Lenovo has expanded its smartphone portfolio extensively over the past year and it is continuing the trend this year too. At an event earlier this week, Lenovo finally launched its K4 Note smartphone in India that has come with compelling features at an attractive price. Lenovo also introduced a few premium features like fingerprint scanner in K4 Note, but it is not the only company to do so. Chinese tech firm Coolpad last year launched Note 3 smartphone with fingerprint scanner at an affordable price.
In this article, we will compare Lenovo K4 Note and Coolpad Note 3 to find out which smartphone would be a smart buy. Both phones are priced differently, Lenovo K4 Note costs Rs. 11,999 while the Coolpad Note 3 sells for Rs. 8,999. The comparison is based on the fact that both phones offer competitive specs at affordable prices.
Display and Design
Lenovo K4 Note looks more premium with its metal frame, front-facing speakers and polycarbonate back. In comparison, Coolpad Note 3 has a plastic body with a steel frame on the exterior and an aluminium frame inside to add strength. Both the phones have removable back covers, but Lenovo will soon come up with leather and wooden finish cases to give it a unique look.
On the display front, Lenovo K4 Note has 5.5-inch Full HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 441ppi and 178-degree viewing angle, which is the same as Coolpad Note 3, except the resolution is dropped to 1280 x 720 pixels.
By comparison, Lenovo K4 Note looks more premium and the display appears to be more vibrant that the Coolpad Note 3.
Processor, RAM and storage
Lenovo K4 Note is powered by a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek MT6753 processor paired with 3GB DDR3 RAM and Mali T720 GPU. There is 16GB onboard storage, which can be expanded additionally up to 128GB using microSD card.
Coolpad Note 3, on the other hand, is powered by a 64-bit 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6753 processor, 3GB RAM and has the same 16GB expandable storage.
On the performance front, there is a tie between both phones as they have the same specs. We reviewed Coolpad Note 3 and found the handset to perform without any lags, while gaming and multi-tasking. We expect a similar performance from Lenovo K4 Note when we review it in the near future.
Also read: Coolpad Note 3 Review
Camera
Lenovo K4 Note packs a 13-megapixel ISOCELL camera sensor with f/2.2 aperture, PDAF and dual LED flash on the rear and a 5MP snapper on the front. By comparison, Coolpad Note 3 also has a similar 13MP primary shooter with LED flash but has a lower f/2.0 aperture, which amounts for better photos in low-light conditions. The front camera is standard at 5 megapixels.
Battery
K4 Note smartphone packs a 3,300MAh battery, which is expected to deliver up to 23 hours on 2G talktime but we reserve our final conclusion until our review. Coolpad Note 3, however, packs a 3,000mAh battery and exceeded our expectations in terms of real life usage. With mixed usage, the handset survived close to a day.
Fingerprint scanner
Both Lenovo K4 Note and Coolpad Note 3 have a fingerprint scanner placed on the rear side just below the camera module. In the Coolpad smartphone, the fingerprint scanner was as accurate as it can get, which is kind of impressive since the handset retails at such low price. We haven't had hands on with Lenovo K4 Note's fingerprint sensor yet.
Given the benefit of doubt, Lenovo K4 Note's fingerprint sensor might work just as good and adds value to your smartphone. It's worth mentioning that if fingerprint scanner is your reason to buy a phone, Coolpad Note 3 comes at a much lower cost.
Add-ons
Lenovo K4 Note was bundled with some unique features. The handset comes with TheaterMax technology that converts your normal multimedia content into large-screen cinematic experience. This can be achieved with AntVR virtual reality headset that is sold separate for Rs. 1,299. Lenovo's smartphone also packs front-facing dual speakers (1.5W each) with Dolby Atmos integration, which is a first of its kind. Lenovo also claimed that its K4 Note comes with NFC, a feature that has been dismissed in many phones.
Comparatively, Coolpad Note 3 doesn't have too much in store except that it has its own theme store. The handset may not be as great as K4 Note in the audio department as we pointed in our review that Coolpad could have worked on the sound system.
Verdict
The first and foremost differentiating factor is the price. Coolpad Note 3 costs Rs. 3,000 cheaper than Lenovo K4 Note. With the price difference comes a few shortcomings such as great audio, better display and premium design. We wouldn't bet too much on massive difference in the performance, camera and battery, but it is best to reserve our final conclusion until we review the K4 Note. So if you are short on budget, Coolpad Note 3 serves a decent choice but Lenovo K4 Note got the looks.
