When it comes to mid-range smartphones, all brands are there to compete in getting a big portion of the pie. It’s all up to giving the best experience, package and even price at this https://inbox.google.com/u/0/point because any brand today can simply release a 4GB RAM / Octa-Core smartphone.
One smartphone launched this Q1 2017 is Lenovo’s K6 Note, it’s a successor to the K5 Note where it offered virtual reality capabilities on a mid-range phone. But the concept didn’t kick in the PH as our VR adaptation is very low, so back to the drawing board as Lenovo traced back on strengths and launched the K6 Note.
What’s in the box?
Package of the Lenovo K6 Note represents a refined Lenovo image that targets more of millennials, gone now with the serious labels and boring branding. Perhaps this is good for Lenovo to expand more audience.
Inside the box is the standard manual, sim ejector tool, phone, earphones, charger and 2A wall charger. Nothing special in the package, it seems the charger and earphones are pretty average and does not have any special Lenovo branding.
Design
The K6 Note is made of a metal plate with plastic caps on the top and bottom for signal reception. It’s similar for today’s smartphones with a twist of circular patterns for the camera and fingerprint sensor.
Its feel is solid at the back, the sandblasted gold metal is nice and no signs of shortcut builds were seen. Nothing impressive about the build, but more of appreciative that it’s clean and neat making it ideal and nice looking in gold
The screen is slightly a 2.5D glass on the side, but the lip of the frame isn’t protecting the glass. Instead, it’s complementing the 2.5D glass to have a better curve at the side, the shape is still a rectangle when seen but thanks to the curved back edges it feels solid to hold.
The 5.5″ FHD IPS display is bright and clear, we like the oleophobic coating on the phone that gives it a premium feel. The glass is scratch resistant but was not specified which type of glass, but overall the screen is acceptable to industry standard.
Camera – Great UI and Detailed captures
The 16MP f/2.0 phase detection camera at the back is higher than most 13MP shooters in its price range. Plus, Lenovo’s Vibe Shot software is integrated into the K6 Note along with their Smart Composition to detect automatically the shooting mode from portrait, scenery, landscape and even macro.
Even selfies are very nice, you can see the complete detail from a normal one and with beautification. Seems Lenovo is on the right track, but with the lack of highlight in the marketing.
What impressed us with the K6 Note is the Full HD live camera preview, it gives you the maximum detail of you want to shoot. If you will compare the K6 Note side by side against this phone, users will say the K6 Note might be clearer as the live preview is better.
It’s the small details that gave the K6 Note the advantage, a non-stock android camera interface, better live preview, smart mode and clean camera modes. It’s not annoying to take a camera shot and it’s not overpowering for camera noobies.
There is a pro-mode in the camera, but it’s a bit limited in capabilities as the range of ISO is only up to 1600 and shutter speed is only up to 2/3 so it will only help you that much. Still, the camera alone in smart mode is already nice, we like the other modes such as Panorama, Night, HDR, Fast Motion and Slow Motion.
Even the video sample is very good especially in favorable lighting conditions, the focus is stable, colors and lighting are adaptable and audio is very good. Unfortunately, no OIS in this smartphone so videos will be expected to shake.
Performance
The K6 Note has a 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Benchmarks can reach 44,000 points and seems a bit low, but the advantage here is the balance of a quad-core processor and high battery capacity.
To be honest, the K6 Note performed same as the ZenFone 3 Max and it can technically run most applications thanks to the 4GB RAM. You will encounter minimal lags and hiccups, but it’s expected for a phone with this processor. But, it’s still better than a MediaTek processor powered phone today.
Entertainment
The screen is bright but perhaps not that bright against outdoor lighting, but indoor visibility gives rich colors and viewing angles. Lenovo promotes their Dolby Atmos audio technology integrated into the phone, it gives deeper bass and warmth to all audio and even a virtual 7.1 audio experience when permitted.
Since you will use your smartphone via speakers most of the time, the overall experience when the Dolby Atmos is activated isn’t going to be spectacular but it does give a bit of amplification to the audio.
User Interface
Lenovo and Moto are just one company now, that’s why we are seeing the pattern of Lenovo’s UI becoming more stock like and less cluttering. That’s why the K6 note is fresh to the eyes against heavily edited user interface from mid-range phones like ASUS, Vivo, OPPO and even Huawei.
The fingerprint sensor is also fast and easy, nothing out of the ordinary but we’re glad that Lenovo made it standard for the K series smartphones.
Battery Life
We have here a jackpot with the K6 Note, this 5.5″ smartphone with FHD resolution offers the balance of performance and ideal specifications of a mid-range phone. Overall, we achieved 1 1/2 days before reaching for a charger. That’s normal usage of 4G, Facebook, chat, and casual calls.
The K6 Note is enough to bring you home without charging the whole day, perfect for 9AM-9PM work warriors.
Conclusion
The Lenovo K6 Note retails for Php11,990 pesos, it’s a bit steep for other entry-mid range phones at Php9,990 price points. But the software refinement, better camera/video, and the great battery life should make you consider the Lenovo K6 Note.
As we said, every peso it worth it and the K6 Note just gave all its best for an entry-level midrange smartphone. Perhaps our only complaint about this smartphone is that Lenovo could have bundled a better accessory (Bundling a generic earphone for Dolby Atmos enabled smartphone is a sin) and even casing to complete the experience.
Lenovo K6 Note specs:
- 5.5-inch IPS Display (1080 x 1920; 401 ppi)
- 1.4 GHz Octa-core Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430
- Adreno 505 graphics
- 4GB RAM
- 32GB Storage + microSD up to 128GB
- 16MP Main Camera f/2.0 w/ PDAF, Dual LED Flash,
- 8MP Front Camera f/2.2
- Dual Nano SIM (Hybrid Tray)
- 3G / LTE
- Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.2, A2DP
- GPS, A-GPS
- FM Radio
- Dolby Atmos Audio
- Fingerprint Sensor
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 4,000 mAh Battery
