Lenovo has been quite a dominant player in the Chinese smartphone market for the past several years. The manufacturer has tons of different devices in its portfolio, but it still feels that the company cannot produce a device that everyone desires like Xioami is capable of doing so.

Believe it or not but the budget Lenovo K3 Note has become one of the most popular Lenovo’s models lately especially once it was officially launched in India.

In case you missed it, you can check out the Lenovo K3 Note review:

SPECS

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Lenovo has been quite dominant player in the Chinese smartphone market for the past several years. The manufacturer has tons of different devices in its portfolio, but it still feels that the company cannot produce a device that everyone desires like Xioami is capable of doing so. This time around we are looking at the Lenovo K3 Note, which is said to directly compete with the Meizu M1 Note and other cheap, but good phones. Did Lenovo make it right? This is what we are going to do in this full review of the Lenovo K3 Note.

VIDEO REVIEW

SPECS

The specs are very good for the device that costs just over $160. However, we need to see how the smartphone performs in reality.

UNBOXING

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The device comes in a simple, yet good looking box, which has some main specs printed on it. This is a Chinese version of the smartphone as you may have noticed.

The backplate is made out of quality plastic. It is not glossy and does not attract fingerprints and smudges. Thank you, Lenovo for not implementing a fingerprint magnet. Our review unit comes in a flashy yellow colour, which definitely attracts some attention.

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The 5.5″ display is sharp, vivid and has great viewing angles.  However, it is not the brightest panel I’ve seen and it looks quite dim outdoors, but still visible. Overall, I like what I’m seeing here.

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Scrolling through menus is fast and smooth. There are some basic stock Lenovo apps pre-installed. They have a good looking minimal design and run without hiccups.

BENCHMARKS

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As far as synthetic benchmarks go, the device manages to get a really high score of over 46000 on Antutu 64-bit benchmarking app, which is even higher then some great devices with the Snapdragon 801 chip. Pretty impressive for a device with such a low price tag.

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To support the high score, the Lenovo K3 Note handles graphically intensive games without a sweat. Well, there were some skipped frames there and there, but nothing annoying.

MULTIMEDIA

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The Lenovo’s music app is easy to use, runs smoothly and has tons of settings for a pre-installed player. You can adjust the sound settings and do a lot of other things here. What is interesting is that you can simply put in a search the song you want and play it or download it for free! Well, this is a Chinese ROM and this is what’s going on in China. I’m not sure if it’s legal though, but whatever…

The sound output via loudspeaker is great. Also, has quite the balanced and rich sound.

As far as the sound quality via headphones, it is not the best I’ve heard (compared to the vivo Xshot and the HTC One M9), but definitely good for a budget device.

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Using a gallery app is a blast. It runs fast and I didn’t have any hiccups. However, it didn’t seem that the device came with decent a video player preinstalled, so I had to download a third-party one.

The 1080p video playback is good (used the MX Video Player) and scrolling throughout the footage is smooth.

The FM radio is also included and runs well (headphones required).

CONNECTIVITY AND CALL QUALITY

I checked all possible connectivity options and can assure that everything is running fantastic. It takes just a second to get the GPS lock outside and offline GPS apps run very accurately. I compared the lock speeds to the vivo Xshot, which has Snapdragon 801 and they were identical. It seems that Mediatek’s GPS struggles are the thing of the past.

Other connectivity options like Bluetooth and Wifi were excellent. I was even surprised by a great Wifi range the device is capable of.

The call quality using both earpiece and loudspeaker is excellent on both ends. The voices are clear, natural and loud enough to hear.

CAMERA

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The camera app is simple and it is not overloaded with features. You can adjust some basic settings and select from a few different modes. The shutter speed is not the fastest I’ve seen, but still very good.

PICTURE QUALITY

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As far as the picture quality, it’s just mediocre. The shots taken outside with natural lighting have plenty of detail and colours look natural. However, my experience was that you have to hold the phone steady to avoid blurry shots. In addition, the camera struggles with the dynamic range big time. Even HDR mode didn’t help me get some more even exposure on all objects in the picture.

