Gionee Marathon M3 vs Lenovo A5000: The battle of battery and memory

In spite of fast paced innovation in the smartphone technology on all fronts, there is one front where innovation has been rather slow, and this is battery. Moreover, with millions of apps and so much more to do in a smartphone, it is really hard to figure out what battery size would be ideal for a smartphone. Two Chinese brands are battling out in Indian market with their devices, Gionee Marathon M3 and Lenovo A5000, that boast of having 5000 mAh and 4000 mAh battery size respectively. In this comparative review, we examine what all these two high-battery devices come with.

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Design

The style and design is not much distinctive with a simple candy bar design. While Gionee M3 comes with dimension 144.50x71.45x10.40mm and weighs 180g, Lenovo A 5000 has slightly slimmer and lighter body with dimensions 140x71.4x9.98 mm weighing 160g. Largely made of plastic, Gionee Marathon carries a massive non removable battery inside and is available in black and white variants. On the other hand, Lenovo A5000 is madeof polycarbonate plastic and non-sticky fingerprints materials and is also available in black and white variants. However, a relatively slimmer design and light body with rounded edges makes this device comfortable to hold.

Display

The display screen size of both Lenovo A5000 and Gionee Marathon M3 is 5 inch, which allows for better visual experience. Both devices have IPS LCD capacitive touch screen with 16M colours and offers a resolution of 720x1280 pixels HD with 294 ppi pixel density which is very sharp, clear and detailed. The viewing angles are pretty decent and the sunlight legibility is also fine. Therefore, on the display front, the performance of both the devices is pretty much the same.

Performance

Both Marathon M3 and Lenovo A5000 run on Android 4.4 Kitkat. However, Gionee has tried to give their device a distinctive look by creating their own skin Amigo UI layered on top of the OS. Both devices have a MediaTek MT6582M 1.3 GHz Quad-core processor, coupled with a 1 GB RAM. However, nowadays with the bombardment of mobile apps 1 GB RAM is considered to be a ediocre feature. In daily use, both device works fine and do respond to tap and swipe instantly. Both the devices are configured with 8GB of internal memory, which is expandable upto 32 GB in Lenovo A5000 and 128 GB in Gionee M3 via MicroSD card, which provides Gionee an edge over Lenovo.

Battery and Camera

Battery life is the USP of these products where Lenovo A5000 comes with 4000 mAh battery and Gionee Marathon M3 with a whooping 5000 mAh battery. Lenovo gives a talk time of 35h (2G) and 17h (3G). On the other hand, Gionee M3 gives an outstanding talk time of 51 h (2G) and 32 h (3G). Both devices have an 8 MP primary camera and a 2 MP secondary camera. The camera quality for both devices is decent capturing HD videosand images. Even the 2 MP front cameras perform well when it comes to taking selfies. Both the devices areequipped with features like geo-tagging, face detection and Panorama Shot.

Connectivity and other Features

Both Gionee Marathon and Lenovo A5000 are dual-sim phones, which support 3G. Addition to that both the smartphones have Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, FM, 3.5mm audio jack, accelerometer and proximity sensor.

Conclusion

We note that both the devices are pretty much comparable on most of the indicators. Nevertheless, Gionee takes a definite lead on two counts i.e. expandable memory and battery. This reflects in price, where Gionee Marathon M3 is available at around Rs.10,500 and Lenovo A5000 at around Rs.10,000. However, Lenovo has been in Indian market for a longer period and has built some brand image. Therefore, it would be a challenge for Gionee to beat Lenovo in this segment.

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Lenovo S60 Shoots Ahead of Panasonic Eluga L 4G in the Spec Battle

Lenovo and Panasonic entered the smartphone market about the same time. They have faced lot of ups and downs to attain a certain position in the market and continue to compete with each other. Therefore, in this comparative review, we have picked Lenovo S60, which was launched in January 2015, and Panasonic Eluga L 4G, which was launched in May 2015. Let us find out how the two devices fare in the spec battle.

Design & Display

Lenovo S60 measures 143.3x72x7.7mm and weighs 128g, whereas Panasonic Eluga L comes in relatively higher dimensions of 147.1x73.6x9mm that makes it bulkier as well as heavier 155g. Furthermore, Lenovo is available in three colours including Pearl White, Graphite Grey and Yellow, where as Eluga is only available in Silver. Both the devices have same 5inch display screen with IPS capacitive touch screen and a resolution of 720x1280 pixels.

