Lenovo P70 review: eight-core processor, 4,000 mAh battery and five days of battery life
In the second half of 2013, Lenovo began selling the P780 smartphone, which belongs to the "professional" line of P. This device very successfully combines several unusual qualities for middle-class models. Firstly, it’s a metal case: the developers of “smart phones” on Android do not indulge us with this material too often today, but then, in 2013, it was found in a limited number of models. Secondly, the Lenovo P780 used a bunch of the most powerful 4000 mAh battery and the economical MediaTek MT6589 chipsetwith a quad-core 28nm processor. To understand: back then, batteries with a capacity of 1,500-2,000 mAh were considered the norm for smartphones, and most low-cost chipsets were manufactured using much more “gluttonous” 45-nanometer technology. As a result, the battery life of an average smartphone did not exceed one day. But Lenovo P780 easily lived without an outlet for more than two days - and this is in a very intensive mode of operation. Refusing from constant sorties in the social network and reducing the screen brightness to 15-20%, it was possible to stretch four days without any problems.
In other words, the Lenovo P780 was a kind of mini-revolution for 2013. However, for the beginning of 2015, its characteristics are no longer very relevant. What does Lenovo do? That's right, represents the heir to the P780 - the Lenovo P70 model. It also belongs to the P series and is also equipped with a 4,000 mAh battery. As for hardware, the Chinese manufacturer again called MediaTek to the rescue: the Lenovo P70 uses the latest MT6752 chipset with eight processing cores. It is based on the 64-bit architecture of the new generation ARM Cortex-A53, which, coupled with a number of new technologies from MediaTek, makes the P70 a smartphone with a really powerful and high-tech “stuffing”.
The box showed instructions, a warranty card, a charger unit, a USB-microUSB cable, a simple wired headset, a bumper case and an OTG cable. The latter is also a feature of Lenovo’s “professional” smartphones - an advanced user may need to connect a mouse, keyboard, and USB drive to his device. Yes, the accessory is cheap, but it’s nice that you don’t have to run to the store for it. By the way, the OTG cable was also bundled with the P780.
The bumper is made of solid black plastic. The surface of this accessory is rough, so it is quite difficult to drop the Lenovo P70 from the hand, the “pad” clings to the palm well. Moreover, the bumper sits on the device very tightly, and an unprepared user can even decide that this is not a removable part, but a tightly screwed body part. In general, Lenovo can say thanks for the described accessory: covers of this type cost at least one and a half thousand rubles and, as a rule, do not differ in quality. And here he gets it for free and is done quite neatly.
It would seem that 8.9 mm in thickness is, by modern standards, too "thick", but Lenovo P70, oddly enough, is perceived as a rather elegant little thing. And the device is quite light: with a weight of 149 g it can be called one of the lightest 5-inch smartphones. Whether this is good or not is an open question: sometimes it seems that the balance of dimensions and weight of the P70 is slightly disturbed. In other words, this device does not pleasantly weigh on the hand - and we would not mind if it weighed a little more.
The build quality is excellent - there’s nothing to complain about. The case is cunningly encircled by a “dark silver with pearl shimmer” color frame. Unfortunately, this is not metal at all, but plastic. Moreover, unlike the same P780, Lenovo P70 is entirely made of plastic. Alas and ah: there is no trace of metal left.
The back panel of the smartphone is smooth matte, and there is an opinion that over time it can noticeably fade. Perhaps Lenovo is of the same opinion, which is why they invested a much more resistant bumper to the box with a smartphone. The back of the P70 carries only three elements: a 13 megapixel camera lens, a flash eye and a silver company logo.
The lower and upper ends of the smartphone are glossy, here there is an attempt to “make up” plastic no longer under the metal, but under the glass. The attempt is quite successful, only such surfaces collect fingerprints very quickly. On the top of the case are a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack and microphone, on the bottom there is another microphone, a couple of fairly loud speakers and a microUSB port. As you can see, there are two microphones in the Lenovo P70: the device implements a noise clipping system during a conversation. Indeed, the voice quality is excellent.
On the right side of the case are silver buttons for adjusting the volume and turning on the device / screen. There are no questions to them: they are pleasant to the touch, the move is clear. By the way, the keys are not built into the smartphone itself, but into its removable back panel.