Once you take the device inside with a lot of light, you can capture some nice looking images with a great amount of resolved detail. If you manage to do that, you can definitely achieve some sharp looking results.

Low light shots don’t have much detail and there is a lot of visible noise. However, the embedded dual LED flash (single tone) manages to light the dark scene up quite well. But again, here you have to be even more careful about holding the device steady as the shutter speed slows down.

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The Chinese manufacturers have been quite busy producing device after device. The market is flooded with a variety of different smartphones and it may become quite hard to choose the right one if you are on the tight budget. Indeed, there may be a lot of devices, which cost around $100, but the majority of them cannot offer a pleasant overall user experience. Thus, we decided to gather the best budget Chinese smartphones under $200. For this amount of money, you may definitely pick up a great offering. We did a research for the best prices available so you can save as much as possible. We will edit the article if the prices go down. Your cooperation in the comments section is appreciated!

Meizu M1 Note

Meizu is one of those companies that struggles with a market share in China as it the competition is really stiff out there. Still, they try to stay in the game by producing some great budget devices. One of them is the Meizu M1 Note.

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First, we have to admit that it looks like the iPhone 5C and the marketing strategy “For the Youth” is clearly altered Apple’s slogan “For the Colourful”. Nevertheless, the device comes in the variety of colours and a glossy plastic body.

The key features include a 5.5 inch 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Mediatek MT6752 Octa-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 chip, 2 GB of RAM, 16/32 GB of internal storage (however, non-expandable), Dual SIM (Micro-SIM, dual stand-by), 13 MP/5MP camera combo. In addition, it runs the Flyme 4.0 OS on top of Android 4.4.4 Kitkat. All of these goodies are powered by a beefy non-removable 3140 mAh battery.

All of the specs sound good, but the price makes it even better, which is under $200!

Buy Meizu M1 Note for $194.99 with free shipping from Pandawill!

Elephone P7000

Elephone P7000 is company’s “Annual Flagship” device, which will be released very soon. The reason we are writing about device, which is not yet on sale is that you can pre-order it for a very special price of $159.99!

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We are quite excited to get our hands-on this device since it offers a bunch of specs, which are hard to to beat for the price. It starts with a 5.5″ FHD (1080p) screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and sits in a nice body, which is surrounded by a quality metal frame. Inside the device you will find a MTK6752 64-bit chip, 3GB of RAM(eMMC+DDR3), 16GB of expandable storage, Dual SIM card slots with a dual standby feature, 13MP/5MP camera combo. All of this is powered by the a 3450 mAh removable battery. Oh, and yes, this device a fingerprint scanner on the back of the device. 

All of this and more you can get for only $159.99 special price, which sounds like a steal considering what you get for that. 

Pre-order Elephone P7000 for $159.99 from Gearbest!(Gold colour), black colour, white colour.

You can also buy Elephone P7000 from any other online retailer as currently they offer the same price. In order to get the special price, you have to participate in Elephone’s contest via www.elephone.hk. Here are the official rules determined by Elephone:

1.      After the success of snapping up on the activity page, you might get an ELE code.
2.      Go to shop for ELEPHONE P7000 at the price of $229.99 from the online shop which you have picked.
3.      After ordering, your must provide ELE code to customer service.
4.      Customer service will change the original price ($229.99)to $159.99.
5.      After the price is changed, please pay for your order.
6.      Pay success and waiting for shipments.
7.      ELE code is available for next 48 hours.
8.      If any online shop doesn’t carry out this rule, please contact us immediately.
9.      ELEPHONE Email address: elephone.summer@gmail.com

Also, you may get ELE code in our upcoming giweaway.

Elephone P6000

Although Elephone P6000 was released quite a while ago considering fast Chinese products cycles, it is still an option worth mentioning. This is actually even cheaper device, which falls under the category of sub $150 devices.

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The key highlights of the device include 5 inch 1280 × 720 screen, MTK6732 64-bit Quad Core chip, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of expandable storage (up to 64 GB), 13MP/2MP camera combo. All of this is powered by 2700mAh removable battery and Android 5.0 Lolipop is running the show.

