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 vigorous 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 promoting its TheaterMax technology and Dolby Atmos technology with great enthusiasm. Will Lenovo K6 Note be able to challenge the rest of the rivals in its segment? Let us try to find out through the review.
Lenovo K6 Note look and design
When a review unit of the K6 Note arrived at our office, we mistook it for a K6 Power (Review) for a moment. Because the retail boxes of both look exactly the same. Lenovo told us that the same 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 screen size. We can say with confidence that there are a lot of similarities in the design of both the phones.
Below the display are capacitive navigation buttons. The power button is on the side. The hybrid SIM tray is on the left. The 3.5 mm audio jack is on the top. At the same time, two speaker grills are present at the bottom. These have been placed next to the micro-USB port.
Weighing 170 grams, the Lenovo K6 Note felt heavy for its design. But after using it for a few days we became addicted to it. Due to the metal design, the smartphone feels sturdy. But the rear part slips in the hands. We had to take extra precautions while holding the K6 Note in our hands during the review. 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 backpanel of this phone is really different from the K6 Power in many ways. First of all you will see the bulge with the camera. Also available is dual LED flash. It was a bit strange to look at. It would have been better if the company had provided a flat backpanel. 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 branding is at the bottom.
The K6 Note’s 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) IPS display produces vibrant and sharp colors. The brightness is suitable for outdoor use. The surprising thing is that there is no protection like Corning Gorilla Glass on the display. The experience of watching videos and playing games on the big screen of K6 Note is much better than that of K6 Power. Overall, 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 variant with 3 GB RAM. The company will soon make a variant with 4 GB RAM available. You will be able to use microSD card up to 128 GB in the smartphone.
The K6 Note has a 16-megapixel rear camera that comes with PDAF and dual-LED flash. On the front panel, K6 Note has an 8 megapixel sensor. Connectivity features include 4G, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, and GPS. Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity and digital compass sensors are also provided in K6 Note.
Talking about software, Lenovo K6 Note runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Lenovo’s Vibe Pure UI has been used on top of this. We liked the software on the K6 Power and the same is true with this phone. In this also you will get 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 the same time. Overall, Vibe Pure UI is very smooth. And works faster.
Through K6 Note, once again the company is promoting TheaterMax technology and Ant VR headset. This lenovo vibe k4 note (Review) Saath was launched in early 2016. Actually, with the help of this headset, users can get a cinema hall experience through movies, games and other content. Please note that you will have to purchase the Ant VR headset separately from Amazon India. We used the Ant VR headset with the K6 Note and it performed as well as we wanted. You can activate VR mode by long pressing the power button. Or even through the Settings app.
The price of the Ant VR headset is very high. In such a situation, VR experience with K6 Note is very smooth for the user. However, we will reiterate our point again that Lenovo needs to partner with other content creators for virtual reality content.
lenovo k6 note performance
Despite having a mid-range Snapdragon 430 processor, the K6 Note did not disappoint in daily use. We did not complain during multi-tasking. And moving between multiple 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 better than those of Lenovo K6 Power and Redmi 3S Prime. Let us tell you that all three phones have Snapdragon 430 processor.
The fingerprint sensor given on the backpanel works fast. It also unlocks the device from standby mode. The experience of watching videos, movies and playing games was fantastic. Dolby Atmos audio enhancement also plays its role very well in this. However, the quality of the earphones supplied with the handset was below average. Both SIM slots of Lenovo K6 Note support Voice over LTE.
The Lenovo K6 Note’s camera is fully capable for general photography. The 16-megapixel sensor is equipped with PDAF that locks focus faster. The smart composition tool will help you capture photos in a variety of situations. If you want, you can also keep it off through camera settings. In the app you will get modes like Pro, Panorama, Nightscape, HDR, Fast Motion and Slow-Motion. We liked the fast motion and slow motion feature.
There is no problem in understanding the camera interface. We took landscape shots with detail. Macro shots also turned out good. The colors were very accurate and there was no lack of detail. Photos taken in daylight could have been sharper. Apart from this, noises are visible on the shore. In photos taken in direct sunlight, we found that the colors were washed out.
We were more impressed by the camera’s performance in low light. The camera does not face any problem in focusing on the subject in darkness. The front camera of the K6 Note took good selfies. You can feel free to share these on social media. However, their quality was not very good.
The phone’s battery lasted 13 hours 20 minutes in the HD video loop test. Considering the battery size, it would be considered good. In normal use it easily lasted for a day. It supports fast charging. But the company is not talking 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 decision
Lenovo is one of the few companies which has made a strong hold in the online segment in India. Under this strategy, the company has also recently launched several online exclusive handsets. But through K6 Note, the company is eyeing those customers who like to buy phones from offline stores. In K6 Note you will get immersive VR experience with big screen. We liked the build quality and display of this phone. But the company should have provided a more powerful chipset.
Lenovo K6 Note priced at Rs 13,999 will compete with Moto G4 Plus (Review). Well, the challenge xiaomi redmi note 3 (Review) which is known for being cheap and strong performance.