The front panel has a half-millimeter side, and developers can only be praised for such a solution: if you put the Lenovo P70 with the screen down on a flat surface, the protective glass will not come into contact with it. By the way, about this same protective glass: unfortunately, Lenovo does not tell who its manufacturer is - Corning or, for example, Asahi Glass. But the fact is that in a couple of weeks of intensive use, scratches and scuffs did not appear on it. Fingerprints and other dirt on it also practically do not accumulate: for this it is worth saying thanks to the high-quality oleophobic coating.
Above the screen is a standard set of components: light and proximity sensors, a speaker with a built-in LED-indicator and a front camera.
Under the display there are three touch-sensitive Android control buttons with icons made in the corporate identity of Lenovo. Everything would be fine, but they have very dim lighting. We thought that its brightness could be increased in tinctures, however, unfortunately, we did not find such an option.
We remove the back cover, picking it up with a fingernail for a special recess on the right side. Immediately striking is the inscription warning against removing the battery: it is not removable. Although, to be honest, I really want to remove it - the battery has no visible mounts. There is also a microSD card slot and two slots for SIM cards in the microSIM format under the back cover. Left provides support for 2G, 3G and 4G networks, right - only 2G. A little strange decision: in many “dual-SIM” smartphones based on MediaTek chipsets, both slots are “equal” and can support any network - from GSM to LTE.
Before moving directly to the screen, it is worth noting that the MT6752 chipset implements a number of proprietary technologies from MediaTek, designed to improve the image quality on the screen. Thus, ClearMotion technology increases the frame rate in video from 24-30 per second to 60 in real time. Is there any need to explain that this significantly improves the smoothness of the image display. Meanwhile, MiraVision technology adjusts saturation, brightness and contrast when displaying various multimedia content, achieving the most beautiful picture and simultaneously saving battery power. All this is achieved by adjusting the intensity of the display backlight depending on the brightness of the surrounding environment (whether it is a room or a street) and the color gamut of the content displayed on the screen. Usually in the settings of smartphones there are special items, dedicated to ClearMotion and MiraVision, but for some reason we did not find them in the Lenovo P70. However, as far as we know, smartphone developers may not give access to fine-tuning MiraVision: they simply activate this option by default, and it works seamlessly for the user.
In general, the display of the Lenovo P70 is not bad. Its diagonal is 5 inches with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels (HD720p). The matrix is made using IPS technology, plus One Glass Solution (OGS) technology is used , which ensures that there is no air gap between the LCD panel and the touch layer. As a result, the brightness and image quality increase, it is as if cut out from a glossy magazine and lies on the front panel of the smartphone. The viewing angles are wide: up to 178 degrees both vertically and horizontally. Color rendering is natural and pleasing to the eye.
The touch layer of the screen is made by capacitive technology, up to five simultaneous taps are supported. Sensitivity is very high.
Here the fun begins. MediaTek MT6752 can be called the “heir” of the MT6592 chipset, which at the time was the first-ever full-featured “eight-core” for smartphones (that is, with the possibility of simultaneous operation of all eight cores - and this chip was preserved in the M6752). What has changed in MT6752 compared to its predecessor? Yes, almost everything except the principle of operation: the new chipset also has eight cores of the same type - ARM Cortex-A53 (MT6592 instead of Cortex-A7), that is, the big.LITTLE architecture is not used.
Thanks to the steady increase in the share of Lollipop, the latest version of the Android OS, the term “64 bits” is being transformed from a technical term into a real market advantage. MediaTek was the first chip maker to offer a full line of 64-bit solutions - from chipsets for budget smartphones to chipsets for flagship devices.
What is the value of 64-bit solutions? Firstly, the 64-bit ARMv8 architecture itself (which is used in MT6752) is much simpler, more energy-efficient, and faster than the 32-bit ARMv7. This means that the smartphone’s interface will work smoother, applications will be more responsive, and playing resource-demanding 3D games and playing 4K video will practically cease to be accompanied by crashes to the desktop.
Secondly, as mentioned above, the new OS from Google is optimized for working with 64-bit processors. Android 5.0 uses a new environment (virtual machine), in which Android applications are run, so that their launch and switching from one application to another is faster, and the system itself again becomes more energy efficient.
And one more thing: 64-bit processors are able to provide support for a smartphone with four or more gigabytes of RAM (in theory, this is achievable in the case of 32-bit processors, but then the developers of the device will have to significantly dance with a tambourine), and the relevance of such volumes with each year will only increase.
