Xiaomi and Lenovo face off each other in a stringent budget smartphone battle in India, where demand for affordable phones continues to rise. Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 3 in India on Thursday, which has the specs and price to challenge Lenovo's most recent K4 Note smartphone.
The competition is good for consumers as they get more value for money, but it also increases the level of confusion in quest of the right smartphone. Here is a spec-by-spec comparison of Lenovo K4 Note and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, so buyers can make the choice easily.
Display and design
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 features a full metal unibody with rounded corners and curved edges along the sides of the rear panel. The handset measures 150 x 76.0 x 8.65mm and weighs 164 grams. Comparatively, the K4 Note is lighter than the Redmi Note 3 weighing 150 grams but measures 153.6 x 76.5 x 9.15-3.8 mm. The K4 Note uses polycarbonate back and has a metal frame for sturdiness.
Both smartphones have the same 5.5-inch Full HD display. The K4 Note offers 178-degree viewing angles with 441ppi while the Redmi Note 3 offers sunlight, night and reading modes with 403ppi.
Camera
Lenovo K4 Note sports a 13-megapixel ISOCELL camera sensor with f/2.2 aperture, dual-colour LED flash and PDAF. Xiaomi upped the ante on the camera front in its Redmi Note 3 with a 16MP primary sensor that is made up of f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, dual ISP and dual tone LED flash. On the front side, the Redmi Note 3 has f/2.0 aperture sized 5MP sensor. Comparatively, the K4 Note features a 5MP front camera of unknown aperture size.
Processor, RAM and storage
Lenovo K4 Note is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 octa-core processor, Mali T720 GPU, 3GB DDR3 RAM and 16GB storage. Xiaomi takes the lead with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 SoC, which has 6 cores clocking at 1.8GHz speed but gives up on the storage front. The Redmi Note 3 comes in two variants, one of which sports 2GB RAM and 16GB storage while the other gets double the storage and 3GB RAM (both DDR3).
Lenovo K4 Note buyers will have the advantage of adding more storage as its microSD card slot supports up to 128GB while the Redmi Note 3 owners are stuck with either 16GB or 32GB storage.
Battery
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 offers an impressive 4,050mAh battery against Lenovo K4 Note's 3,300mAh unit. Xiaomi claims the handset can last up to 22 days on standby while the K4 Note is said to last 12 days on standby.
Fingerprint scanner and other features
Both phones have fingerprint reading sensors at the back, just below the camera module. Xiaomi claims its scanner can unlock the device in just 0.3 seconds, and be used to snap selfies and lock third-party apps.
There are dual-SIM slots with 4G LTE support in both devices, while the K4 Note offers NFC in addition to the standard connectivity solutions that are present in the Redmi Note 3. The K4 Note also offers TheaterMax integration and Dolby Atmos surround sound on stereo speakers.
Price and availability
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is priced at Rs 9,999 for the 16GB variant while the 32GB model costs Rs 11,999. The first flash sale commences March 9 on Amazon India and Mi.com. The K4 Note is available without any flash sales or registrations for Rs 11,999 exclusively on Amazon India.
