New Delhi, January 17 – Competition is getting fierce in the Indian smartphone market. Since last year, the market has been flooded with a bunch of high quality low-cost smartphones.
Motorola came first with the Moto E. Then the Chinese brand Xiaomi entered with a bang and finally Google launched a number of Android One smartphones. Later, newer players like OnePlus and Yu also entered the market.
Now, there is a new contender in the market. It is Lenovo, which after the Motorola acquisition is the number 3 smartphone brand in the world. Its newest smartphone, the A6000, is not only the most affordable 4G smartphone in India, but also is a phone that has been specifically designed for a developing market.
The A6000 is now in India within a week of its global announcement. The Moto E and the Xiaomi Redmi 1S have proven to be very popular in India but there is a chance the A6000 will give them tough competition. We believe in terms of hardware features, the Redmi 1S is the biggest rival of the A6000. Read on to see how the devices compare against each other.
Display:
Both the Redmi 1S and the A6000 have 720p LCD screens. But the Lenovo A6000 has a slightly larger 5-inch screen. In terms of sharpness, it means that the Redmi 1S (4.7-inch) has a higher pixel density (312ppi) when compared to that of the A6000 (294 ppi).
While we are yet to take a detailed look at the screen of the A6000, as far as first impressions go it looks as good as the one in the RedMi 1S in terms of colour fidelity and brightness.
Processor:
The Lenovo A6000 is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 CPU, which supports 64-bit architecture. Now, this is a superior and newer CPU than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400, which is found in the Redmi 1S. Both phones have 1GB RAM and 8GB of internal storage.
Technically, the A6000 has a faster processor, which also combines a better GPU and 4G support. This gives the Lenovo A6000 an advantage over the Xiaomi at least on paper.
That said, as the A6000 is also on Android 4.4 KitKat, it does not take advantage of the 64-bit support offered by its processor, so the performance should not be massively different between the two phones.
Battery Life:
The A6000 has a 2,300mAh battery, while Redmi 1S has a 2,000mAh battery. This is not a significant difference, when one takes into account the larger screen on the Lenovo A6000.
Overall, we feel, technically both the phones should offer similar battery life. In our tests, the Redmi 1S lasts through a day and the same should hold true for the Lenovo.
Camera:
Both the Lenovo A6000 and the Xiaomi Redmi 1S have 8-megapixel snappers on the back. On the front, the Lenovo has a 2-megapixel camera, while the Xiaomi has a 1.6-megapixel camera. The Redmi 1S has one of the best cameras found in a sub Rs.10,000 smartphone.
While we have not tested the camera on the A6000 in great depth, we can tell you that the camera on the Lenovo Vibe X2, which costs nearly Rs.20,000 was somewhat inferior to one in the Redmi 1S. Therefore, we don’t have high hopes from the A6000 camera. That said, we will have more to talk about the A6000 camera in our review.
Software:
Both the phones run on Android. The Redmi 1S is stuck on the older Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, while the Lenovo A6000 comes preloaded with Android 4.4 Kitkat. That said, when we talk about both Lenovo and Xiaomi products, the version of Android matters less.
Both the companies are known to heavily customize Android and add features that are not found in pure Android. Xiaomi’s MiUI is known to be smoother in operation and more stable, though Lenovo’s Vibe UI is also good. In terms of usability, both offer a springboard, which combines apps and widgets and there is no dedicated app drawer.
Size:
The Lenovo A6000 is more comfortable to carry around than the Xiaomi Redmi 1S. It is thinner and lighter than the Redmi 1S. It measures 8.2mm and weighs 128 grams, while the Xiaomi Redmi 1S weighs 158 grams and measures 9.9mm.
The Lenovo is also subtly curved with a matte finish on the back, which makes it easier to hold. In comparison, the Redmi 1S is has a glossy finish, which is a bit slippery.
Connectivity:
Both phones offer dual-SIM connectivity and microSD card expansion. However, the A6000 offers 4G LTE connectivity while the Redmi 1S does not. In fact, unlike many 4G enabled phones, the A6000 offers support for FDD-LTE Band 3 and TDD-LTE Band 40. Though for now, the usability of the 4G is not that apparent.
Price:
The Lenovo A6000 is priced at Rm.350, while the Xiaomi Redmi 1S is cheaper at Rm.300. Considering the newer processor and 4G support we feel that the A6000 offers more value, despite being more expensive.
Frankly, the Redmi is an older phone. In China, Xiaomi has already announced the Redmi 2, which is the successor to the Redmi 1S and it is possible soon that phone may get replaced by the Redmi 2 in India, though Xiaomi has made no announcement about the same.
-INDIA TODAY
