Lenovo K5 Play 3/32GB smartphone - advantages and disadvantages

Differences

Smartphones, to put it mildly, do not differ much in their technical characteristics and parameters. There are only two main differences: displays and processors, and the rest is absolutely identical. Both new products have a five-inch screen and support for Dolby Atmos technology, which allows you to reveal all the facets of the sound of your favorite music. If you acquire relevant and correctly compiled content, then it will be generally good.

External speakers (yes, there are two of them) play loud enough (above average) and with high quality. Still would! What else with Dolby Atmos support?

Detailed specifications of Lenovo K5 and K5 Plus

Both gadgets have a 2750 mAh battery and, according to the manufacturer, talk time on the 2G module is up to 32 hours, 3G – up to 15.1 hours, standby time up to 322 hours. Of course, there is support for LTE networks. There is 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of built-in storage, expandable up to 32 GB using Micro SD memory cards. Both new products have support for 2 SIM cards in Micro format and run on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS.

The technical characteristics of the Lenovo VIBE K5 and the plus version are best compared visually, using a plate. In green I mark more interesting specifications in the extended version.

There was no regular version (VIBE K5) at the company's stand. There was only K5 Plus. Already from this indirect sign we can conclude that the model without the “plus” prefix is ​​of no use and there is no reason to be released. Later, I will explain why, but for now let’s take a closer look at the device and the short, but still user experience.

Appearance

The Lenovo K5 case is made of plastic, glass and metal. The manufacturer offers several color options: light gray, dark gray or graphite and gold.

The front of the phone looks standard. Above the screen there is a speaker, a front camera with 5 megapixel expansion, as well as light and proximity sensors. There is also a notification indicator that is located in the top right corner. It can change its color to green and red. Below the display are the standard Android navigation keys. They are not backlit, but have reflective paint.

On the right side there is an on/off button, as well as a volume rocker. The left side remained empty. There is a hole for a microphone on the bottom side. made of plastic. The upper end is made of plastic, which is not easy to do, but to improve the signal of the antennas. There is also a MicroUSB charging output and a standard 3.5 mm jack for connecting a headset or headphones.

The back cover is made of aluminum with plastic inserts. It is removable. The lid is not very pliable, but nevertheless can be removed, which can generally be considered a plus. The main frame of the lid is made of aluminum, but the top and bottom strips are made to look like metal, although they are plastic.

Under the cover there is a removable lithium-ion battery, two microSIM slots and a separate slot for a memory card. On the back cover there is the main antenna, under it there are several contacts from it.

Read also LG K10 2020 (LG K 10) review and specifications

There are two speakers on the bottom. One of the main features of Lenovo K5 is the presence of two stereo speakers. This, combined with Dolby Atmos technology, allows you to get pretty high-quality sound. True, the technology can only be fully appreciated with headphones. The sound is loud and spacious.

At the top there is a peephole of the main camera with an LED flash (its expansion is 13 megapixels), and below it is a second microphone for noise reduction. In the middle is the Lenovo logo.

Dimensions:

• Height - 142 millimeters;
• Width - 71 millimeters;
• Thickness - 8.2 millimeters:
• Weight - 142 grams.

Lenovo K5 turned out to be a hefty smartphone due to its metal back cover.

The device lies comfortably in the hand.

The phone can be easily controlled with one finger. There is a coating on the back cover, but despite this the smartphone still slides.

Design

Externally, the smartphone is nothing special.

The design is the most common and there are simply a huge number of similar smartphones on the market. Personally, the new product reminded me of the long-gone Samsung Galaxy Star Plus GT-S7262.

White, plastic, strongly protruding chrome frames around the perimeter of the front side.

Above the screen there is a standard set of front elements: a 5 MP camera, sensors and a speaker.

At the bottom there are touch-sensitive system control buttons. They are not backlit.

At the back, the device has a metal cover and plastic inserts at the top and bottom. All this is very boring and we have seen it more than once from a variety of companies.

System and performance

The device runs on Android 5.1 OS. Since the new product is completely new and many manufacturers are already installing Android 6.0 (the latest series of devices from LG, for example), the release of new devices with an outdated operating system is a strange step. However, the shell and software are well optimized.

The animation flies, switching between applications does not slow down - everything is fine with this.

In AnTuTu K5 Plus scores about 35 thousand points. Not a bad result, but not a breakthrough at all. The most important thing is that the device does not behave like a budget defect and works quite stably.

operating system

Lenovo K5 Play uses the Android 8.0 Oreo operating system, ZUI 3.7 interface. The menu and internal design of applications, as well as the selection of preinstalled programs, are carried out as in typical Android smartphones. The device is universal and supports many languages; 98% of the interface is translated into Russian. Some rough edges in the thoroughness of the translation are smoothed out by the favorable cost.

You can choose to control basic functions using the usual on-screen buttons at the bottom or use gestures. By moving your finger up on the display and holding, you can unlock it, up and left - you can call up the menu, at the bottom right there are “hot” buttons for settings and functions of the device.

The fingerprint scanner does not show any errors, but the response speed could be faster.

Autonomy

The smartphone has a non-removable lithium-polymer battery with a capacity of 3000 mAh. During the first day of intensive use, the battery will hold its charge. Games and video playback do not slow it down by more than 20% per hour. A year has not passed since the release of the device to determine whether the consumption will change over time.

The battery charging speed leaves much to be desired. According to users who left reviews, the Lenovo K5 Play does not always charge at the specified 5 V/2 A. The battery power becomes even slower when working with it while charging, watching videos, etc. The device will be able to reach 100% in at least 3 hours of connecting to the network.

Cameras

It was decided to install a front module of 5 and a main module of 13 megapixels in the device. The lighting at the stand wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t a total disaster either, so the smartphone had a chance to show off its photography capabilities.

It's nice that he coped with the test. The photos are of quite decent quality, a good level of detail, no problems with autofocus, and so on.

The only thing that confused me were the errors that the automatic mode made when setting the exposure. Out of about 20 frames, I left only seven. The rest were either overexposed, or the system made a mistake when setting the white balance. In general, if you're going to shoot with the K5 Plus, take a few shots at a time. By the way, this is a general rule that applies to any photographic equipment, even if it is a SLR camera.

Equipment

The phone comes in a blue box with the model name. Inside, in addition to the K 5 plus itself, lies:

• The case is transparent, which is a nice bonus that leaves a pleasant impression about the company. Even though it's the simplest, thanks anyway.
• Warranty cards and instructions in a separate envelope. QuickStart Guide is multilingual, where you can find most languages. The limited warranty is only available in the countries listed on it.
• The protective film is another bonus for this device.
• MicroUSB cable for connecting to a computer and charging. It feels like a very high quality and fairly long cord.
• A headset with a microphone that can be used for calls. Ordinary headphones, there is nothing remarkable about them. Thanks to them, the sound quality is quite affordable.
• USB adapter 5 Volt, 1.5 Ampere.

As you can see, the Lenovo company did not skimp on offering a full package of different goodies to its customers.