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Lenovo P70 smartphone review
It's been a long time since I studied smartphones from Lenovo - I would have to catch up, because this company produces very decent smartphones and tablets, not to mention laptops and other gadgets.
This time, the Lenovo P70 model came to my review - a smartphone with good characteristics, support for two SIM cards and a battery with a capacity of as much as 4000 mAh·while costing very reasonable money.
Well, let's see what it is.
Technical specifications
Operating System: Android 4.4 KitKat with Lenovo shell
Display: 5" HD IPS (1280×720), five point sensor, 16 million colors
Processor: MT6752 True8Core, 64 bit, 1.7 GHz
Graphics accelerator: Mali T760MP2 with a frequency of up to 700 MHz
RAM: 2 GB
Flash Memory: 16 GB
Memory Card: SD up to 32 GB
Network: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, 3G: 900/2100 MHz, 4G: LTE FDD 800/1800/2100/2600 MHz
Wireless connection: Wi Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
Camera: 13 MPIX, with autofocus and LED flash
Front camera: 5 MPIX, with constant focal length
Ports: microUSB (OTG supported), Audio jack
GPS: GPS, support A GPS, GLONASS
SIM card: microSIM and microSIM
Battery: 4000 mAh, non removable
Dimensions: 71.8 × 8.9 × 142 mm
Weight: 149g
Optional: accelerometer, proximity and lighting sensors
Price in Moscow: 18-20 thousand rubles
Well, the equipment is very decent, two SIM cards, a serious chipset and a 4000 mAh battery are especially pleasing.
But the display at the present time would like FullHD, although, on the other hand, HD should eat less battery.
Memory cards are supported up to 32 GB.
This is not a problem, of course, but it should be borne in mind, because there are already 64 GB and 128 GB cards on the market.
Equipment
It is delivered in a solid white box.
Inside: smartphone, power adapter, USB microUSB cable, USB OTG cable (for connecting flash drives to a smartphone, can also be used to charge external devices from the smartphone battery), headset tab, brochures, cover case.
Appearance and features
The design is strict and boring, the design is monotonous.
The color of the smartphone is stated as dark blue, but it actually looks like black.
There are no other color options for Europe, and two more versions are available for China - white and brownish.
The back cover is a matte plain plastic.
The lid is removable, fits well.
Somewhere in the reviews I read that it crunches in my hands - I have observed this only if I loosely snapped the lid.
Under the cover there is a non removable battery, two microSIM slots and an SD card slot.
As usual in such cases, one SIM card slot can work with 2G, 3G and 4G, the second only 2G.
And SIM cards work in Dual Standby mode: that is, if one SIM card is used for a conversation, then the second SIM card does not work (one radio module).
The phone is not bad in the hands and looks quite thin, especially when you consider what kind of battery is installed here.
Also surprising is the really small weight of the smartphone with such a battery - only 149 grams.
Right end: power button and volume rocker.
The power button, in my opinion, is located very conveniently.
The volume rocker is pressed not too clearly, but you can survive this with humility and patience.
Upper end: second microphone and audio output.
By the way, the upper and lower ends are tinted under the glass.
But this is a glossy plastic, which, by the way, is quite branded.
Bottom end: microphone, speaker grid, microUSB output, decorative grid (there is no speaker under it, there is only one speaker).
The kit includes a cover case made of plastic with a corrugated surface.
If you install it on your phone, it becomes noticeably more grasping.
Well, here is our hero next to the Meizu MX4 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
The control is carried out using three touch buttons "Menu", "Home" and "Return" located under the display.
The buttons can be turned on all the time, lit for three seconds after use, or turned off all the time - this is configurable.
Platform
A new eight core 64 bit MediaTek MT6752 chipset is installed here, which was developed specifically for the middle price group.
All eight cores are of the same type: ARM Cortex A53.
What is the value of a 64 bit chipset compared to the previous 32 bit ones?
64 bit chipsets are primarily aimed at using with the new, fifth, version of Android Lollipop, which is optimized specifically for 64 bit processes.