One way or another, it is certainly not necessary to complain about the speed of work in the case of the Lenovo P70. Despite the rather “graphic” shell for Android called Vibe UI, there are no delays in switching between screens, menus and submenus, applications and games start almost instantly, the camera turns on in just a second. All this suggests that MediaTek MT6752 in conjunction with 2 GB of RAM can provide a very high speed device. And not only in basic applications, but also in games. Here, the Mali-T760MP2 graphics accelerator with a frequency of up to 700 MHz comes to the rescue. This is one of the most powerful solutions, not only by the standards of middle-class smartphones, but also by the standards of flagships.
Let’s take a look at what Lenovo P70 with its MT6752 demonstrates in benchmarks.
Needless to say, almost all modern games run and work on the Lenovo P70 without any brakes and juggling? Here, for example, the notorious Asphalt 8 race. The graphics settings provided for in this game can be set to the maximum level.
And here is World of Tanks: Blitz. The picture is updated with a frequency around 57 fps, although 30 is enough for a comfortable game. This means that the MT6752 provides a significant “safety margin”. For comparison: Samsung Galaxy S5 for 30 thousand rubles gives out in this game no more than 50 fps.
Continuing the story about the features of MT6752, it is worth mentioning the CorePilot technologyfrom MediaTek. She is responsible for the intelligent control of the operation of the cores and allows not only to select the number of working cores according to the current load, but also in real time to change their clock frequency. Indeed, not every game or any other “heavy” application requires the work of all cores “to the fullest.” When it is possible to reduce the frequency or disable the kernel that is not needed in a given millisecond, CorePilot does so. The result is up to 20% energy savings (and hence battery life) compared to a similar chipset without CorePilot technology.
The screenshots below from the CPU-Z application illustrate well the operation of CorePilot technology. In the first image, the smartphone is in standby mode, and only one core works at the minimum frequency - 468 MHz. In the second case, the browser is launched, and two cores are activated. In the third case, the game started loading, in connection with which six processing cores started immediately.
Now about the wireless modules. MT6752 is a highly integrated solution, which includes Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n adapters (with Miracast and Wi-Fi Direct support), Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GLONASS / GPS, as well as a modem with support for two SIM cards and fourth LTE generation (Cat. 4, up to 150 Mbps). Let's pay attention to the following fact: the MT6592 did not have an LTE modem, but 4G support could be added to a particular smartphone on this chipset using a separate chip - MT6290. But in MT6752, as mentioned above, the modem is integrated initially, which provides energy savings of 7-10% compared to the "external" solution. It's nice that MediaTek chipsets with each generation are becoming more and more technically perfect.
Of the pleasant, we note the non-standard implementation of Miracast in the version from MediaTek: it supports not only the usual duplication of the image from the smartphone's display to the TV screen, but also the ability to transfer the image from another application to the external screen. For example, on the Lenovo P70 screen, a browser or some game may be open, and this will not prevent the episode of the series from being transferred to the TV in the background.
We also add that the Lenovo P70 has no problems with navigation: satellites can be found in seconds, both with "support" A-GPS, and without it.
The memory is short: the P70 has a 16 GB drive, plus it is possible to install a microSD flash card up to 32 GB. At least that's what Lenovo claims. However, in our case, the device recognized the 64 GB card without any problems.
The front camera of the Lenovo P70 is 5 megapixel with fixed focus. Its capabilities are quite enough for video telephony, and for creating self-portraits. Moreover, MediaTek didn’t do it here either: the device implemented Face Beautifier technology, which performs the function of instant “photoshop”: optimizes tone and removes minor defects on the face. Using the slider, you can set the intensity of the option. Here are some examples of how Face Beautifier works .
From left to right: no improvement, wrinkle removal, face lightening.
As for the main camera, it is equipped with a 13-megapixel sensor and a lens with autofocus. There is also a LED flash, which, by the way, can be used as a flashlight. The quality of the images can be estimated by the examples below. On our own, we note that this is not the best 13-megapixel camera in the world, but not a bad one. She is good at macro photography, and she copes with landscapes without any problems. Well, the stumbling block for the Lenovo P70, as for most smartphones, is shooting in low light conditions: the quality is noticeably reduced. Photos are clickable: And here is the camera interface and a set of settings. The smartphone writes video in maximum resolution Full HD 1080p.