It sounds like a great package to buy if you consider the low price tag of just $116!

Buy Elephone P6000 for $116 from Everbuying!

Ulefone Be Pro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnvaPWfZJdI

Ulefone is a Chinese smartphone brand that was making smartphones for other companies for quite some time. However, they decided that they want to enter the smartphone business on their own.It seems that the entry has been quite a success so far, especially with its Ulefone Be Pro budget-friendly device, which has taken some design inspirations from the OnePlus One and has become very popular in its category.

The main specs of the device include 5.5 inch 720p resolution display, MTK6732 64-bit Quad Core CPU, which is clocked at 1.5GHz. Also, it is backed up with the Mali T760 GPU, 2 GB of Ram, 16 GB of expandable storage. Moreover, there is a 13MP and 8MP camera combo on back and on the front of the device respectively.

You can also check out our full written review of Ulefone Be Pro!

Buy Ulefone Be Pro for $149.99 from Gearbest

Ecoo E04 3 GB RAM Version

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Ecoo E04 Plus has been marketed to be the cheapest device with 3 GB of RAM on board. Besides having a huge memory for multitasking, the device specs some impressive specs for the price. That includes a 5.5 inch IPS display with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. The device also has a MediaTek MT6752 1.7GHz 64-bit octa-core chip, 16 GB of expandable storage, removable 3000mAh battery, a finger print sensor and more! All of these goodies are offered for a very attractive price, which does not exceed $200.

Buy Ecoo E04 3 GB RAM version for $182.99 from Everbuying!

Lenovo K3 Note

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Lenovo is one of the top selling brand in China and Lenovo K3 Note is one of the devices designed to keep the sales up. This is a device, which was made to directly compete with the Meizu M1 Note and other cheap devices with great specs.

We believe that Lenovo managed to deliver here as it has a 5.5 inch IPS screen with FHD (1920×1080) resolution, MTK6752 64bit Octa core chip, 2GB of RAM,  16GB of expandable storage, 13MP/5MP camera combo, 4G connectivity and more. Also, the device comes in both white and flashy yellow colours for those who want to stand out!

Buy Lenovo K3 Note for $159.99 from Gearbest (White Version) and $159.99 for a Yellow version.

Mlais M52

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Mlais may not be the manufacturer you you’ve been thinking of when it comes to choosing a right smartphone. However, it seems that the company does everything to make a splash in the smartphone business as their M52 model has some amazing specs for a low price.

The great things start with a 5.5 inch 720p display, MTK6752 64bit Octa core chip, 2GB of RAM,  16GB of expandable storage, 13MP/8MP cameras on the back and front respectively, 4G connectivity and more. The device comes in a variety of colours, which include white, black, red and blue.

Buy Mlais M52 for just $149.99 from Gearbest (white variant), red variant , blue variant ,  black variant. 

Mlais M7

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Here is another device from the Mlais. It is not on sale now, but you can already pre-order it online. The device comes in a good looking design with metal frame and the fingerprint sensor on the back.

The key specs include 5.5-inch IPS panel, octa-core MT6752 processor, 3GB of RAM, 13 mega-pixel camera on the back. 2600mAh removable battery with a Quick Charge support is running the show. And yes, you are also getting a fingerprint sensor on the back. It seems to be another great offering for those who look for a great budget device with great specs.

Buy Mlais M7 for $189.99 from Gearbest (white colour), black colour. 

Siswoo Cooper I7

Siswoo is not a manufacturer you are thinking of when it comes to Chinese smartphones, but this device is a solution for those, who want a compact device since the Cooper I7 spots a 5 inch display.

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Also, this device may be for those who like the Meizu design language as the Cooper I7 clearly borrows a lot from the MX4.

Besides the design, the device spots a pretty reasonable package. It has a 5 inch 720p display, MTK6752 64-bit Octa Core chip,  2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, 8MP/5MP camera combination, dual SIM card slots, 4G, 2100 mAh removable battery and more. The usual price was $200, which was definitely too much for the hardware. However, recent price cuts to $150 makes this device worth a consideration.

