The competition has just got tougher for Lenovo’s K3 Note — considered to be one of the most feature-rich smartphones available in the sub-Rs 10,000 category. The only smartphone to sport a full-HD display in this price range, Lenovo K3 Note has a new rival: Micromax YU’s Yureka Plus.
The smartphone is an upgraded version of the company’s Yureka smartphone, which is also a great value-for-money device. Yureka Plus also offers a full-HD display and is 4G-enabled.
Wonder how the two smartphones compare when it comes to specifications and features. Here’s a brief comparison:
YU Yureka Plus and Lenovo K3 Note sport almost identical dimensions though the Yureka Plus is slightly taller. Lenovo K3 Note’s design is more subtle (we had a black coloured phone) while the YU Yureka Plus (a white coloured unit) has corners that are more rounded and a chrome frame around the edges, making the design slightly fancy.
Both the phones feature removable back covers that sport a matte finish. The covers are easy to remove and hide the two micro-sim card slots, a microSD card slot and removable batteries.
The power key and volume rocker are located at the right edge on the K3 Note and offer good tactile feedback. On the Yureka Plus, the volume rocker is on the left edge while the power key is on the right; both metallic keys offer good tactile feedback.
On the Yureka Plus, the 3.5mm headset jack sits at the top while the micro-USB port is at the bottom. Both ports are at the top on the K3 Note. We prefer the micro-USB port’s placement at the bottom.
The front of the two phones is dominated by a 5.5-inch full-HD(1920x1080p) display. The Yureka Plus has Gorilla Glass 3 protection to guard against scratches while the Lenovo K3 Note’s panel doesn’t come with additional protection.
The two phones feature capacitive navigation keys but only the ones on the Yureka Plus are backlit, giving it an edge. You can also choose to have on-screen navigation keys on the Yureka Plus.
The two phones offer wide viewing angles and text and graphics appear crisp and sharp. However, the two screens have very different colour temperature. The Yureka Plus has a slightly pinkish tone marking the warm colour temperature. We prefer the Lenovo K3 Note’s display.
Both the phones are powered by 64-bit octa-core processors and have 2GB RAM. The Lenovo K3 Note comes with a 1.7GHz MediaTek MT6752 processor, MALI T760 GPU and 16GB internal storage with a microSD card slot for expansion (up to 32GB.)
On the other hand, the Yureka Plus has a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chip, Adreno 405 GPU, and 16GB internal storage expandable up to 128GB via microSD card.
Both Lenovo K3 Note and Yu Yureka Plus feature the best hardware specifications under Rs 10,000.
We did not find any lag or stutter while using the phones and our experience while even playing graphic-intensive games like Asphalt 8 was smooth. However, we observed some major heating issues with YU Yureka Plus. The phone’s back gets warm even after brief use.
The K3 Note is powered by a 3000mAh battery while the Yureka Plus has a 2500mAh battery. The two dual-sim phones support 3G, 4G (CAT 4, including TDD-LTE, Indian 4G bands), Bluetooth and GPS.
Lenovo K3 Note runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and features Lenovo’s Vibe UI skin on top and comes with Lenovo’s utility apps. It also includes support for gestures like double tap to unlock.
The phone’s default UI is devoid of an app drawer and app icons and widgets are spread across the home screens. The unified home screen-app launcher style may come across as user-friendly to people who have not used an Android phone before.
YU Yureka Plus runs Cyanogen OS 12, a custom aftermarket version of Android 5.0 Lollipop developed by Cyanogen. Cyanogen is known for its customisability, enhanced performance and additional features. The look and feel is very close to stock Android barring a few UI elements, although customization is possible via themes.
You’ll like the YU Yureka Plus UI if you like the ability to customise your phone.
Lenovo K3 Note phablet sports a 13MP rear camera (f2.0 aperture, 1080p compatible) with dual-LED flash and a 5MP front-facing camera.
YU Yureka Plus also features a 13MP rear camera (f2.2 aperture, 75.4 degree angle, capable of 1080p video capture) with Sony EXMOR CMOS sensor and a 5MP front camera with 71 degree field of view.
Although the two phones sport similar camera hardware in terms of megapixels, we found the quality of pictures on the K3 Note slightly better.
Lenovo K3 Note (left) Vs YU Yureka Plus (right)
Corsindia 