Lenovo P70 is running Android 4.4.4 KitKat. Whether there will be an upgrade to version 5.0 of Lollipop is an open question: it already depends on Lenovo. By the way, during testing on P70 a minor update flew by air - by 10 Mb.
Frankly, the dissertation can be written on the Vibe UI interface of Lenovo smartphones - more precisely, on its differences from the standard Android interface. There are so many different chips in Vibe UI that it is very, very difficult to list them without forgetting about any little things.
To begin with, on the lock screen, you can scroll through the wallpaper. It is difficult to say why this is necessary in practice, and yet this moment somewhat diversifies the experience of operating a smartphone.
You can activate the screen by double tapping it. Well, in general, all sorts of settings related to gestures and taps, a carriage and a small cart.
In the usual sense, there is no main menu: application icons are located on desktops and can be grouped into folders. In this, Vibe UI resembles iOS.
This is what the notification bar looks like. It, among other things, provides a slider for adjusting the brightness of the screen, which is missing in the "bare" Android 4.4 KitKat . And the notification bar has tons of settings.
Implemented support for interface design themes. True, there are only two of them, and the ability to download new regular means, apparently, is not provided. You can also choose a launcher, however, only one option is offered - Lenovo Launcher(i.e.Vibe UI). If memory serves us right, in some Lenovo smartphones in this settings item you can switch to bare Android.
From the unusual - the ability to display a virtual key that hangs on top of all applications and interface elements. It opens access to a set of the most important options.
Lenovo also added an option to the interface to create screenshots of individual fragments of the screen. And redrawn the manager of running applications.
Particular attention is paid to energy consumption. The device contains options designed to limit the performance of the device, as well as a special emergency mode in which most functions are disabled. You can only call, use the alarm clock and read / write messages.
Concluding the conversation about software, we’ll note that the pre-installed applications are full - from the Lenovo suite, which includes, among other things, the antivirus, to the clients of social networks and Yandex services. It makes no sense to describe this entire collection, just know that, having bought Lenovo P70, you are unlikely to scour the Google Play in search of software - the developers have provided everything that is possible and impossible.
From a single charge, the Lenovo P70 runs stable for two and a half days - and this is with regular wanderings on social networks, connecting to an LTE network and an hour of games per day. If the first and third points are excluded, then the device will probably last four days. In fact, despite the performance tripled, the Lenovo P70 is not inferior in its autonomy to the P780 model with the same battery. All this suggests that the guarantee of a long battery life is not only a powerful battery (although it is certainly very important), but also a set of energy-saving technologies - such as MediaPek's CorePilot. Thanks to them, you can avoid problems with autonomy even in the case of devices on the Android OS, which is still famous for its "gluttony."
The Lenovo P70 is a truly worthy successor to the P780. Having preserved the philosophy of its predecessor, the device noticeably "grew" under the article "performance". It has the most powerful MediaTek chipset with an eight-core 64-bit processor, suitable for all modern toys, a good camera, an LTE modem, support for two SIM cards - in a word, there is everything that can be required from the device for such money. The only serious drawback of the new product is the absence of the metal case that made the P780 famous, and with it the pleasant tactile sensations from the device and the feeling of durability. A worthy compensation is precisely the long battery life, for which a capacious battery, and, again, the MediaTek chipset, in which a lot of attention is paid to the energy saving process, should be thanked.
Our previous publications:
» Tablet chipset with the most productive architecture: MediaTek MT8173 introduced
» $ 300 million for startups: MediaTek Ventures investment fund
launched » Russian developers conquer MediaTek Labs
» Eight 64-bit cores and LTE: MediaTek MT6753 chipset introduced
» Just5 Blaster: anti-crisis smartphone with not at all a budgetary filling
” MediaTek and Android Wear: smart watches are becoming easier and more affordable
” Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x tablet review: 8 cores, metal, LTE and French roots
” Week with a watch-phone: how I used Omate TrueSmart on the MediaTek chipset
»Smartphones 2015: new technologies according to MediaTek
Thank you for your attention!
In other words, the Lenovo P780 was a kind of mini-revolution for 2013. However, for the beginning of 2015, its characteristics are no longer very relevant. What does Lenovo do? That's right, represents the heir to the P780 - the Lenovo P70 model. It also belongs to the P series and is also equipped with a 4,000 mAh battery. As for hardware, the Chinese manufacturer again called MediaTek to the rescue: the Lenovo P70 uses the latest MT6752 chipset with eight processing cores. It is based on the 64-bit architecture of the new generation ARM Cortex-A53, which, coupled with a number of new technologies from MediaTek, makes the P70 a smartphone with a really powerful and high-tech “stuffing”.
