Lenovo K6 Note is the first smartphone of the company’s K-series which will be available exclusively in offline stores. The company claims that it will be available in 15,000 retail stores across the country. Lenovo will also do heavy marketing of this phone in tier 1 and tier 2 markets across the country in the coming days. K6 Note is a phone with full-metal body and decent specifications. Apart from this, the company is presenting its TheaterMax technology and Dolby Atmos technology with great enthusiasm. Will Lenovo K6 Note be able to challenge the rest of its competitors in the segment? Let’s try to find out through the review.
Lenovo K6 Note Look and Design
When the review unit of the K6 Note arrived in our office, we assumed it to be the K6 Power (Review) for a second as the retail boxes of both look very similar. Lenovo told us that similar retail packaging is available for the K6 series in international markets as well. At first glance, the front panel of the K6 Note looks similar to the K6 Power. However, there is a difference in the screen size. We can confidently say that there are a lot of similarities in the design of both the phones.
There are capacitive navigation buttons below the display. The power button is on the edge. The hybrid SIM tray is on the left side. The 3.5mm audio jack is on the top. At the same time, two speaker grills are present at the bottom. They are placed next to the micro-USB port.
Weighing 170 grams, the Lenovo K6 Note feels heavy for its design. But after using it for a few days, we got used to it. The metal design makes the smartphone feel sturdy. But the rear part is slippery in the hands. During the review, we had to be extra careful while holding the K6 Note in our hands. Despite the large screen, we did not face any problem in using it with one hand.
There is a 5.5 inch display on the front. The back panel of this phone is really different from K6 Power in many ways. First of all, you will notice the bulge of the camera. Dual LED flash is also present with it. It was a bit awkward to look at. It would have been better if the company had given a flat back panel. During use, we found that the rear camera lens was more prone to scratches.
The circular fingerprint sensor is present below the rear camera and flash. Two gold line frames are present at the top and bottom of the phone. The company’s branding is at the bottom.
The K6 Note’s 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) IPS display produces vibrant and sharp colours. The brightness is suitable for outdoor use. Surprisingly, there is no Corning Gorilla Glass protection on the display. The experience of watching videos and playing games on the K6 Note’s big screen is much better than the K6 Power. Overall, the Lenovo K6 Note feels sturdy. Along with the phone, you will get a headset, power adapter, micro-USB data cable, warranty and user manual.
Lenovo K6 Note specifications and features
Lenovo K6 Note comes with 1.4 GHz Snapdragon 430 processor. This processor has also been used in K6 Power. The company should have provided a more powerful processor. You can choose between 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage and 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage variants. We have reviewed the 3 GB RAM variant. The company will soon make the 4 GB RAM variant available. You will be able to use up to 128 GB microSD card in the smartphone.
The K6 Note has a 16-megapixel rear camera that comes with PDAF and dual-LED flash. On the front panel, the K6 Note has an 8-megapixel sensor. Connectivity features include 4G, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 and GPS. The K6 Note also has accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity and digital compass sensors.
Talking about the software, Lenovo K6 Note runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Lenovo’s Vibe Pure UI has been used on top of it. We liked the software in K6 Power and the same is the case with this phone. In this too, you will get the app lock function, with the help of which you will be able to lock the app through fingerprint. With the help of dual apps mode, you will be able to use WhatsApp with two user IDs at a time. Overall, Vibe Pure UI is very smooth and works fast.
With the K6 Note, the company is once again promoting its TheaterMax technology and Ant VR headset. It was launched in early 2016 along with the Lenovo Vibe K4 Note (Review). In fact, with the help of this headset, users can get a cinema hall experience with movies, games and other content. Please note that you will have to buy the Ant VR headset separately from Amazon India. We used the Ant VR headset with the K6 Note and it worked as per our expectations. You can activate VR mode by pressing the power button for a long time. Or even through the Settings app.
The Ant VR headset is priced very high. In such a situation, the VR experience with the K6 Note is very smooth for the user. However, we will reiterate our point once again that Lenovo needs to partner with other content creating companies for virtual reality content.
lenovo k6 note performance
Despite having a mid-range Snapdragon 430 processor, the K6 Note did not disappoint in day-to-day use. We had no complaints while multi-tasking and switching between apps was also smooth. Games with powerful graphics like Dead Trigger 2 ran smoothly. However, the phone did slow down during video calls on WhatsApp, Skype and Google Duo. We already expected this considering the fast Wi-Fi connection.
Its benchmark results were higher than Lenovo K6 Power and Redmi 3S Prime. Let us tell you that all three phones have Snapdragon 430 processor.
The fingerprint sensor on the back panel works fast. It unlocks the device even from standby mode. The experience of watching videos, movies and playing games was great. Dolby Atmos audio enhancement also plays its role well in this. However, the quality of the earphones provided with the handset was worse than average. Both SIM slots of Lenovo K6 Note support Voice over LTE.
For general photography, the Lenovo K6 Note’s camera is well capable. The 16-megapixel sensor is equipped with PDAF and locks focus quickly. The Smart Composition tool will help you take pictures in many situations. You can also turn it off through the camera settings if you want. In the app, you will find modes like Pro, Panorama, Nightscape, HDR, Fast Motion and Slow-motion. We liked the Fast Motion and Slow Motion features.
The camera interface is easy to understand. We took detailed landscape shots. Macro shots were also good. Colours were very accurate and there was no lack of detail. Photos taken in daylight could have been sharper. Also, noise is visible at the edges. In photos taken in direct sunlight, we found colours to be washed out.
We were more impressed with the camera’s performance in low light. The camera had no trouble focusing on the subject in the dark. The K6 Note’s front camera took good selfies. You can feel free to share them on social media. However, their quality was not very good.
In the HD video loop test, the phone’s battery lasted for 13 hours and 20 minutes. Considering the battery size, this is considered good. In normal use, it easily lasted a day. It supports fast charging. But the company is not saying much about this feature. We found that the phone’s battery was half charged in 30 minutes. And it is possible to fully charge the device in about 100 minutes.
Our verdict
Lenovo is one of the few companies that has a strong hold in the online segment in India. Under this strategy, the company has recently launched many online exclusive handsets. But through K6 Note, the company is eyeing those customers who prefer to buy phones from offline stores. In K6 Note, you will get a workable VR experience with a big screen. We liked the build quality and display of this phone. But the company should have provided a more powerful chipset.
Priced at Rs 13,999, the Lenovo K6 Note will compete against the Moto G4 Plus (Review). However, the challenge will also come from the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Review) which is known for its strong performance along with being affordable.
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