Buy Siswoo Cooper I7 for $149.99 from Coolicool

iOcean M6752 Rock

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iOcean managed to produce a quite interesting device both inside and out. It comes in black and white versions, which both imitate sandstone finish more or less.

The device spots a 5.5 inch FHD screen. Under the hood it has MT6752 Octa Core 64-bit chip, 3 GB of RAM, 16 GB of expandable storage, dual SIM card slots, removable 2300mAh battery, 14MP/5MP camera combo, 4G connectivity, fast charging and more.

Buy iOcean M6752 Rock for $196.99 from Geekbuying (white version), black version.

Jiayu S3 Advanced (3 GB version)

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Jiayu is quite popular name in the Chinese smartphones category. The company manages to produce some respectable devices for a low price. This time around the company made a safe bet with its S3 3GB model.

The device has a decent build quality, design and great specs. It starts with a 5.5 inch 1080p panel and under the hood you can find goodies like the MTK6752 Octa Core 64-bit chip, 3 GB of RAM, 16 GB of expandable storage, 3000 mAh removable battery, dual SIM card support, 4G, dual wifi support and more. All of this costs just under $200 margin, which sounds like a great deal.

Buy Jiayu S3 3 GB version for $199.19 from Antelife (black variant), white variant

So there you have it, the best Chinese smartphones you can buy for under $200 in our opinion. It seems that you can get quite a lot from many manufacturers for this amount of money instead of spending too much for a flagship made by Samsung or Apple. It is always up to you, but we think that these devices are designed for not only those who live on the tight budget, but also prefer spending extra money on something else!

If you believe that some of the devices are really worth mentioning in this article, please let us know in the comments section below. Also, we always try to provide you with the best prices on the market to purchase above mentioned devices. Still, if you find lower prices, please let us know!

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Lenovo is stepping up its game in the smartphone market with new releases this year. While the company announced more than five smartphones at MWC 2015 alone, now, Lenovo is back with another affordable smartphone, the new Lenovo K3 Note. This particular device will be a part of the company’s value for money Lemon lineup.

Specs wise, the phone features upper mid-range specs. The Lenovo K3 Note comes with the powerful MT6752 64-bit octa-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz. This octa-core SoC can handle anything that you throw at it with ease. The processor is backed by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The ROM is further expandable thanks to the provided MicroSD slot which can take up to 32GB cards.

Given that it comes with the ‘Note’ name tag, the phone features a large 5.5-inch display. To make things even more attractive, you have full HD 1080p resolution on this display panel. This is exactly what you get on the Meizu M1 Note. The processor, display and RAM are the same as the Meizu phablet which clearly shows that the Lenovo K3 Note is looking to take on the popular device.

At the back, you have a 13MP camera unit while up front, you get a 5MP shooter. The battery will be of 3000 mAh which should be enough to last for an entire day with moderate usage. Naturally, with such great specs, the 4G LTE connectivity doesn’t come as a surprise. It also supports dual SIM dual Standby. The phone is pretty slim too and measures just 7.6mm in thickness. Given its plastic design, the K3 Note weighs just about 150 grams.

The new Lenovo smartphone features a very unique design. While the bright yellow shade doesn’t come as a surprise given that this is from the Lemon lineup, the company’s logo is engraved inside a large circular ring at the back, which gives it a unique look. Also, the speakers are located on the around the top instead of the traditional bottom placement.

Overall, the Lenovo K3 Note tries to carve out its own identity in this over crowded market. And it succeeds to a certain extent to get our attention. The powerful specs, unique design and a price tag that’s 899 Yuan ensures that the Lemon K3 Note is one of the best mid-range handsets out there in the market.

In addition to this, there will be a different Teana variant of this smartphone, which will spot a “ceramic piece vibration speaker). The Teana version will basically provide a better listening experience as it will have an upgraded speaker, which is louder and produces a rich sound. To have this feature, however, you would need to pay bit higher price tag, which is 999 Yuan.

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