Specifications
Operating system: Android 4.4.4 KitKat
Display: 5 inches, 1280x720, IPS + OGS
Chipset: MediaTek MT6752
· 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 (up to 1.7 GHz)
· Mali-T760MP2 graphics accelerator (up to 700 MHz)
RAM : 2 GB
Permanent memory: 16 GB
Memory cards : MicroSD up to 32 GB
Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b / g / n (Wi-Fi Direct, Miracast)
Bluetooth: 4.0
Cellular networks: GSM / GPRS / EDGE, HSPA +, LTE (Cat. 4)
Number of SIM card slots: two
Battery: 4,000 mAh
Cameras: 13 MP + 5 MP
Navigation: GPS / GLONASS
Dimensions: 142 x 72 x 8.9 mm / 149 g
Price: about 20 thousand rubles
Display: 5 inches, 1280x720, IPS + OGS
Chipset: MediaTek MT6752
· 8 cores ARM Cortex-A53 (up to 1.7 GHz)
· Mali-T760MP2 graphics accelerator (up to 700 MHz)
RAM : 2 GB
Permanent memory: 16 GB
Memory cards : MicroSD up to 32 GB
Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b / g / n (Wi-Fi Direct, Miracast)
Bluetooth: 4.0
Cellular networks: GSM / GPRS / EDGE, HSPA +, LTE (Cat. 4)
Number of SIM card slots: two
Battery: 4,000 mAh
Cameras: 13 MP + 5 MP
Navigation: GPS / GLONASS
Dimensions: 142 x 72 x 8.9 mm / 149 g
Price: about 20 thousand rubles
Contents of delivery
The box showed instructions, a warranty card, a charger unit, a USB-microUSB cable, a simple wired headset, a bumper case and an OTG cable. The latter is also a feature of Lenovo’s “professional” smartphones - an advanced user may need to connect a mouse, keyboard, and USB drive to his device. Yes, the accessory is cheap, but it’s nice that you don’t have to run to the store for it. By the way, the OTG cable was also bundled with the P780.
The bumper is made of solid black plastic. The surface of this accessory is rough, so it is quite difficult to drop the Lenovo P70 from the hand, the “pad” clings to the palm well. Moreover, the bumper sits on the device very tightly, and an unprepared user can even decide that this is not a removable part, but a tightly screwed body part. In general, Lenovo can say thanks for the described accessory: covers of this type cost at least one and a half thousand rubles and, as a rule, do not differ in quality. And here he gets it for free and is done quite neatly.
Appearance and design
It would seem that 8.9 mm in thickness is, by modern standards, too "thick", but Lenovo P70, oddly enough, is perceived as a rather elegant little thing. And the device is quite light: with a weight of 149 g it can be called one of the lightest 5-inch smartphones. Whether this is good or not is an open question: sometimes it seems that the balance of dimensions and weight of the P70 is slightly disturbed. In other words, this device does not pleasantly weigh on the hand - and we would not mind if it weighed a little more.
The build quality is excellent - there’s nothing to complain about. The case is cunningly encircled by a “dark silver with pearl shimmer” color frame. Unfortunately, this is not metal at all, but plastic. Moreover, unlike the same P780, Lenovo P70 is entirely made of plastic. Alas and ah: there is no trace of metal left.
The back panel of the smartphone is smooth matte, and there is an opinion that over time it can noticeably fade. Perhaps Lenovo is of the same opinion, which is why they invested a much more resistant bumper to the box with a smartphone. The back of the P70 carries only three elements: a 13 megapixel camera lens, a flash eye and a silver company logo.
The lower and upper ends of the smartphone are glossy, here there is an attempt to “make up” plastic no longer under the metal, but under the glass. The attempt is quite successful, only such surfaces collect fingerprints very quickly. On the top of the case are a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack and microphone, on the bottom there is another microphone, a couple of fairly loud speakers and a microUSB port. As you can see, there are two microphones in the Lenovo P70: the device implements a noise clipping system during a conversation. Indeed, the voice quality is excellent.
