ROM FDD-LTE Unlocked Smartphone (Black) Cell Phones & AccessoriesWhat are the best cell phone bargain out there right now for frugal e-book lovers? That topic came to mind when I wrote about Chinese vs. brand-name phones.

Among Chinese phones, one standout just might be the very model shown in the video I linked to over the weekend—the UMI eMAX, a 5.5 inch Android 4.4 model with a 1.7 GHz chip, 2G of RAM and 16G of storage.

The LTPS screen resolution is 1920 X 1080—which works out to a whopping 441 pixels per inch. What’s more, the eMAX apparently can work with T Mobile and get 4G, among other GSM possibilities. Also, the phone apparently supports an upgrade to Lollipop 5.0. The front camera is 5MP, and the back is 13MP.

Price on Amazon as of this writing: $165.35, with free shipping from China. It can take up to six weeks, although one customer reports receiving his eMAX in just a week.

UMU also makes a more expensive model, available for $209.

So what are your own suggestions?

Important caveats: I have not tried the eMAX myself. Also, quantities may be limited.

2 COMMENTS

  1. I have an LG 40 smartphone with Android which I bought from Ebay about three months ago for $AU120. They now seem to be down around $AU80 or less. It runs standard Android KitKat (unlike my wife’s Samsung, which has its own peculiar version) and I have MoonReader installed. I keep my eBooks on DropBox, and copy current ones into a separate folder which is kept automatically in sync with the phone through the app DropSync. The screen (4.5″) is too small to read scanned PDF files, but for EPUBs it’s pretty close to perfect.

  2. @Jon: Good choice. I myself enjoy Moon+ Reader Pro on an LGL41C (among other devices), which I got for around $100 (US) for use as a pay-as-you-go phone. Big DropBox fan, too—nice to see it integrated with Moon. BTW, I hope that other long time TeleRead commenters will follow your example and use a Gravatar. David

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