The 64 bit ARMv8 architecture, which is used here, is simpler, more energy efficient and faster compared to the 32 bit ARMv7.
The smartphone interface works smoother, applications work faster, and the most demanding 3D games and 4K videos will not slow down.
In Android 5.0, a new virtual machine is used in which Android applications are executed, so that their launch and switching from one application to another are faster, and the system itself again becomes more energy efficient.
Also, 64 bit processors are able to provide support for a smartphone with four or more gigabytes of RAM, and such amounts of memory will clearly appear quite soon.
This chipset, like the MediaTek MT6595 installed in the Meizu MX4, uses a new technology for intelligent core management developed at MediaTek, called CorePilot: it allows you not only to turn on and off cores or groups of cores in accordance with the current load, but also to change their operating frequency in real time.
This technology allows you to avoid parasitic use of capacities when they are not needed.
As a result, up to 20% of energy is saved, and in addition, the device is not subjected to noticeable heating.
(And this was fully confirmed during the testing process.)
With the help of the CPU Z program, you can see how it all looks.
For example, a smartphone is in standby mode: only one core is running at the minimum frequency.
The browser loading the page is running three cores have started working.
Well, the 3D game is launched - all eight cores are running at maximum load.
Another important point is that the LTE modem is integrated into the chipset itself (previously, it was necessary to implement its support using a separate MT6290 chip, which increased power consumption).
The Wi Fi adapter supports 802.11 b/g/n protocols and Miracast technologies (output of images from the smartphone screen to external devices - for example, a TV, a projector) and Wi Fi Direct.
Moreover, Miracast also supports independent image output from some application: for example, you have a map open on the screen, and a video clip from the gallery is displayed on the TV.
Display
Display on an IPS matrix with a resolution of 1280×720, made using OGS technology.
The upper surface is covered with Gorilla Glass.
There is an anti reflective and oleophobic coating.
The image on the display is very high quality, the colors are pleasant and natural.
The brightness is good: in normal mode, I set the brightness level to about 30%.
In direct sunlight, the image was very clearly distinguishable - almost as well as that of the Galaxy Note 4, but there is a special additional backlight turned on in the sun, and here it is not.
I didnot like the work of automatic brightness adjustment at all: it darkened the screen too much, it was very inconvenient to use.
By the way, the MT6752 chipset itself implements a number of proprietary technologies from MediaTek, which should improve the image quality on the screen.
For example, ClearMotion technology increases the frame rate in video from 24-30 per second to 60 in real time - this significantly improves the smoothness of the image display.
The second technology, MiraVision, adjusts the saturation, brightness and contrast when displayed on the screen, achieving the most beautiful picture.
There is no access to turning these technologies on or off in the smartphone settings, but there is information that they are simply enabled by default.
The viewing angles of the smartphone are simply excellent, the deviation of the screen vertically and horizontally practically does not affect the picture in any way.
Device operation
It has its own shell developed by Lenovo called Vibe UI, which can be flexibly configured to the user's preferences.
This shell does not provide a separate window for application icons, so all application icons are located on desktops.
Home desktop.
The second desktop with the application widget from Yandex.
The third desktop.
As you can see, there are a lot of additional applications installed here, including games and a set of utilities from Yandex.
Some users like it - the phone already has everything they need, while others believe that such a large number of additional applications only creates a mess they say that the user himself can only supply what he really needs.
The application area.
Quick settings are opened not by a separate button, but with the help of a chevron that needs to be pulled down.
The set of application area icons is being edited.
Also, the notification area itself is flexibly configured and the user can turn on or off notifications from various applications and set priorities for notifications from applications.
Note that you can even enable the current data transfer rate in the status bar.
The lock area allows you to immediately go to the phone application, messages, and camera.
If you take a smartphone in a certain way, the mode of preventing unwanted actions is turned on - random dialing, and so on.
The user can include an additional set of icons in the menu, which is always located on the screen in an arbitrary place in the form of a small circle and opens when pressed with a finger.
Configuring desktops.
Editing the desktop and adding widgets.
The desktop Settings menu.
The user can save their desktop settings and restore them if necessary.
