Lenovo P780 Android - a new generation mobile device from the line of "long-livers" from Lenovo.
A little about the category "P"
In the classifier of smartphones from Lenovo there is one very interesting category of mobile devices, which is indicated by the letter "P". Under this letter are devices that in terms of popularity among users can not only argue, but also give odds to their flagship counterparts. This category includes mobile devices that are aimed at a business audience. This does not mean the cost of a class “P” device, but the reliability of gadgets, the daily conduct of important matters, the smooth execution of various tasks. In order for smartphones to be able to safely perform their functions, the manufacturer supplied the series we are considering with very capacious batteries - this is their main "trick". In addition, they have the opportunity to use two SIM-cards - also one of the main requirements for a modern mobile device for business people.
Now we pass directly to the model we are interested in. The new Lenovo P780 smartphone differs from its predecessors (P700i and P700) literally in everything: a large number of processor cores, a new operating system, a large screen, a capacious battery, a better camera, etc. We consider these parameters in more detail.
Main characteristics
The phone has a SoC MediaTekMT6589 processor (1.2 GHz), ARMCortex-A7 and 1 GB of RAM (RAM). The internal memory of the Lenovo P780 is 8Gb. The smartphone supports microSD memory cards. The device works in the standard of modern networks GSM (900/1800/1900 MHz) and 3G WCDMA (900/2100 MHz). The touch display (IPS) of the device has a diagonal of five inches (1280 Ă— 720, 293 ppi). But that's not all! The phone has a standard set of functions: Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi access point, A-GPS, GPS, gyroscope, electronic compass, light and proximity sensors. The front camera is 0.3 megapixels, and the main one is 8 megapixels with autofocus and LED flash.
High-resolution cameras are installed on all devices of category "P", Lenovo P780 was no exception. Smartphone firmware - Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean. The device’s overall dimensions are 143 × 73 × 9.95 mm and weight is 176 g. The main feature of the phone is a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh.
Contents of delivery
The Lenovo P780 smartphone goes on sale in a spacious cardboard box covered with light paper. In appearance, the packaging is very simple, but quite neat and practical. The kit includes a powerful (respectively, not very compact) charger, a Micro-USB connection cable, headphones, and an OTG adapter for connecting external peripherals and flash drives to a smartphone. Case for Lenovo P780 not included.
Appearance
Phone Lenovo P780 differs discreet appearance. Although the device does not look expensive, but at the same time it blows from it with some precise alignment of all lines and contours, thoughtful conciseness, unshakable solidity and, one might even say, light brutality.
It can be clearly stated that this phone is a male device. Its external structure reflects minimalism - the absence of window dressing and tinsel. The weight and overall dimensions are quite large, so it is not suitable for every hand, especially a female one. The considerable weight of the smartphone is explained by the presence of a metal back cover and a huge battery, which is the hallmark of Lenovo P780.
The phone’s specifications speak for themselves, and its incredible “vitality” will be described below. So considerable weight is difficult to attribute to disadvantages, rather, this is a plus of this model. Now about the back cover: it is made of a thick metal profile. This is rare for modern phones, but not for Lenovo devices. Naturally, this gives the device extra weight, but also the strength: when you take the Lenovo P780 in your hand, you immediately feel its monolithic reliability.
We remove the back panel and our eyes see the standard picture for mobile devices: three slots (one for a memory card and two for SIM cards) are arranged in a row above the battery, which have a slotted structure, that is, the contents are held in them solely due to the friction force. In addition, there is a small red button designed to force a reboot of the device.
With the back cover on, the rear surface of the device looks standard: in the upper part there is a video camera window framed by a metal rim, and next to it is the eye of the LED flash, which can be used as a flashlight.
A protective glass covers the entire front panel of the phone. Under it are the front camera, touch sensors, the speaker grille and three buttons for managing applications and the system. A chrome-plated metal rim is launched around the perimeter of the body of the device - a thin strip recessed into plastic so that it does not cause inconvenience with its slippery and smooth surface. The rest of the phone is rough and matte, so the device is firmly held in the palm of your hand, while not being covered by fingerprints. A rather practical case is undoubtedly a plus of the Lenovo P780 Black.
Management Functionality Disadvantages
Despite numerous advantages, the smartphone is far from ideal. Let's consider what disadvantages were identified by the owners of the Lenovo P780 model. User reviews report that the device has a significant minus - this is an unsuccessful location of the power / lock key. It, like most smartphones, is located in the upper end of the case. However, the designers did not take into account the fact that the device has very impressive overall dimensions, so reaching out to this button with your finger is very inconvenient. Often, developers implement an alternative option for waking up the device: unlocking is done by tapping the screen. However, such a function was not provided by the designers of Lenovo P780.