On the right side of the case are silver buttons for adjusting the volume and turning on the device / screen. There are no questions to them: they are pleasant to the touch, the move is clear. By the way, the keys are not built into the smartphone itself, but into its removable back panel.
The front panel has a half-millimeter side, and developers can only be praised for such a solution: if you put the Lenovo P70 with the screen down on a flat surface, the protective glass will not come into contact with it. By the way, about this same protective glass: unfortunately, Lenovo does not tell who its manufacturer is - Corning or, for example, Asahi Glass. But the fact is that in a couple of weeks of intensive use, scratches and scuffs did not appear on it. Fingerprints and other dirt on it also practically do not accumulate: for this it is worth saying thanks to the high-quality oleophobic coating.
Above the screen is a standard set of components: light and proximity sensors, a speaker with a built-in LED-indicator and a front camera.
Under the display there are three touch-sensitive Android control buttons with icons made in the corporate identity of Lenovo. Everything would be fine, but they have very dim lighting. We thought that its brightness could be increased in tinctures, however, unfortunately, we did not find such an option.
We remove the back cover, picking it up with a fingernail for a special recess on the right side. Immediately striking is the inscription warning against removing the battery: it is not removable. Although, to be honest, I really want to remove it - the battery has no visible mounts. There is also a microSD card slot and two slots for SIM cards in the microSIM format under the back cover. Left provides support for 2G, 3G and 4G networks, right - only 2G. A little strange decision: in many “dual-SIM” smartphones based on MediaTek chipsets, both slots are “equal” and can support any network - from GSM to LTE.
Screen
Before moving directly to the screen, it is worth noting that the MT6752 chipset implements a number of proprietary technologies from MediaTek, designed to improve the image quality on the screen. Thus, ClearMotion technology increases the frame rate in video from 24-30 per second to 60 in real time. Is there any need to explain that this significantly improves the smoothness of the image display. Meanwhile, MiraVision technology adjusts saturation, brightness and contrast when displaying various multimedia content, achieving the most beautiful picture and simultaneously saving battery power. All this is achieved by adjusting the intensity of the display backlight depending on the brightness of the surrounding environment (whether it is a room or a street) and the color gamut of the content displayed on the screen. Usually in the settings of smartphones there are special items, dedicated to ClearMotion and MiraVision, but for some reason we did not find them in the Lenovo P70. However, as far as we know, smartphone developers may not give access to fine-tuning MiraVision: they simply activate this option by default, and it works seamlessly for the user.
In general, the display of the Lenovo P70 is not bad. Its diagonal is 5 inches with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels (HD720p). The matrix is made using IPS technology, plus One Glass Solution (OGS) technology is used , which ensures that there is no air gap between the LCD panel and the touch layer. As a result, the brightness and image quality increase, it is as if cut out from a glossy magazine and lies on the front panel of the smartphone. The viewing angles are wide: up to 178 degrees both vertically and horizontally. Color rendering is natural and pleasing to the eye.
The touch layer of the screen is made by capacitive technology, up to five simultaneous taps are supported. Sensitivity is very high.
Hardware platform, memory and communications
Here the fun begins. MediaTek MT6752 can be called the “heir” of the MT6592 chipset, which at the time was the first-ever full-featured “eight-core” for smartphones (that is, with the possibility of simultaneous operation of all eight cores - and this chip was preserved in the M6752). What has changed in MT6752 compared to its predecessor? Yes, almost everything except the principle of operation: the new chipset also has eight cores of the same type - ARM Cortex-A53 (MT6592 instead of Cortex-A7), that is, the big.LITTLE architecture is not used.
Thanks to the steady increase in the share of Lollipop, the latest version of the Android OS, the term “64 bits” is being transformed from a technical term into a real market advantage. MediaTek was the first chip maker to offer a full line of 64-bit solutions - from chipsets for budget smartphones to chipsets for flagship devices.
What is the value of 64-bit solutions? Firstly, the 64-bit ARMv8 architecture itself (which is used in MT6752) is much simpler, more energy-efficient, and faster than the 32-bit ARMv7. This means that the smartphone’s interface will work smoother, applications will be more responsive, and playing resource-demanding 3D games and playing 4K video will practically cease to be accompanied by crashes to the desktop.
Secondly, as mentioned above, the new OS from Google is optimized for working with 64-bit processors. Android 5.0 uses a new environment (virtual machine), in which Android applications are run, so that their launch and switching from one application to another is faster, and the system itself again becomes more energy efficient.
