In terms of pure numbers, the Lenovo-Motorola partnership has been a great success in India. Lenovo's own smartphones, however, have suffered as a result of the company concentrating more on the Moto brand name as of late.
In the last six months alone, the company has launched seven Moto branded phones in India and only a handful of Lenovo devices. All that is about to change with the K8 Note - a smartphone which not only comes with a premium all-metal design and top of the line specifications but is also the first device from Lenovo's stable to run on a near stock version of Android.
At Rs 12,999, the K8 Note finds itself in an extremely competitive segment which ironically enough is dominated by the Moto G5 Plus - a smartphone which is, in essence, the K8 Note's blood relative. Lenovo claims that the performance, cameras and software experience are the key highlights of the smartphone. Let's talk about the software first.
It's all about stock Android
The distinction between a Lenovo and Motorola smartphone is blurring. Upon first impression, the K8 Note feels as if someone has crammed a Motorola handset inside the body of a Lenovo phone. The fact that a K8 Note feels a lot like a Moto device in use is high praise indeed as Moto's software is known to be the best in business.
Previous Lenovo smartphones ran Vibe UI which was notorious for being very heavy, laggy and full of bloat. Thankfully, Vibe UI is now dead in the water. Stock Android is truly the highlight of this device. Paired with the fairly powerful internals, the software just seems to zip along and rarely shows signs of slowing down.
The software looks exactly like the one found on Motorola's handsets - down to the custom icons for phone, file manager, camera and so on. Even the trademark Moto clock widget is on offer here. The only major distinction can be found in the settings. There is an option to customise the nifty hardware 'Music Key' which is found in the right edge of the device.
The Music Key can be used to control music playback. It can also be used to perform a variety of other functions such as opening a third party application or turning on the flashlight upon a long press. I personally love it when OEM's include such customisable hardware keys and this particular implementation reminds me of Nokia's old Xpress Music phones which used to come with dedicated music controls. Read more...
In the last six months alone, the company has launched seven Moto branded phones in India and only a handful of Lenovo devices. All that is about to change with the K8 Note - a smartphone which not only comes with a premium all-metal design and top of the line specifications but is also the first device from Lenovo's stable to run on a near stock version of Android.
At Rs 12,999, the K8 Note finds itself in an extremely competitive segment which ironically enough is dominated by the Moto G5 Plus - a smartphone which is, in essence, the K8 Note's blood relative. Lenovo claims that the performance, cameras and software experience are the key highlights of the smartphone. Let's talk about the software first.
It's all about stock Android
The distinction between a Lenovo and Motorola smartphone is blurring. Upon first impression, the K8 Note feels as if someone has crammed a Motorola handset inside the body of a Lenovo phone. The fact that a K8 Note feels a lot like a Moto device in use is high praise indeed as Moto's software is known to be the best in business.
Previous Lenovo smartphones ran Vibe UI which was notorious for being very heavy, laggy and full of bloat. Thankfully, Vibe UI is now dead in the water. Stock Android is truly the highlight of this device. Paired with the fairly powerful internals, the software just seems to zip along and rarely shows signs of slowing down.
The software looks exactly like the one found on Motorola's handsets - down to the custom icons for phone, file manager, camera and so on. Even the trademark Moto clock widget is on offer here. The only major distinction can be found in the settings. There is an option to customise the nifty hardware 'Music Key' which is found in the right edge of the device.
The Music Key can be used to control music playback. It can also be used to perform a variety of other functions such as opening a third party application or turning on the flashlight upon a long press. I personally love it when OEM's include such customisable hardware keys and this particular implementation reminds me of Nokia's old Xpress Music phones which used to come with dedicated music controls. Read more...