Processor & OS

Both Lenovo S60 and Panasonic Eluga work on 1.2GHz quad core 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor. However, the difference lies in operating system (OS) where Lenovo runs on Android OS v4.4 (kitkat) where as Panasonic runs on relatively more advanced OS Android OS, v5.0 (lollipop). However, Lenovo S60 with 2GB RAM outshines Panasonic Eluga which has 1GB RAM, extra RAM ensures multitasking smoothly. Other than that both the devices have same internal memory, which is 8GB, which can be expanded up to 32GB via MicroSD card.

Camera & Battery

S60 Lenovo has 13MP primary (rear) camera with full HD video recording, flashlight and auto focus features and 5MP secondary (front) camera. Panasonic Eluga L, on the other side, has 8MP primary camera with flashlight and auto focus, and a 5MP secondary camera. It is obvious that Lenovo has the primary camera advantage. Moreover, Lenovo S60 has battery capacity of 2150mAh, which works up to 30hours with 2G, 16.5 hours with 3G and 17 hours with 4G. On the other hand, Panasonic Eluga L is on a bit lower side with 2000mAh. The difference is not much, but Lenovo has a slightly advantage over Panasonic Eluga on the battery front too.

Connectivity

Both devices support 3G, wireless LAN available, GPS, V4.0 Bluetooth, micro USB port and tethering which cover all the features of connectivity of modern smartphone. Both have a dual SIM phone, where Lenovo S60 supports regular SIM, Panasonic Eluga L supports micro SIM.

Bottom Line

Lenovo S60 has an edge over Panasonic Eluga L on account bigger display screen, bigger RAM, higher battery capacity and superior primary camera. The disadvantage is that Lenovo is not available on 4G. On the other hand, Panasonic Eluga L takes a leg up over Lenovo S60 on account more advanced OS and its availability in 4G. In terms of price, while Lenovo S60 costs around INR12,500, Panasonic Eluga L costs around INR11,000. Given the differences, the price difference is justified. As such, Lenovo S60 makes for a better deal.

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Lenovo K80 Simply Outshines Asus Zenfone 2

Asus and Lenovo moved many eyelids across the globe when they announced smartphones with 4GB RAM. Lets’ find out how the two first 4 GB Devices i.e Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML and Lenovo K80 compare with each other. 

Starting with dimensions Asus Zenfone size is 152.5x77.2x10.9mm and it weighs around 170gm, where as Lenovo K80 is 150.0x77.2x8.50mm and weighs 158gm. However, there is no difference in the display screen size and quality as both the devices come with 5.5” Full HD (1080p) IPS LCD capacitive touch screens. Both the devices run on Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system (OS). The most important feature is the 4GB RAM that allows both device for faster switching between various applications. In the sea of similarities the only distinguishing factor is the slight difference in the processor where Asus Zenfone acquires a slight edge in processing capacity as it powered by Intel Atom 2.3 GHz Quad-Core processor that offers a slightly better clock speed than Lenovo K80 which is powered by Intel Atom 1.8 GHz Quad-Core processor. Both devices have 13 megapixel rear cameras with LED flash and 5 megapixel front cameras with a fixed focus.

As far as connectivity is concerned both have Wi-Fi capabilities (802.11 a/g/b/n/ac), Bluetooth v4.0 and dual SIM slot. In terms of connectivity, both devices are available in 2G, 3G and 4G, depending on the market. In the Indian market, Asus Zenfone is priced at around INR23,000, where as Lenovo K80 is around INR17,000.

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Lenovo A6000 Plus beats Xiaomi Redmi 2

Lenovo A6000 Plus is out in market with some definite improvements over its predecessor A6000 in terms of RAM and storage capacity while retaining its other strengths. On the other hand, Xiaomi, promising to accelerate your life at a surprisingly low price, has recently brought out its next best creation Xiaomi Redmi 2 that comes with significant design improvements over Redmi 1 which has already played its successful inning. Both Lenovo A6000 Plus and Xiaomi Redmi 2 reignited the market expectations and, therefore, competition too. Since both the devices are out on similar price points, they call out for a comparative review. 

LOOK & FEEL : 

We start with the look and feel of the two devices. The overall physical dimensions of Lenovo A6000 Plus are 141x70x8.2mm and it weighs 128g, where as Xiaomi Redmi 2 comes in dimensions 134x67.2x9.4mm and weighs 133g, which makes Lenovo’s device slightly bigger but lighter in weight than Redmi 2, which is although smaller in size but weighs more. Moreover, A6000Plus is pleasing to the eyes because of its built quality due to the usage of polycarbonate in its outer body. On the other hand, Redmi uses finely textured and matte-sprayed back cover that feels great, and it is also fingerprint and grease-resistant. Furthermore, while Lenovo Plus comes in black colour that promises to never get out of fashion, Redmi 2 is available in multiple colour variants including stylish black, white, yellow, pink and green. 

