Lenovo is all set to kick off sales of its latest entry-level handset, the K6 Power, starting December 6. The phone will be sold exclusively on Flipkart for ₹9,999, and will be available in gold, silver, and dark grey color options.
The K6 Power is the latest handset to be powered by the Snapdragon 430, which offers an octa-core CPU with four Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.5GHz and four Cortex A53 cores at 1.2GHz. There's also the Adreno 505 GPU, and you get a massive 4000mAh battery, 3GB of RAM, 32GB storage, microSD slot, dual-SIM connectivity, 13MP camera (Sony IMX258) with PDAF, 8MP front shooter, 4G with VoLTE, Bluetooth 4.1, FM radio, and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n.
The K6 Power directly competes with Xiaomi's Redmi 3S, a stellar phone in this category. Although both phones feature a 5-inch display, the K6 Power offers a Full HD panel, whereas the Redmi 3S comes with a 720p display.
Even though it has a 4000mAh battery, the K6 Power is surprisingly compact, and you won't have any issues using the phone one-handed. It isn't too heavy either, with a weight of 145g. The design itself is standard fare, with the phone sporting a metal unibody construction with chrome accents around the rear camera sensor, LED flash module, and fingerprint scanner. The power and volume buttons are on the right and offer decent travel, and the micro-USB charging port has been moved next to the 3.5mm jack up top. You get capacitive navigation buttons at the front, but they're not backlit.
With a pixel density of 441ppi and 178-degree viewing angle, Lenovo is billing the K6 Power as a multimedia consumption device. You get stereo speakers at the back — which isn't ideal — and Lenovo is bundling its TheaterMax tech, making the phone compatible with VR viewers like Cardboard of Lenovo's own AntVR. The phone has a maximum brightness of 450 nits, and I didn't face any difficulty reading text under harsh sunlight (it's an agonizing 33 degrees Celsius in Hyderabad).
When it comes to the software side of things, the phone runs Lenovo's Vibe Pure UI atop Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. Like most other manufacturers, Lenovo has pared down on unnecessary customizations, making the interface look much more refined. There are a few useful additions thrown in as well, such as the ability to lock individual apps with a pattern or behind the fingerprint scanner. Lenovo is also offering a dual apps feature that lets you run two instances of an app. If you have two WhatsApp accounts, you can access both from the same device. Overall, the interface still contains a few "tweaks," but they're nowhere near as annoying as earlier iterations.
The 13MP camera takes a while to focus, but the resulting images are decent. I'll put the camera through its paces in the review, but if you're looking to buy the K6 Power primarily for taking images, know that image quality is strictly average. It's adequate for sharing on social platforms, but that's about it. Same goes for the front-facing camera.
The Snapdragon 430 is turning out to be a gem in the entry-level segment, offering adequate performance without any slowdowns. In the three days I've used the phone, I haven't noticed any hiccups. The dense screen is ideal for viewing content on the go, and the large battery ensures that you'll be able to do so for longer.
At a first glance, it's easy to see that the K6 Power offers great value for your money. It's an easy recommendation for under ₹10,000. If you are looking to pick up the handset, Flipkart is incentivizing the debut of the phone with several launch-day offers, with the first sale set to kick off at 12 p.m. on December 6.