Phone App
The phone application is quite convenient, it does not cause any complaints.
The maximum ringer volume is not the highest, but it is sufficient.
The quality of communication is good, I did not identify any problems.
In the reviews on " Yandex.
Market " saw several complaints about the quality of the microphone it seems that it was a marriage of a particular model, since all the subscribers heard me completely normally.
Favorite contacts.
An incoming call.
Here you can accept a call, reset it, reply with a message, or schedule a callback in a minute or an hour.
Options during a conversation.
Please note that there is a recording option.
Well, since there are two SIM cards here , you can choose what to use for calls, messages and the Internet.
Messages
The messages section seems to be simple, but all sorts of useful features are present there.
Audio
A regular app from Google.
The sound of the built in speaker is flat and booming, but without wheezing.
The location of the speaker (on the lower end) is not particularly successful: it is constantly covered by the hand when you hold the phone horizontally.
(For example, when watching a video.)
The sound in the headset from the kit is also flat, strongly shifted to high frequencies, there is no bass at all.
But this headset, as I understand it, is intended mainly for telephone conversations and for listening to the radio.
The sound in decent headphones (Audio technica ATH ES7) is tolerable, some bass appears, but the volume, in my opinion, is insufficient.
You can listen, but nothing more: it does not break through to a tear of admiration in any way.
Video
1080, 4K - everything is played without any delays, knots and hitches.
Images
A standard Google application.
Data protection system and " anti theft"
A very useful, in my opinion, application, about which I have already written a separate article.
FM Radio
An FM radio with a headset as an antenna is supported.
Settings
The settings here are very diverse - the system adapts flexibly to the preferences of users.
Lenovo allows you to change the design in a wide range: fonts, their sizes, background images, icons, and so on.
Themes design sets are supported.
Switching on and off according to a schedule is a useful thing.
Power Manager settings.
Emergency mode is when only calls, SMS messages, contacts and watches are available.
In this mode, the phone can work for several days on a single charge.
This can be used when the charge is low, and the phone should be available.
Setting up the types of energy savings.
GPS
It detects satellites very quickly, keeps the coordinates confidently, does not lose the road during the trip.
Games
All sorts of 3D games function normally and do not slow down even at the maximum quality settings - the graphics system of the chipset copes with them without problems.
Somewhere in the reviews I read that the smartphone started to get very warm on 3D games, but I didnot even have a weak heating either in 3D games or during tests.
Camera
A simple interface, in the form of separate icons, the inclusion of HDR, flash control, camera change and the inclusion of slow motion shooting is made.
The following modes are available: auto, portrait, panorama, live photo, shot in motion and shooting a 3D model (this is just a video of several photos).
Here are some examples of snapshots.
They were not processed in any way, only decreased.
Clickable: when clicked, a photo with a size of 1920 pixels in width will open.
At home, when the light is dim, it takes poorly: the pictures are cloudy, fuzzy, already at ISO 200 there is a noticeable noise.
Here in the photo below is ISO 165.
The operation of HDR when shooting in the background light.
In normal daylight, it takes off, in general, not bad.
Here is the same frame taken on the Note 4.
The text shoots clearly, legibly.
If the lighting is sufficient, then it shows good results in the premises.
In the shooting mode from the front camera, the Face Beautifier technology built into the chipset is supported, which allows you to improve portraits and selfies on the fly by removing wrinkles and lightening the face.
The only thing is that the camera is close, at arm's length, does not sharpen very well, so it is better to use a selfie stick for such pictures.
(I donot have it, so I canot demonstrate it.)
And here I have turned all the effects to the fullest to show how it works, and when using it, you just need to choose the right level of effect.
The video shoots, in my opinion, not bad, but there is a little bit of focus, as it seemed to me.
Focusing on sharpness when taking photos works here quite quickly and clearly - there were practically no flaws.
For example, the same iPhone 6 Plus, when hovering over the sharpness, messed up noticeably more.
The shooting quality of this smartphone, in my opinion, is quite average, but not at all terrible, as it was written in several reviews.