And one more thing: 64-bit processors are able to provide support for a smartphone with four or more gigabytes of RAM (in theory, this is achievable in the case of 32-bit processors, but then the developers of the device will have to significantly dance with a tambourine), and the relevance of such volumes with each year will only increase.
One way or another, it is certainly not necessary to complain about the speed of work in the case of the Lenovo P70. Despite the rather “graphic” shell for Android called Vibe UI, there are no delays in switching between screens, menus and submenus, applications and games start almost instantly, the camera turns on in just a second. All this suggests that MediaTek MT6752 in conjunction with 2 GB of RAM can provide a very high speed device. And not only in basic applications, but also in games. Here, the Mali-T760MP2 graphics accelerator with a frequency of up to 700 MHz comes to the rescue. This is one of the most powerful solutions, not only by the standards of middle-class smartphones, but also by the standards of flagships.
Let’s take a look at what Lenovo P70 with its MT6752 demonstrates in benchmarks.
Needless to say, almost all modern games run and work on the Lenovo P70 without any brakes and juggling? Here, for example, the notorious Asphalt 8 race. The graphics settings provided for in this game can be set to the maximum level.
And here is World of Tanks: Blitz. The picture is updated with a frequency around 57 fps, although 30 is enough for a comfortable game. This means that the MT6752 provides a significant “safety margin”. For comparison: Samsung Galaxy S5 for 30 thousand rubles gives out in this game no more than 50 fps.
Continuing the story about the features of MT6752, it is worth mentioning the CorePilot technologyfrom MediaTek. She is responsible for the intelligent control of the operation of the cores and allows not only to select the number of working cores according to the current load, but also in real time to change their clock frequency. Indeed, not every game or any other “heavy” application requires the work of all cores “to the fullest.” When it is possible to reduce the frequency or disable the kernel that is not needed in a given millisecond, CorePilot does so. The result is up to 20% energy savings (and hence battery life) compared to a similar chipset without CorePilot technology.
The screenshots below from the CPU-Z application illustrate well the operation of CorePilot technology. In the first image, the smartphone is in standby mode, and only one core works at the minimum frequency - 468 MHz. In the second case, the browser is launched, and two cores are activated. In the third case, the game started loading, in connection with which six processing cores started immediately.
Now about the wireless modules. MT6752 is a highly integrated solution, which includes Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n adapters (with Miracast and Wi-Fi Direct support), Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GLONASS / GPS, as well as a modem with support for two SIM cards and fourth LTE generation (Cat. 4, up to 150 Mbps). Let's pay attention to the following fact: the MT6592 did not have an LTE modem, but 4G support could be added to a particular smartphone on this chipset using a separate chip - MT6290. But in MT6752, as mentioned above, the modem is integrated initially, which provides energy savings of 7-10% compared to the "external" solution. It's nice that MediaTek chipsets with each generation are becoming more and more technically perfect.
Of the pleasant, we note the non-standard implementation of Miracast in the version from MediaTek: it supports not only the usual duplication of the image from the smartphone's display to the TV screen, but also the ability to transfer the image from another application to the external screen. For example, on the Lenovo P70 screen, a browser or some game may be open, and this will not prevent the episode of the series from being transferred to the TV in the background.
We also add that the Lenovo P70 has no problems with navigation: satellites can be found in seconds, both with "support" A-GPS, and without it.
The memory is short: the P70 has a 16 GB drive, plus it is possible to install a microSD flash card up to 32 GB. At least that's what Lenovo claims. However, in our case, the device recognized the 64 GB card without any problems.
Cameras
The front camera of the Lenovo P70 is 5 megapixel with fixed focus. Its capabilities are quite enough for video telephony, and for creating self-portraits. Moreover, MediaTek didn’t do it here either: the device implemented Face Beautifier technology, which performs the function of instant “photoshop”: optimizes tone and removes minor defects on the face. Using the slider, you can set the intensity of the option. Here are some examples of how Face Beautifier works .
From left to right: no improvement, wrinkle removal, face lightening.
As for the main camera, it is equipped with a 13-megapixel sensor and a lens with autofocus. There is also a LED flash, which, by the way, can be used as a flashlight. The quality of the images can be estimated by the examples below. On our own, we note that this is not the best 13-megapixel camera in the world, but not a bad one. She is good at macro photography, and she copes with landscapes without any problems. Well, the stumbling block for the Lenovo P70, as for most smartphones, is shooting in low light conditions: the quality is noticeably reduced. Photos are clickable: And here is the camera interface and a set of settings. The smartphone writes video in maximum resolution Full HD 1080p.
