The manufacturer continues the trend with the recently launched S860, and here’s what we make of it.
Camera and Internal Storage
Although this smartphone’s USP lies beneath its back cover (4000mAh battery), Lenovo has taken other departments seriously to make the device a complete package. The phone comes with an 8MP rear shooter coupled with a 1.6MP front, which isn’t bad at all, considering that you’ll probably be buying the phone for the battery. Most other phones with a stand out feature (battery in this case) usually have a specs sheet that doesn’t match against the trend. What might disappoint you is the fact that the device has no microSD bay, which means that you will be limited to the 16GB that it has on-board. Not that 16GB is a small amount of storage, but it is always nice to have a microSD card slot that promises a bit of flexibility.
Processor and Battery
The phone comes with the quad-core MediaTek MT6582, which is a result of a lot of research and experience; MediaTek made at least 4 quad-core chipsets before churning out the MT6582, which happens to have a really good cost : performance ratio associated with it. That’s for MediaTek; what Lenovo have done is that they’ve paired the quad-core CPU with a wholesome 2GB of RAM, which should make the device quite a decent multitasker. The battery on the Lenovo S860, as mentioned before, is its USP. Although other phones have started showing up with 3000-3500mAh units, hardly any feature batteries as large as the one on this one – a 4000mAh unit. This should take you through 2 days on an average, and even more if you don’t use your smartphone like one.
Display and Features
The S860 comes with a 5.3 inch screen with a slightly underpowering 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. With the average smartphone screen size going up by the day, a 5.3 inch phone is perhaps something most would agree upon. You should be able to (sort of) enjoy movies and games on the phone, and definitely enjoy web browsing. The device, being a MediaTek powered one, comes with Android v4.2 on board. Its been a while since MediaTek phones received an update, so who knows you might be in for a surprise, soon.
Competition
Huawei Ascend Mate, Ascend Mate 2Intex Aqua OctaMicromax Canvas Knight
Conclusion
Although the asking price of 21,500 INR might look a bit steep for a quad-core smartphone of today, you must keep in mind it is not the processor that you’re buying it for, but the battery. Lenovo have done well to include 2GB of RAM, but a slightly lower price of say 19-20,000 INR would’ve seemed way more attractive to the everyday buyer.
