Lenovo K4 Note Review

Performance and Benchmarks

Powered by a MediaTek processor which is then paired with 3GB of RAM, one can expect good performance from the device. With day to day task, everything is smooth and virtually lag-free. Switching between apps is no problem either thanks to the ample memory.

Gaming is where the K4 Note struggles, well at least during our time with it. Famous games like Asphalt 8 and Dead Trigger 2 are playable but in medium graphic settings. Perhaps a software fix can patch things up since we were able to play better on a less powerful device.

Of course, we did our usual benchmark tests for objective comparison of power in numbers.

• 3DMark — 180 (SlingShot 3.1), 282 (SlingShot 3.0)
• Nenamark 2 — 58.5fps
• Antutu Benchmark 6 — 36982
• PCMark Work — 4072
• Quadrant — 22550
• Vellamo — 2704 (Chrome), 1014 (Metal) , 1500 (Multicore)

Call Quality and Connectivity

As always, we would still want to have good cellular experience with our smartphones. Calling on the K4 Note is perfectly normal across the board. Signal reception and call quality has been pretty good and we haven’t experienced any issues about it being a phone.

Connectivity-wise, the phone is well equipped. There’s LTE Cat4, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS w/ A-GPS, FM Radio, and even NFC. All these means you’re future-proofed against any requirement of modern communication.

Battery Life

We have non-removable 3300mAh Li-Po battery for the K4 Note. In numbers, it should do fine on a normal day. With our usage, we were able to use the device for a full work day, which composes constant data on plus ample calls and texts. That’s about 11 hours including 2 and half hours of screen time. The PCMark battery test gave it 6 hours and 56 minutes and that’s not shabby either.

Update: We were able to do our traditional video loop test and the device was able to last for about 7 hours and 41 minutes.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the Lenovo K4 Note is a decent upgrade to its predecessor. While there’s nothing spectacular about it, there’s nothing worst about it either. Perhaps the front facing speaker setup is its major selling point. For Php 10,699USD 182INR 15,456EUR 174CNY 1,328 SRP, it’s not hard to suggest it to those looking for a new smartphone.

Lenovo K4 Note specs:
5.5-inch Full HD IPS display, 403ppi
Corning Gorilla Glass 3
64-bit MediaTek MT6753 1.3GHz octa-core CPU
Mali T720-MP3 GPU
3GB LPDDR3 RAM
16GB internal storage
up to 128GB via microSD
13MP PDAF rear camera w/ LED flash
5MP FF front camera
Dual-SIM (micro)
4G LTE, 3G HSPA+
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.0 LE
GPS, A-GPS
FM Radio
NFC
Fingerprint scanner
Dolby Atmos virtual surround sound
Front ported 2X1.5W stereo speakers
WM8281 audio codec
3,300mAh battery
Android 5.1 Lollipop with VIBE UI (upgradeable to Marshmallow)
153.7 x 78.74 x 9.14mm
160g
Matte White, Matte Black

What we liked about it:

• Good display
• Lightweight
• Loud stereo speaker
• Smooth general performance
• Above average battery life

What we didn’t:

• Gaming hiccups
• So-so cameras
• Outdated Android 5.1 software

Author’s note: The unit we have for review was provided by Widget City and is available for Php 10,900USD 186INR 15,746EUR 177CNY 1,353 as of writing. See listing here.