The company has changed the game in terms of value for money, but not in the handset selling strategy. K3 Note is available in limited numbers and can be purchased only through flash sales. Due to online availability only, buyers cannot fully test the new product. In such a situation, the brand image is the only support for the customer. Luckily, we got to spend a lot of time with the review unit. Based on this, we will tell you about this handset and also make you aware of the test results.
Look and design
Most phones in this range come with a uniform look. Lenovo has also relied on the same formula, which is why this handset does not leave a different impression. However, Stanley texture has been used on the rear panel of this handset. If you want something different, then buy the black or yellow version instead of the white.
The three capacitive Android navigation buttons below the screen aren’t easy to use. They’re difficult to reach with one hand, and the icons are colored in gray and have no backlighting.
The power and volume buttons are on the right side. The 3.5mm audio socket and micro-USB port are placed on the top. The left and bottom are completely empty, there is nothing here except a mic hole. The camera lens and dual LED flash are located in one corner of the rear. Apart from this, there is also a mic hole, speaker grill and a big Lenovo logo. The battery is removable and you have to take it out to swap the SIM card. There is also a microSD slot to increase the storage.
The phone feels good to hold. At 150 grams, it is not very heavy but you will definitely feel its weight whenever you keep it in your pocket.
Specification
We are talking about a powerhouse device under Rs 10,000. As a processor, the phone has MediaTek 6752 which has 8 ARM Cortex-A53 cores and all of them run at a speed of 1.7GHz. Mali-T760 MP2 is integrated for graphics. The device has 2GB of RAM and its inbuilt storage is 16GB and support for 32GB microSD card is also provided.
The device has a 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1080×1920 pixels. In this respect, it is ahead of most of its competitors and at par with Micromax’s Yu Yureka Plus. It is clear that Lenovo seems to be beating everyone in terms of specifications.
Lenovo has provided a 13-megapixel rear camera that can record 1080p video. The dual-LED flash looks no less than a feature of a high-end phone. There is a 5-megapixel camera sensor on the front.
Lenovo K3 Note has support for the 2300MHz band used in India and is applicable on both SIMs. The device also has Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1 and A-GPS. The device supports USB-OTG storage and also has Dolby Atmos audio enhancement.
Software
Lenovo K3 Note runs on Android 5.0 operating system with the company’s VibeUI skin on top. The good thing is that Android’s style and functionality hasn’t been tampered with much. The company has also added some new features and functions. The main difference is that icons of all installed apps are present on the home page. There is no app drawer, which most people won’t like. Most Chinese companies are relying on this approach.
Lenovo has provided many preloaded apps with this handset. The good thing is that most of the preloaded apps can also be removed. Lenovo K3 note has a secure zone feature that allows you to hide selected apps, files and notifications through a unique lock code. Ultimate Power Saver mode disables all functions except calling and messaging. The company claims that through this the standby time can be extended to several days. This can prove to be very useful in times of emergency.
With Smart Scene, you can set when your phone should automatically go silent, enter airplane mode, increase or decrease the brightness, select a different data connection or launch an app. You can set a time or change the scene manually. You can set a scene in the device that gets activated when you come near a specific Wi-Fi access point. This way your phone will be able to know when you are at home and when you are in the office.
There are some interesting settings present in the device. You can activate the phone by double tapping on the screen. You can launch apps directly through certain gestures.
Performance
We found the Lenovo K3 Note to be generally very easy and comfortable to use. However, due to the large screen size, it is not possible to operate the device with just one thumb. Apart from this, we did not face any other issues. There was no lag while multitasking. Heavily encoded HD videos played smoothly without any lag.
Benchmark test results show that the K3 Note is a very powerful device. The device scored an impressive 45,616 points on AnTuTu and 20,680 points on the Quadrant test. We were expecting the graphics performance to be sub-par due to the high-density screen. But we are pleased to see that the device scored 15fps on GFXBench and 6,667 on 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme.
The screen of the phone is really great. We are very happy with this device in terms of viewing angle, color reproduction and sharpness. It works well outdoors. The sound coming from the rear speaker was quite loud. The effect of Dolby Atmos was clearly visible on the sound, although it was more effective in earphones.
The camera sometimes disappointed and sometimes pleased. The placement of the camera is in a corner of the rear. At times, while taking photos, we found that our fingers came in front of the lens. Due to this, we had to hold the phone on its edge. The effect of lighting was clearly visible on the photos taken with the camera. Photos taken on rainy days were not as good as the photos taken in full light. When we reviewed the photos in full size, the lack of detail was clearly visible. However, the photos looked great on the phone’s screen. Colors were generally good. Close-up shots came out better than distant photos.
Voice calls were a little dull but there were no major issues. 4G data speeds were a breeze. Battery life is good but not great. On our video loop test, it lasted 8 hours and 7 minutes.
Our verdict
Lenovo has really surprised us with the power and finish of their new device. The K3 Note is a great device in this price range. It is clear that the golden age of budget smartphones is not over yet. Given the popularity of big screens, we think most customers will prefer to buy this phone. We also hope that Lenovo will launch a regular size version of this device in the near future.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G looks a little old in comparison to the K3 Note and in terms of performance, it is better than the Yu Yureka Plus in some cases. In fact, it is very difficult to choose between the Yureka Plus and the K3 Note. Although the Yureka Plus handset runs on CyanogenOS and is now Rs 1,000 cheaper, we liked this product from Lenovo equally. Both devices are available in limited numbers and will be available only through online flash sales, so you can choose one if you want. Both are profitable deals.
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