Will the LG Q6’s beauty be able to stand against the performance of the Lenovo K8 Note
There is a striking difference between the LG Q6 (priced at Rs.14,990) and Lenovo K8 Note (priced at Rs.13,999) as the former follows the LG G6 closely packing FullVision display with almost near zero bezels, while the latter has a more traditional rectangular design language.
Both the devices feel sturdy in hand but with rounded corners in Q6 that blend with the edges trumps the design of K8 Note.
LG Q6 offers a more secure grip but owing to the slippery back also has propensity to fall from hands. The plastic back is also a fingerprint magnet that looks untidy in everyday use. Lenovo has used an anti-fingerprint coating in the K8 Note’s screen thus eliminating the need to clean the back as in Q6.
There is no fingerprint sensor in Q6, instead Q6 offers face recognition that unlocks the device instantly and works nicely in environments where there is enough light but struggles to recognise the face in darker areas.
Display
While the LG Q6 packs a 5.5-inch FullVision display with 18:9 aspect ratio and has a resolution of 2160x1080p, Lenovo K8 Note features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display. Performance wise, the display of Q6 tops the K8 Note’s display and produces sharp colours with great contrast and brightness ratios. Social media fanatics would love the display of Q6 while tinkering around Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook.
LG Q6 also offers a pin screen feature that lets you pin the app onto the screen and temporary locks the use of any capacitive buttons. The feature comes in handy when you do not want any accidental presses to back or home button while working. There is no such feature in Lenovo K8 Note.
Performance
While the LG Q6 comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, Lenovo K8 Note ships with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The extra RAM did make a difference in the smooth running of phone. I tried working with more than 10 apps numerous time and K8 Note did not slow down once, LG Q6 did.
Besides, K8 Note is the first smartphone to feature the MediaTek Helio X23 deca-core chipset comprising of four A53 cores clocked at 1.4GHz and another four A53 cores at 1.53GHz and two A72 cores running at 2.2GHz, Q6 on the other hand is armed with Qualcomm’s entry level Snapdragon 435 processor.
During the review period, K8 Note ran faster than the LG Q6 in everyday usage. Running on LG’s UX 6.0 skin on top of Android 7.1.1 Nougat OS, LG’s customised layer is colorful and offers features including ‘Comfort view’ which reduces the blue light from smartphone.
Lenovo on the other hand has scrapped its customised software skin and is offering the stock Android Nougat OS which is fluidic and responsive than the company’s previous Vibe UIs. Lenovo K8 Note also comes equipped with Theater Max technology that allows you to view all the content on your device on a VR headset.
Camera
The 13MP rear camera of LG Q6 delivered impressive images with good amount of detailing in the pictures. The images captured in daylight displayed decent dynamic range too and looked sharp on the FullVision display. Images in the low-light performance were accompanied by noise and once you zoom in to maximum levels, there is clear distortion in image.
The Lenovo K8 Note sports 13MP+5MP rear camera accompanied by a depth mode. The purpose of 5MP secondary camera is to capture depth and while the bokeh effect images created by dual-lens set-up is not among the best, but gets the purpose solved by mixing foreground and background subjects.
Overall, the cameras on both the smartphones are good enough but there is a room for improvement. If you frequently want to click bokeh effect images, then clearly Lenovo K8 Note’s camera edges out the LG Q6 snapper.
Battery
The 4,000mAh battery of Lenovo K8 Note gave an impressive backup of a day even on heavy usage. And while Lenovo ships a 15W Turbo charger in the box, the 3,000mAh battery unit on LG Q6 nearly give a day’s backup on a single charge and the deficiency of fast charging in today’s fast paced life is disappointing.
Final word
If you love the edge-to-edge display of LG’s flagship G6, but don’t want to spend quite as much cash, LG’s new Q6 might be more your thing. On the contrary, Lenovo K8 Note represents a mighty and worthy update over its predecessor, offering great value for money in the form of performance, user experience and features in a sub Rs.15,000 smartphone.