I have met smartphones with noticeably worse camera quality.
However, judge for yourself - the pictures are in front of you.
Performance
The system interface works smoothly, I didnot notice any delays and brakes.
Applications work smartly.
AnTuTu gave him 43,439 parrots.
Battery life
The 4000 mAh battery and the new chipset technologies promised records in terms of the duration of operation on a single battery charge, but the reality turned out to be a little more modest.
In my normal mode of use (calls, messengers, Internet, reading, help programs) the smartphone, in general, normally lived on a single charge for two days.
But not for three days.
In the road mode, that is, constant use, he confidently lived a full day and at the end of the day showed somewhere else 15-20% of the charge.
But battery tests showed somewhat unexpected results.
I conducted them with the automatic adjustment mode turned off.
(As I have already written, I do not like her work, she greatly darkens the screen.)
Video.
Wireless types of communication are disabled, the brightness is set to a comfortable 40%, the video of the series is spinning in the MK Player cycle.
And quite unexpectedly for me - only 9 hours and 47 minutes.
I didnot even believe it, I ran the test again.
I got 10 hours and 5 minutes.
The Internet.
The brightness is set to a comfortable 40%, all wireless networks are turned on, the page is updated in the browser every 30 seconds.
12 hours and 15 minutes.
Well, at least something.
Reading.
The brightness is set to a comfortable 40%, all wireless networks are turned off, the book is scrolled in AlReader.
13 hours and 45 minutes.
Games.
The Asphalt 8 game is at 40% brightness, all wireless communication types are turned off.
4 hours and 15 minutes.
Navigation.
The brightness is set to a comfortable 40%, all wireless networks are turned on, Google navigation works.
8 hours and 42 minutes is very decent.
In general, the battery life can be called good, but not outstanding.
In video viewing modes and in games, the battery is consumed faster than expected.
Observations at work and conclusions
During the testing process, no troubles were observed - no freezes, no reboots, no heating.
I really liked the possibilities of settings - the shell provides interesting functions and is flexibly sharpened to the user's preferences.
I tested a smartphone with two SIM cards - none of them lost the network.
(And sometimes such things happen with two key devices.)
The price of 18-20 thousand rubles for such a smartphone with its characteristics more similar to the top model looks quite attractive.
I liked the smartphone.
It is not without drawbacks (sound quality and camera), but in general it is very decent.
Well, it should be noted that Mediatek chipsets are developing in a clearly positive direction.
Until recently, these chipsets were a sign of cheap and frail phones with poor characteristics and noticeable glitches (it is enough to recall what problems were encountered on old models of chipsets, for example, with GPS), and now the new Mediatek chipsets demonstrate the capabilities inherent in the earlier chipsets of flagship models (LTE, multi core, performance, powerful graphics accelerator, and so on), but at the same time, prices for smartphones where they are installed are rather in the budget zone, and not in the top.
Which makes us, the consumers, happy.
Related links:
Smartphone page on the manufacturer's website Meizu MX4 Samsung Galaxy Note 4 OnePlus One iPhone 6 Plus Huawei Ascend Mate 7 Highscreen Zera S Sony Xperia Z2 Smartphone LG G3 Samsung Galaxy S5 LG G Flex Smartphone Nokia Lumia 1020 Philips Xenium W8555 Highscreen Boost II SE Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Huawei Ascend P6 Just5 Spacer Meizu MX3 Lenovo IdeaPhone K900 Sony Xperia Z1 Google Nexus 5 LG G2 Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 Highscreen Boost II Lenovo IdeaPhone A820 iPhone 5S HTC One Dual Sim OPPO Find 5 Zopo ZP980 Highscreen Boost Sony Xperia Z Samsung Galaxy S 4 Nokia 808 PureView Sharp Aquos Phone SH930W with FullHD Meizu MX2 iPhone 5 Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S HTC One X Samsung Galaxy Note II Huawei Ascend P6 Huawei Ascend D1 on Android 4.0.3 Samsung Galaxy S III (i9300) Samsung Galaxy Note N7000
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[ comments (22) ] Publication date: 24.03.2015
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