Is Umidigi London 3G A Smartphone With Malware?

Umidigi London 3G is a smartphone from a company called Umidigi. In my case, it was manufactured from China. It is an entry level phone.

• SPECIFICATION 
  RAM : 1 GB 533MHZ
  ROM : 8 GB
  OS     : ANDROID 6.0 MARSHMALLOW
  SoC   : MEDIA TEK MT6580
  CPU  : ARM CORTEX A7, 1300MHZ, QUADCORE
  GPU  : ARM MALI-400 MP2, DUAL CORE
  DISPLAY : 5 INCH 720x1280
  BATTERY : 2050 mAh, Li-ion
  CAMERA : 2MP : 8MP


• REVIEW
  I used this phone for over a year. At first it was a good phone with an OK performance and OK camera. However in few weeks, the ads intrusion started taking over the phone. My phone started to download unknown ads without my permission. Even if I turned the unknown installation off on settings, it would turn on, on it's own and download the applications that I never would want. The level of intrusion on this phone is insane. There is no turn off button in the settings either. It would play whatever ads, including those "no no ads" any time of the day. I am sure they are making money out of it.
  
  I ordered this phone online in 90 USD including shipment. At this price there are other phones with same specs in 2018-2019, that has better performance and does not show ads every few minutes. In my opinion, they should either have taken enough money from consumer for their device rather than making money out of ads. It is making customer feel paranoid towards their products.
  
  I was wondering if only the specified model has this level of intrusion of ads but I was wrong. There are other phones of Umidigi, such as Umidigi London 4G, Umidigi Rome, and most of all the entry level phones has it.
  
  On settings, there is a software update option. There has been no software update ever since I bought the phone. There is no bug fixes. I think it is to be expected from the cheap phones like these though.


• CONCLUSION
  The phone has a good camera and a display for the price. The aesthetic feels premium. If only there were no ads intrusion, this phone would be on top for cheap phones without a doubt. However the ads is locked within system and it is almost impossible to remove for a normal users.


• UNOFFICIAL FIXES
  As a solution for the non root users. You can download a no root firewall and use the phone in a normal way. Make sure, you do not give the system to connect to the internet so that the ads cannot pop up at all.
  
  If you are a power user, you can download a custom rom for  your device. There are plenty of custom rom you can find on 4pda Umidigi forum. Follow the instructions there and you will have a good phone in your hand if you succeed.
  
  Note :- When you install the custom ROM, your warranty will be void. If you do not know how to do it, I suggest you to stick with the first option because the wrong procedure can brick your phone.  
  
  Update :- All the official ROM has the same malware installed from factory.