Operating system and software
Lenovo P70 is running Android 4.4.4 KitKat. Whether there will be an upgrade to version 5.0 of Lollipop is an open question: it already depends on Lenovo. By the way, during testing on P70 a minor update flew by air - by 10 Mb.
Frankly, the dissertation can be written on the Vibe UI interface of Lenovo smartphones - more precisely, on its differences from the standard Android interface. There are so many different chips in Vibe UI that it is very, very difficult to list them without forgetting about any little things.
To begin with, on the lock screen, you can scroll through the wallpaper. It is difficult to say why this is necessary in practice, and yet this moment somewhat diversifies the experience of operating a smartphone.
You can activate the screen by double tapping it. Well, in general, all sorts of settings related to gestures and taps, a carriage and a small cart.
In the usual sense, there is no main menu: application icons are located on desktops and can be grouped into folders. In this, Vibe UI resembles iOS.
This is what the notification bar looks like. It, among other things, provides a slider for adjusting the brightness of the screen, which is missing in the "bare" Android 4.4 KitKat . And the notification bar has tons of settings.
Implemented support for interface design themes. True, there are only two of them, and the ability to download new regular means, apparently, is not provided. You can also choose a launcher, however, only one option is offered - Lenovo Launcher(i.e.Vibe UI). If memory serves us right, in some Lenovo smartphones in this settings item you can switch to bare Android.
From the unusual - the ability to display a virtual key that hangs on top of all applications and interface elements. It opens access to a set of the most important options.
Lenovo also added an option to the interface to create screenshots of individual fragments of the screen. And redrawn the manager of running applications.
Particular attention is paid to energy consumption. The device contains options designed to limit the performance of the device, as well as a special emergency mode in which most functions are disabled. You can only call, use the alarm clock and read / write messages.
Concluding the conversation about software, we’ll note that the pre-installed applications are full - from the Lenovo suite, which includes, among other things, the antivirus, to the clients of social networks and Yandex services. It makes no sense to describe this entire collection, just know that, having bought Lenovo P70, you are unlikely to scour the Google Play in search of software - the developers have provided everything that is possible and impossible.
Battery life
From a single charge, the Lenovo P70 runs stable for two and a half days - and this is with regular wanderings on social networks, connecting to an LTE network and an hour of games per day. If the first and third points are excluded, then the device will probably last four days. In fact, despite the performance tripled, the Lenovo P70 is not inferior in its autonomy to the P780 model with the same battery. All this suggests that the guarantee of a long battery life is not only a powerful battery (although it is certainly very important), but also a set of energy-saving technologies - such as MediaPek's CorePilot. Thanks to them, you can avoid problems with autonomy even in the case of devices on the Android OS, which is still famous for its "gluttony."
Conclusion
The Lenovo P70 is a truly worthy successor to the P780. Having preserved the philosophy of its predecessor, the device noticeably "grew" under the article "performance". It has the most powerful MediaTek chipset with an eight-core 64-bit processor, suitable for all modern toys, a good camera, an LTE modem, support for two SIM cards - in a word, there is everything that can be required from the device for such money. The only serious drawback of the new product is the absence of the metal case that made the P780 famous, and with it the pleasant tactile sensations from the device and the feeling of durability. A worthy compensation is precisely the long battery life, for which a capacious battery, and, again, the MediaTek chipset, in which a lot of attention is paid to the energy saving process, should be thanked.
Our previous publications:
» Tablet chipset with the most productive architecture: MediaTek MT8173 introduced
» $ 300 million for startups: MediaTek Ventures investment fund
launched » Russian developers conquer MediaTek Labs
» Eight 64-bit cores and LTE: MediaTek MT6753 chipset introduced
» Just5 Blaster: anti-crisis smartphone with not at all a budgetary filling
” MediaTek and Android Wear: smart watches are becoming easier and more affordable
” Alcatel One Touch Hero 8 D820x tablet review: 8 cores, metal, LTE and French roots
” Week with a watch-phone: how I used Omate TrueSmart on the MediaTek chipset
»Smartphones 2015: new technologies according to MediaTek
Thank you for your attention!