Review | Elephone U Pro review: gorgeous China clone of Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphone has amazing battery life
The Samsung Galaxy S9 isn’t even out yet but with the U Pro, Elephone has done a remarkable job of recreating its flagship design. Performance is well above par, though the odd pricing will attract only a very niche group of people
For people working in or around consumer electronics production, the term “China speed” – which describes how fast Chinese factories are able to churn out products – has become quite popular. The Elephone U Pro is one of the best examples of this.
Not only did the predecessor to this phone, the Elephone S8, hit the market only in September 2017, the U Pro also beat its very obvious inspiration to the market by a good few weeks.
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If anyone remotely familiar with smartphones cannot already tell what the U Pro’s source of inspiration is by looking at it, here’s another hint: this phone was originally slated to be called the S9 before a last-minute name change.
Design and hardware
Yes, the Elephone U Pro is a rather brazen clone of the Samsung Galaxy S9, the Korean electronics giant’s flagship phone that is still a week away from being officially released (though leaks have all but confirmed the phone’s looks).
The front of the Galaxy S9 is easy enough to copy, considering it has the same face as the S8. But the U Pro does a remarkable job of recreating not just the slim bezels and rounded display corners, but also the beautiful dual curves of the screen. Even to trained eyes, it’s very hard to tell the difference between the U Pro and Samsung Galaxy S8 or S9 just by looking at the front.