Lenovo Vibe K5 Note: A Midrange Phablet

• Posted By Amritesh
• On August 9th, 2016
• Comments: one response

 

Lenovo recently launched successor to the Vibe Note series, the Vibe K5 Note which will compete with the likes of Redmi Note 3, LeEco Le2 and Moto G4 Plus. The midrange segment has been very exciting this year with a good number of smartphones being launched by the respective companies which offer great value for money. Vibe K5 Note comes with decent specs and features but again the offerings are similar to the ones seen on the other devices within the same price range.

K5 Note is available exclusively on Flipkart at sports a competitive price tag of Rs 11,990/- for the 3GB Ram variant and Rs 13,499/- for 4GB Ram version. However, unlike its competitors it is powered by the Mediatek chipset so it remains to be seen how it performs over a period of time.

 

Let’s take a close look at the device:-

 

Build and Design: The phone sports a unibody metal design which lends premium feel to it. The ergonomic design makes it comfortable to hold and the aluminium build does feel sturdy. The phone sports a 5.5 inch screen which decent for a midrange phone. The design is a bit different from its predecessor with the capacitive navigation keys at the bottom and a fingerprint scanner is placed at the back. The front end speakers have been moved to the back.

K5 Note provides a full HD IPS display and quality provided is satisfactory. The viewing angles are decent while the images are sharp and color reproduction looks natural.

 

Battery Life: The phone comes with 3500 mah battery which is decent in my opinion as it sports a 5.5 inch HD screen and Mediatek chipset which is known to consume less power. Even a heavy user is expected to survive the whole day on a single charge. The phone does not support fast charging.

 

Features: The device comes with all the latest features including the fingerprint scanner. However, the IR Blaster is missing on this device. But apart from that rest of the other sensors are available.

The phone does differ from the other devices when it comes to Entertainment experience. As it comes with Theater Max support which enables you to you enjoy theater like experience while watching movies with the aid of ANTVR headset. It also comes with Dolby Atmos Speaker which is known to provide quality audio output which would further enhance the user experience.

 

One may purchase the VR headset and a remote control separately.

 

Hardware Specifications: The device sports the Mediatek Helio P10 chipset powered by Octa Core A53 processor combined with 3/4GB Ram and 32 GB internal storage and Mali-T860 GPU. The specs on paper look decent but hardcore gamers may struggle while playing graphic intensive games on this device. However, it is a performance phone and would be able to handle day to day activities with ease.

The device comes with hybrid slot which may be used as secondary sim slot or for SD Card storage.

 

Camera: The camera on this device is average, it performs well in daylight conditions and images come out good with decent amount of detailing. But does tend to struggle under artificial and low lighting conditions. The rear camera comes with Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) technology while f/2.0 aperture lens is something associated with devices in this price range.

The front camera does a reasonable job while clicking selfies and the Video recording is just about average on this device.

 

Software: K5 Note comes with Android 6.0 OS with a custom skin running on top called the Pure Vibe. It is not a very heavy skin and provides near stock android experience. The device comes with few bloat wares pre installed but one can easily remove them.

One expects Lenovo to provide fast OS updates in the future.

 

Service: Lenovo has outsourced the after sales service which often leads to delay in providing support. Often the spares are not available with the vendors and one needs to wait for weeks to get the repair done.

If Lenovo can improve their after sales service it would be great for the customers.

 

Verdict: Lenovo K5 is a decent phone for the price and provides a good value for money. However, I do feel that Lenovo could have been a bit more aggressive with the pricing of this device. It is a good device for normal users as it will be able to perform most of the tasks without any issues and the battery life is also acceptable. But hardcore gamers may have to look at other alternatives as the phone will tend to lag when driven hard by the graphic intensive games.

Individuals now have got plenty of options to choose from and it may get very confusing as well.

Redmi Note 3 vs Moto G4 Plus vs Lenovo ZukZ1: Comparison

Xiaomi Redmi 3S/Prime: Budget Smartphone

 

Key Specifications are given below:-

Processor	Octa Core Processor (A53 8 cores clocked @1.8 ghz), Mediatek Helio P10 chipset
Storage	32 GB (Hybrid SD Card Support upto 128GB)
Operating System	Android Marshmallow 6.0
Rear Camera	13 mp/HD Video Recording
Front Camera	8mp /HD Video Recording
Ram	3/4 GB
GPU	Mali-T860
Battery	3500 Mah Li Po
Display	5.5 inch (Corning Glass 3)
Type Sim	Dual Sim (Nano & Hybrid Nano)/GSM 4G Support
Resolution	1080*1920(401ppi)
Touchscreen Type	Capacitive
Dimension(mm)/Weight(gms)	152 x 75.7x 8.5 mm/165