Naturally, other companies also want to copy Xiaomi’s success. Micromax has made a good effort in this direction with its product Yu and Xiaomi’s biggest competitor in the Chinese market is Lenovo.
It is not that the company is participating in flash sale for the first time with Lenovo A6000 Plus. Earlier, the company had got a lot of success in the flash sale of A6000 and A7000 models. Aggressive pricing and great features also contributed to this. Now the company has launched Lenovo A6000 Plus model in the market for Rs 7,499, which is to some extent an upgraded version of A6000. It takes forward the old demand but minor changes have been made to keep the product fresh.
Look and design
There is nothing special about the Lenovo A6000 Plus that can differentiate it from the A6000. Both the phones look similar in appearance. After placing both the phones side by side, we could not tell the difference. Needless to say, the dimensions and weight of the A6000 Plus are similar to its predecessor. The matte finish on the rear cover is retained and we are happy with the ergonomics of this phone.
Nothing has changed even when it comes to the smaller details. The volume rocker and power button are on the right side. The micro-USB port and 3.5mm socket are on the top. The front camera and earpiece are above the screen, while the two speakers are at the bottom of the back of the phone. The phone’s screen is 5 inches and its pixel density is 294ppi. There is no change in this case from the A6000.
Specifications and software
Lenovo A6000 Plus is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 SoC. The main difference between Lenovo A6000 and A6000 Plus is the internal storage and RAM. The Plus model has 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM, while the A6000 model has 8GB of storage and 1GB of RAM. The phone’s storage can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD. This expansion will appeal to customers who value value for money. This feature gives users the confidence to use Lenovo A6000 Plus for a long time.
All other specifications are the same as the old model. The phone has an 8-megapixel rear and a 2-megapixel front camera. The phone has 4G connectivity. It has Bluetooth 4.0 and a 2,300mAh lithium-polymer battery.
Lenovo A6000 Plus runs Android KitKat 4.4.4 operating system with Vibe 2.0 user interface on top. Still, there are a lot of features on this phone that use up more RAM and space than necessary. Also, there are a lot of preinstalled apps. Some of these are usable, but others just take up screen space. However, these can be uninstalled and disabled. So, there is nothing to worry about. The lack of an app drawer is clearly visible in the user interface. It looks more cartoonish and gaudy than we would have liked, but this problem can be overcome by downloading a good launcher from the Google Play store.
Camera
The camera app retains its simple look, with all settings hidden in a single menu. Switching between photo, video and panorama modes is very easy. Apart from this, there are very useful shortcuts for the front camera, flash and HDR mode. Autofocus is also very fast and works pretty well.
However, this phone uses the same camera as the Lenovo A6000 model. Mainly, overexposure in daylight shots and poor outlining in low light are the main issues. The camera of this smartphone cannot be called bad, but it does not always take good photos. Videos are recorded in 720p resolution. At the same time, the 2-megapixel front camera works well considering the budget smartphone range.
Performance
The increased RAM ensures that it performs better than other phones in its price range. Apart from the fast functionality of the phone, it can now keep more apps open at a time, which is better than the Lenovo A6000.
Benchmark test results of Lenovo A6000 Plus are slightly better than A6000. The phone scored 21,392 and 11,860 in AnTuTu and Quadrant tests respectively. 3DMark and GFX Bench test results are quite similar to A6000 results, which are 5262 and 9.6fps respectively. These results are not surprising because both the devices use the same processor with integrated Adreno 306 graphics. The phone struggled while playing heavily encoded videos and the 40Mbps sample video showed lag. However, the phone performed well with regular videos and videos up to 720p played smoothly. Dolby tuned speakers are an excellent feature in a phone of this size and act as a value addition for users who like to watch more movies.
Lenovo A6000 Plus is a 4G device and once 4G networks are available across the country, this smartphone will be very useful. For now, most users in India are only able to access 3G services. Considering this, the 4G feature of A6000 Plus does not give much advantage compared to other budget phones. Once again, the battery life of this phone is also excellent. On the video loop test, Lenovo A6000 Plus performed 10 hours and 34 minutes, which is slightly better than A6000.
Our verdict
Lenovo A6000 was a great smartphone in many ways, but this time the Chinese company has outdone itself in terms of performance and value with the Lenovo A6000 Plus. The company has improved two specifications that raised questions about the previous device. Due to the increase in internal storage and RAM, this phone offers more value for money than the previous phone.
Sadly, the new device also has an average camera and there is no protective glass on the screen. It would have been good if Lenovo had paid attention to both these problems, but still A6000 Plus is a great device at this price. However, the company has sold this product in limited numbers through e-commerce website Flipkart. It is possible that due to this, customers show more inclination towards Honor, Xiaomi, Motorola and Asus. If you are successful in buying this smartphone through flash sale, then rest assured that you have spent your money well.