DISPLAY : 

On the display front, the first difference is in the screen size. Lenovo Plus comes with 5inch screen, slightly larger than 4.7inch screen of Xiaomi Redmi2. However, both the devices have capacitive touchscreen and produce 720x1280 pixels resolution and somewhat comparable pixel density that is 312 pixels per inch for Redmi 2 and 294 pixels for Lenovo. On the whole, while the quality of visuals in terms of crispness and sharpness may be almost the same in both the devices, a larger display screen size provides Lenovo a slight leg up over Redmi 2. 

PERFORMANCE : 

Both the devices are powered by 1.2 GHz Quad-Core processors, however Lenovo A6000Plus has a definite leg up over Xiaomi Redmi2 on three counts, i.e. operating system, RAM and storage. Firstly, A6000Plus runs on Android 4.4.4 OS where as Redmi 2 runs on a slightly older version Android 4.4 OS. Secondly, Lenovo comes with 2GB RAM, which is double of Redmi2 that has 1GB RAM. Thirdly, with its 16GB internal storage expandable to 32GB, Lenovo is clearly ahead of Xiaomi that comes with 8GB internal storage expandable to 16 GB. Furthermore, while Xiaomi Redmi2, with its skin MIUI6, allows you to discover new functions, shortcuts, customisations and animations, Lenovo offers similar possibilities with its VIBE 2.0. On the whole, Lenovo A6000 Plus is relatively better placed to make apps run smoother with reduced time hold-up and provide overall quality of user interface and experience. 

ADDITIONAL FEATURES : 

Besides Internet browsing, emailing, app downloading and gaming, increasingly the photography has become an integral part of smartphones. Both Lenovo and Xiaomi understand this aspect, particularly the growing trend of selfies. Both the devices are comparable on the camera front, as they come with 8 megapixel primary (Rear) cameras and 2 megapixel secondary (Front) cameras with flash. Furthermore, another important indicator is the battery capacity. On this count, Lenovo A6000 Plus, with its 2300mAh battery capacity, is slightly more dependable in comparison to Xiaomi Redmi 2 that comes with 2200 mAh battery capacity. Other facilities like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, FM etc. are all available in both the devices. In terms of connectivity, both devices are available in 3G and 4G depending on the market. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS : 

Going by specifications, we note that Lenovo A6000 Plus clearly steals the show from Xiaomi Redmi 2 with its larger display screen-size, more advanced OS, bigger RAM, larger internal as well as external storage and slightly higher battery capacity. There are distinctive design elements too, which include overall size, shape and colour variants that are a matter of individual preference. 

Last but not the least, we looked at the price tag on leading shopping portals like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal with India in mind, where both the devices are priced at around INR7,000. Therefore, Lenovo A6000 Plus stands out as a more sensible choice over Xiaomi Redmi 2, unless one has specific preference of design and colours.

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With a bigger RAM and a powerful camera, Lenovo S60 could beat Microsoft Lumia 540

This review brings Microsoft Lumia and Lenovo face to face. After taking over Nokia’s ‘Lumia’ franchisee, Microsoft has introduced several changes in these models, particularly related to display technology, camera etc. Lenovo has been an established player for a while in the market and has products that compete for attention. Therefore, we have selected two models, Microsoft Lumia 540 and Lenovo S60, for this comparative review.

LOOK & FEEL

Looking at the over all size, Lenovo S60 measures 143.3x72x7.7mm and weighs 128g with an all-plastic body, whereas the Lumia 540 measures 144x73.7x8.6mm and weighs 152g, and is made of a polycarbonate base with matte or gloss backs in a variety of fruity colours, such as orange, white, black, gray and blue. The ergonomics of this model may make it difficult for users that opt for a gloss back to handle the phone as it has tendencies to slip. On the other hand, Lenovo S60 is available in pearly white, graphite grey and yellow. Both the smartphones offer multiple color choices.

DISPLAY

The display indicators in both the devices are the same, that is, 5.0’’ screen size with a 720x1280 pixel resolution. However, while Lenovo S60 has an IPS Capacitive screen, Lumia 540 has an IPS-LCD Capacitive display, which gives Lumia 540 a leg up as IPS-LCD display has several advantages over the IPS display type including the capacity to provide wider viewing angles and colour intensity. As such, on the display front, Microsoft Lumia takes a clear lead.

