On the other hand, Lenovo, after A7000, was expected to release the next version, A7000+ but released a phablet device with a name K3 Note. Though the name sounds different, K3 Note is the expected A7000 Plus version. It has got slight upgrades to A7000 and stood in front in the line of budget smartphones.
If you are planning to buy a smartphone under 10K INR i.e., $250 USD and if you had these two phablet devices in mind, you would get confused to choose between these two macros. This comparative review will help you decide which one to buy. Don’t miss a point!
Design
Both the Zenfone 2 Laser and K3 Note are beautifully designed. Each device has followed its own ergonomics and has its own build qualities. Both the devices are built with a plastic material that fits good in the hand.What’s the difference?
The design of Asus Zenfone 2 Laser looks premium compared to K3 Note. The back cover of Zenfone 2 Laser has a rubberish finish giving it a look that Microsoft Lumia phones get usually. Read more about design of Asus Zenfone 2 Laser (opens in new tab).Lenovo furnishes the same design and material that of A7000 to K3 Note. It is somewhat difficult to differentiate A7000 and K3 Note in terms of design. The material used by Lenovo for its body looks normal and one can easily identify it as a budget phone from even from a little distance. Read more about design of K3 Note (opens in new tab).
If it is the design that you care..
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser is the device for you if you care about the look and feel of the device. The curvy and rubberish back will give a firm grip of the device along with the premium look.Display
Both the Zenfone 2 Laser and K3 Note sports 5.5 inch IPS HD display. Zenfone 2 Laser is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 whereas Lenovo hasn’t cared much about providing the screen protection for K3 Note like as it hasn’t for A7000 and earlier budget smartphones.Scratch free screen protection is one of those major features that a budget gadget buyer would look for. Missing it will not only result in losing sales but also the trust in build quality. This is a great minus of Lenovo budget gadgets. May be that’s why one of our readers asked us to list out best budget smartphones under 10K INR other than Lenovo’s.
Coming to the display quality, Lenovo K3 Note has the brightest and vivid display with better auto brightness control than Asus Zenfone 2 Laser. The 1080p display on K3 Note gives the sharpest picture than the Zenfone 2 Laser’s 720p display. But, Asus has got better viewing angles compared to K3 Note.
Read more about display of Asus Zenfone 2 Laser (opens in new tab)
Read more about display of K3 Note (opens in new tab)
If it is the display that you care..
Both these budget phablets are good enough to buy in terms of display quality. Though Asus got 720p display, it is good enough to produce non-pixelate sharp pictures on it. It has also got the Gorilla Glass 4 protection which is mostly considered in budget handsets. But Lenovo, though having 1080p display, doesn’t come with Gorilla Glass protection which is not a fair choice to choose.Note: Lenovo gives a plastic screen protector along with the handset in the box. If you want a third-party tampered glass protection, you will have to spend some more bucks on it separately.
So, it is better to go with Zenfone 2 Laser with the screen protection in terms of display.
Performance
Either of these devices performs well with their configurations. Asus replaces Intel processor in this Laser version with the Snapdragon 410 Quad Core 1.2 GHz processor supported by 2 GB RAM and Adreno 306 GPU. Whereas, Lenovo K3 Note comes with 1.7 GHz MediaTek Cortex A53 processor supported by 2 GB RAM and ARM Mali-T760 MP2 GPU.Both the devices come with Lollipop based custom UI operating systems. Though having multiple bugs, lollipop works great in multi-tasking.
If it is the performance that you care..
Who doesn’t love the well-performing smartphones? If performance is the only metric that you want between these two devices, better to go with Asus Zenfone 2 Laser. Because Snapdragon 410 processor with 2 GB RAM and Adreno 306 GPU works better than the MediaTek and ARM Mali-T760 combo.Note: Both the devices might get Android Lollipop 5.1 OS update very soon as the age of Marshmallow 6.0 has already started.
Memory
Both Asus Zenfone 2 Laser and K3 Note comes with 16 GB internal memory on the board. Zenfone 2 Laser is expandable up to 128 GB whereas K3 Note can only be expanded up to 32 GB through micro SD card.If it is the memory that you care..
No doubt Asus Zenfone 2 Laser should be your choice here too.Camera
Camera is the main upgrade for both these next version phablets. Lenovo K3 Note has been upgraded with the back camera of 13 MP and Zenfone 2 Laser with Laser shooting technology to its 13 MP camera. Though it is the main boasted feature of Zenfone 2, it couldn’t catch the subject into focus with the tap-to-focus feature as quick as expected.The dual tone LED flash, and some camera modes are common on these devices. Asus upgrades camera modes with the software update from time-to-time. Both the devices have 5MP front camera with some set of selfie camera modes.
If it is the camera that you care..
Both the cameras are not that great (means not bad) compared to other budget range handsets in the race. If the camera is the only thing that you care about in a phone and you have these two phones in mind, simply consider other features to decide.Connectivity
Both the handsets come with dual 4G LTE SIM support. The Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS connections are the same in both the devices. Asus uses multiple satellite navigation systems for accurate GPS connections. Other than this, both the phones have the same connectivity features.If it is the connectivity that you care..
Both the handsets have the same 4G LTE support for both the SIM slots. If you are a GPS freak, better to go for Asus otherwise, Lenovo is also good at it.Battery
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser comes with removable 3000mAh battery whereas Lenovo K3 Note with 2900mAh battery which is also user replaceable.If it is the battery that you care..
The 100mAh difference won’t bring much change in battery life of both the devices but Asus with Qualcomm snapdragon chipset on the board will long laster than the K3 Note. If it is the battery life that you care, both the devices are good at it.Note: Asus Zen UI have an auto-start manager app that is used to manage the background startup and running of apps manually which saves more battery.
What to choose? – Final advice
The Zenfone 2 Laser and K3 Note are great devices at the point of times they were released. The both have some set of pros and cons individually. When compared, both have several differences and they can’t make one another any less.I recommend you to read the full specification reviews of Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE550KL (opens in new tab) and Lenovo K3 Note (opens in new tab) once before you take a decision.
Hope this article helped you choose one among the both. If you are clear, here are the direct links of the two devices to buy from.
Buy Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE550KL Now (Flipkart link)
Buy Lenovo K3 Note Now (Flipkart link)
If you still can’t, comment your tumbling thoughts below. We’ll discuss about ‘em.
Hi Sasidhar
ReplyDeleteI am so fascinated by your review. These are great phones and their features are so interesting. Thanks for sharing
Hi Ikechi,
DeleteGlad this review amazed you. Hope you could select the best one among these two without any confusion now.
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