Lenovo Vibe K5 Note vs the competition

The Lenovo Vibe K5 Note has finally hit Indian shores, and succeeds the Vibe K4 Note that launched at the start of this year. The former brings in a few improvements over the latter, including a more powerful processor, an additional gig of RAM, enhanced expandable storage capabilities, bumped up front camera resolution, and an upgrade in build quality and design, with the Vibe K5 Note featuring a full metal unibody construction.

• Xiaomi Mi Max review
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note review
• Moto G4 Plus review

As good as the Vibe K5 Note may seem on paper, there is no shortage of great, high quality but affordable smartphones in the Indian market, and the K5 Note does come up against some stiff competition. With the device being available from August 4, and to help you make your choice easier, we take a quick by-the-numbers look at the Lenovo Vibe K5 Note vs the competition!

With their respective price points in mind, we will be pitting the Vibe K5 Note against the Moto G4 Plus and the Xiaomi Mi Max, and also include its predecessor, to see if it proves to be a worthy upgrade.

First, let’s dig right into the CPU performance of these four smartphones. The Vibe K5 Note impresses in this department as the octa-core MediaTek Helio P10, clocked at 1.8 GHz, packs more of a punch than any of the processors powering the Vibe K4 Note and the Moto G4 Plus. This means that apart from general day to day tasks, performing more processor-intensive activities, such as high resolution video streaming and gaming, should be far better on the Vibe K5 Note. The Xiaomi Mi Max comes with the better processing package of the lot however,, and some may actually prefer the reliability that is available with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 series processor, or the Snapdragon 617 that comes with the Moto device.

The Vibe K4 Note also falls behind when it comes to on-board storage, with 16 GB being the only option available, with 3 GB of RAM. The Moto G4 Plus is available in 16 GB or 32 GB iterations, which dictates whether you will get 2 GB or 3 GB of RAM. The Vibe K5 Note will come with 32 GB of on-board storage, regardless of whether you opt for the 3 GB or 4 GB of RAM version. The Mi Max is available with 128 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, but that is far more expensive, so for the purposes of this comparison, we will be looking at the 32 GB iteration with 3 GB of RAM. all of the devices come with expandable storage via microSD, up to an additional 256 GB.

When it comes to the camera, Lenovo has kept selfie lovers in mind while building the Vibe K5 Note by upgrading the resolution of its front-facing shooter to 8 MP, compared to the 5 MP unit found with its predecessor. It still shares the same 13 MP ISOCELL camera as the Vibe K4 Note though. Both the Mi Max and the Moto G4 Plus feature a 16 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front-facing camera.

Lenovo has also upped the battery size in the Vibe K5 Note to 3,500mAh, but it still fails to come close to the Xiaomi Mi Max, which draws juice from a massive 4,850mAh battery. The Vibe K4 Note and Moto G4 Plus come with smaller 3,300mAh and 3,000mAh batteries respectively.

All four smartphones come with IPS LCD displays with a Full HD resolution, but while the Moto G4 Plus, K4 Note, and K5 Note feature 5.5-inch screens, the Mi Max has bumped up the display size to massive 6.44-inches. As such, while the first three smartphones offer similar handling experiences, the huge Mi Max will certainly take some getting used to, and one-handed use is practically out of the question with this device.

What certainly tips the scales in favor of the K4 Note and K5 Note is the support for Lenovo’s TheatreMax technology, bundled with the ANT VR headset, for converting any games and videos into virtual reality (VR). The K5 Note will also come with a controller, and you’re looking for a more serious gaming controller, Lenovo has thrown in a Bluetooth controller from Amkette along with the Vibe K5 Note. However, these controllers will also work with the K4 Note.

Despite introducing quite a few improvements in its upgraded iteration, Lenovo has priced the 3GB RAM version of the Vibe K5 Note at Rs 11,999 (~$180), while the 4GB RAM version will sell for Rs 13,499 (~$202). Both the 32 GB and 3 GB versions of the Moto G4 Plus and Xiaomi Mi Max are priced at Rs 14,999 (~$225), while the 128 GB and 4 GB version of the Mi Max will set you back Rs 19,999 (~$300). The Vibe K4 Note is unsurprisingly the cheapest of the lot, priced at Rs 10,999 (~$165), with a wooden back edition available for Rs 11,499 (~$172).

So there you have it for this quick look at the Lenovo Vibe K5 Note vs the competition. The K5 Note does seem to offer more than other similarly-priced, or slightly more expensive smartphones, and if you are looking to get into the VR game, the K5 Note is certainly going to be the best option. If price is a concern, the K4 Note and the 3 GB iteration of the K5 Note are the cheapest of the lot, but if a massive display is what you are in the market for, the Xiaomi Mi Max is a great choice.

Let us know in the comments below which of these smartphones would you prefer!