Owner reviews note another drawback of the model - it is also located in the upper end of the case the universal connector of the Micro-USB interface. For some reason, it is covered with a rubber stopper, and the device does not have protection against moisture and dust, and the neighboring audio output jack is not equipped with any plugs. This solution is not only strange, but also inconvenient: the user constantly has to pry out a very hard cover with his nails, and then it also needs to be held, as it interferes with connecting the cable to the connector. Some owners prefer to tear off this stub and do without it in the future.
In addition to the elements listed above, there is another key on the device’s body - this is a paired volume level button, which is located on the right side of the device. It is quite large, well pressed, made of metal, but its location is also inconvenient. It is too high, and it is still difficult for a finger to reach it. On this, the complaints of the owners on the functionality of the smartphone end.
Screen
This item is the pride of the Lenovo P780. The screen of this model is an IPS matrix measuring 62 x 110 mm, the diagonal of which is 127 mm (5 inches) with a resolution of 1280 Ă— 720 pixels. The brightness of the display is adjustable both in manual and in automatic mode, the latter being based on the operation of light sensors. The multi-touch technology implemented in the smartphone allows you to process up to ten simultaneous touches. In addition, the device has a proximity sensor that locks the screen when you bring the device to your ear. The front surface of the monitor is made in the form of a plate with a mirror-smooth surface, which is very resistant to scratches. It is equipped with effective anti-glare protection, which is not inferior to the Google Nexus 7 in terms of brightness reduction.
The screen has a good viewing angle without a significant color shift, even with a large deviation of the gaze from the perpendicular to the monitor and without inverting colors. The color rendition is good, the colors are saturated. The balance of shades on the gray scale is medium. This is because the color temperature exceeds the standard 6500 K, and the deviation from the spectrum of the ideal black body is noticeably higher than 12, which is considered not the best indicator for the consumer device. But with all this, the mentioned parameters slightly deviate from the norm, and this positively affects the visual perception of color balance.
Summing up, it can be noted that the screen has a high level of maximum brightness and effective anti-glare protection, so the smartphone can comfortably use a summer sunny day. In the absence of natural light, the brightness level can be reduced. It is permissible to use the automatic tuning mode, it works quite adequately. The advantages of the Lenovo P780 model (reviews of the owners confirm this) include excellent oleophobic coating, sRGB coverage, high contrast, no flicker and air gap between the layers of the screen, good black stability to deviation from the perpendicular to the display plane. The color balance is difficult to call ideal, but without a reference for comparison it is not easy to notice. The main disadvantage of the screen is the low uniformity of color and brightness parameters over the display area. In general, we get a high-quality monitor on the IPS-matrix.
Sound features
The sound capabilities of the Lenovo P780 smartphone ( owner reviews - a direct confirmation of this) can not boast. People note that the ringing speaker erupts in a very loud and very unpleasant piercing sound, in which ringing high frequencies prevail - there are no basses at all. In the headphones that come with the kit, the situation is the opposite. Sounds are excessively saturated with low frequencies, so much so that sometimes it is impossible even to parse the lyrics of a song (however, this minus is partially eliminated due to the adjustment using the equalizer), and the maximum level is not high enough. So we can conclude that the Lenovo P780 is not a musical solution. Even programmatically, manufacturers limited themselves to installing only a standard application.
The smartphone has an FM receiver that works only with connected headphones, and a voice recorder designed to create sound notes. Consumers are pleased with the opportunity to record a telephone conversation directly from the line, which is very convenient. But access to the recording created in this way can be obtained only with the help of a special file manager, since it is not reflected next to the completed call in the call list, as in other smartphones.
Camera
The smartphone is equipped with two digital cameras. The front camera has a resolution sensor of 0.3 megapixels without flash and autofocus - the maximum size of the resulting image is 1280 x 720. The rear camera has an 8-megapixel module with LED flash. The possibility of manual and automatic focusing. The maximum size of the resulting image is 3264 x 2448. The sharpness when deleting the plan falls smoothly, although in some places there are fuzzy fragments. Software processing works quite moderately and reasonably, does not try to spoil the details of the long-range plan. With insufficient lighting and a high level of photosensitivity, color noises that can not be processed can appear. But the camera does its job well in normal lighting (including in cloudy weather). In this case, minor software processing becomes an advantage - it does not spoil the natural sharpness. In general, the camera can hardly be called outstanding, however, as evidenced by the responses of the owners of such a device, it is quite suitable for high-quality documentary shooting in good lighting conditions. The smartphone can shoot video. The user can choose from various modes, up to FullHD. The clips arrive in a special 3GP container. Video - in MPEG4 Video format 1920 Ă— 1088 30 fps 24.6 Mbps. Sound - in AAC format 48 kHz, stereo 128 Kbps.