PROCESSOR & MEMORY

On the processing front, both models have a Qualcomm Snapdragon clocking in the same processor speed of 1.2 GHz. However, the key difference lies in RAM, where Lenovo S60 offers 2 GB of RAM, Lumia 540 comes with 1 GB RAM, which makes Lenovo capable of handling more tasks smoothly. Both the devices have 8GB internal memory. However, the provision for expanding the memory is a big differentiator, where Lenovo S60 can only expand to a maximum of 32GB, Lumia leaps ahead by offering the possibility of expanding the same up to 128 GB. Therefore, the choice is to be made between the higher capacity to multitask and smoother functioning and higher memory.

OPERATING SYSTEM (OS)

Given Microsoft’s association, all Lumia devices run on a custom Windows Phone (8.1) OS with a LUMIA DENIM UI on this particular model, while Lenovo has opted for the free Android OS v4.4. Therefore, it may be a matter of preference as to which platform a customer is more comfortable using.

CAMERA & BATTERY

While both the devices come with a 5MP secondary (front) camera, Lenovo S60, with its 13MP primary (rear) camera, takes a big lead over Lumia 540 that comes with 8MP front camera. Furthermore, on the battery front, Lenovo has a 2150 mAh battery capacity, which is almost comparable to Lumia’s 2200 mAh capacity.

CONCLUSION

We note that both the smartphones are lightweight devices that come in multiple color options, similar display screen size, resolution, processing speed, secondary camera and almost equal battery capacity. However, there are points on which they differ. Microsoft Lumia offers relatively superior display technology and capacity to expand the memory of the device significantly more than Lenovo. However, Lenovo offers double the RAM, which would enhance functional ease on the device, and a lot more powerful primary camera promising very high quality photos. Furthermore, we note that in the Indian market, Lenovo S60 costs around Rs.13,000, where as Lumia 540 is available in around Rs.11,000. The higher cost of Lenovo seems justified on account of RAM and superior camera.  

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Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML vs Lenovo K80: How much extra for the feel good factor?

Asus moved many eyelids world over when in January 2015 it announced world’s first smartphone with 4GB RAM, but the outright advantage was short-lived as Lenovo too announced a 4GB RAM smartphone. But, there is more to a smartphone than just the random access memory. Therefore, we decided to do a comparative analysis of the two first 4GB RAM devices i.e. Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML and Lenovo K80.

We begin with the overall dimensions. Asus Zenfone size is 152.5x77.2x10.9mm and it weighs around 170gm, where as Lenovo K80 is 150.0x77.2x8.50mm and weighs 158gm. However, there is no difference in the display screen size as both the devices come with 5.5” screen size. Also, both the devices are available in Full HD (1080p) IPS LCD capacitive touch screens and have 1920x1080 pixels resolution, which provides similar viewing experience. Furthermore, both the devices come in multiple colours: Asus Zenfone is available in red, silver and gold where as Lenovo K80 is available in red, silver and black. The major difference in look and feel is on two accounts: firstly, while Asus Zenfone comes in a metallic hairline finish, Lenovo K80 has a plastic body. Secondly, Zenfone lays its claim to be the smartphone with the thinnest edges, 3.8mm, ever. Both the metallic finish and thin edges make Zenfone stand out.

Both the devices run on Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system (OS) that provides for exceptional user interface and user experience UI/UX and boast of 4GB RAM that allows for faster switching between various applications. Both of them also have an internal storage of 32 GB which is expandable to 64GB via microSD. However, Asus Zenfone acquires a slight edge in processing capacity as it powered by Intel Atom 2.3 GHz Quad-Core processor that offers a slightly better clock speed than Lenovo K80 which is powered by Intel Atom 1.8 GHz Quad-Core processor. Therefore, the only distinguishing factor influencing the performance of the two devices is the slight difference in the processor power.

Looking at the cameras, both the devices once again have similarly powerful primary (rear) cameras of 13MP with auto focus LED flash for high quality images and secondary (front) cameras of 5MP for good quality selfies. Furthermore, both the devices have Wi-Fi capabilities (802.11 a/g/b/n/ac), Bluetooth v4.0 and dual SIM slot. In terms of connectivity, both devices are available in 2G, 3G and 4G, depending on the market. In the sea of similarity, the first major difference between Asus Zenfone and Lenovo K80 comes in the form of battery capacity. While Zenfone has an impressive 3000mAh battery, Lenovo K80 simply outshines Zenfone with a 4000mAh battery capacity.

Considering that both the devices have more or less similar specifications, we looked at the price tag too. In the Indian market, Asus Zenfone is priced at around INR23,000, where as Lenovo K80 is around INR17,000. With its overall superior specifications, Lenovo K80 seems to be worth its price. However, the relatively higher price of Asus Zenfone seems less on account of slightly better processor but more for its metallic hairline finish meant to make the device stand out. The key question is how much extra the customers would be willing to pay for the feel good factor, if at all?

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