Camera control is carried out using Lenovo's proprietary software called SuperCamera. Of course, it is difficult to call it the most convenient of all possible interfaces: there are a lot of different icons around the entire perimeter of the screen. Users emphasize that these characters, as well as the settings menu itself, are drawn too finely. In addition, the menu has only a horizontal position, and this is not too convenient. Another drawback is the lack of a dedicated hardware camera release button, however, its function is performed by the volume button. During the video recording, you can take pictures.
Communications and telephone part
The smartphone works in 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA networks, but there is no support for the fourth-generation LTE network. In addition, 5 GHz Wi-Fi and NFC technology are not supported. Lenovo P780 allows you to organize a wireless point via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, there are Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi Display modes that communicate with a wireless projector. The navigation module supports only GPS / A-GPS standards; the smartphone will not work with the Glonass system.
The layout and placement of keys is standard. Users note that there is no highlighted top digital row. Therefore, it is required to constantly switch the layout. Change languages ​​by clicking on the globe icon. Drawing numbers and letters of the virtual keyboard is quite comfortable for management. Phone applications support Smart Dial - while dialing, a simultaneous search is performed on existing contacts. In general, according to the reviews of the owners, the smartphone has a very convenient functionality, which you quickly get used to.
The work of two SIM-cards is organized on the standard Dual SIM Dual Standby, that is, both cards are in active mode, but at the same time they do not work, since there is only one radio module in the phone. The smartphone does not have the ability to switch the modes of 2G / 3G slots. The SIM card installed in the first compartment always works in 3G mode, the second, respectively, in 2G. The Lenovo P780 smartphone (the instructions explain this in detail) allows you to configure various conditions for SIM cards in a special section. For example, to designate any of them as the main one for data transfer, voice communication or sending SMS messages. If necessary, when dialing a number, the user can always choose which card to make a call from. This moment also causes well-deserved praise.
Lenovo P780: firmware and OS
As the operating system in the smartphone, Google’s software platform Android is used with Lenovo's proprietary interface. By default, version 4.2.1 is installed. However, updates are currently available, for example, Lenovo P780 Kitkat Android 4.4. In general, the graphical component of the program shell is quite nice: there is little color, there is no riot of colors, support for mostly white tones - everything is serious and modest, as befits business class devices. In appearance, the graphics are more similar to the Lenovo K900 interface than the K910.
Performance
The hardware platform of this phone is based on a single-crystal MediaTekMT6589 system. The central processor has four Cortex-A7 cores that operate at a frequency of 1.2 GHz. In fact, this is the basic modification of the 4-core platform of Taiwanese manufacturers. Help in processing graphics tasks to the processor is provided by the Power VR SGX544MP video accelerator.
The RAM in the phone is 1 GB, which is considered insufficient by modern standards. As for the built-in memory, the owners of the Lenovo P780 8Gb smartphone note the following: the user has 2.8 GB of free space for writing their own files; 4.3 GB is allocated for the needs of the OS and various applications. The phone supports the ability to increase this parameter due to the microSD card, in addition, external devices are connected via the USB port - both keyboards and mice, and flash cards from which the device directly reads files.
According to the platform’s performance testing results, the smartphone showed average performance, which corresponds to all representatives of MediaTek’s 4-core platform made in Taiwan, as well as its modifications.
Lenovo P780 Smartphone: Price and Summary
In general, as the reviews of the owners show, the phone not only lives up to, but in some respects even exceeds expectations: the device is quite decent, tightly cut, pretty, with two SIM cards and a large (five-inch) screen, while relatively inexpensive. As for the battery, in terms of battery life, the device showed record results for smartphones, which makes this acquisition justified in the eyes of the buyer and fully complies with the main focus of the model on the business segment. At the moment, the cost of Lenovo P780 (the price may vary) in the stores of our country has established at the level of 12 thousand rubles, non-certified devices can be purchased for 9 thousand rubles.
It should be understood that this phone is valuable primarily not for the multimedia component, but for the ability to become a reliable assistant in organizing daily affairs. Experienced consumers emphasize that the device has average performance and modest video / photo quality, it is not suitable for gaming entertainment, although it can help pass the free time. But the owner of this device certainly should not worry about whether there is enough battery power, even if a large number of long-term connections are made during the day. For business people, this model is a unique find, and this is confirmed by the high demand for this unit.
The advantages of a smartphone, judging by the reviews of people who have already tested the device in work, include a nice design, high-quality assembly, good equipment, support for OTG, memory cards, and, of course, a record battery life. The disadvantages are a weak camera and sound quality, poor performance.