Lenovo K3 Note vs Meizu M1 Note: The Spot On Midrange Battle

"Lenovo K3 Note vs Meizu M1 Note" battle is inevitable. The Vibe-maker is set to take on the recent midrange phablet king, Meizu M1 Note, with the upscaled version of its Music Lemon handset called the K3 Note. In this fiercely contested market, flagships define the fate of each brand. Every other device lineup are just intended to keep the interest burning. And in the advent of the next top-of-the-line release, both companies did pretty well in dropping their bang-in-the-buck midrangers.

Meizu breaks the trend by releasing the M1 Note with snappy chipset and stunning display. On the other hand, Lenovo came from a big acquisition of Motorola. This has sparked the Chinese manufacturer's brand penetration in the US while competing with other Chinese manufacturers in its homeland. Its current offering grabs lightning when it took down both the Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 in the benchmark tests. Now, it is pitted up against the Meizu M1 Note with the same SoC and gigs of RAM. So let's see how these devices would fair when pitted up against each other.

Related:

• LenovoK3 Note debuts, guns for Meizu M1 Note

• MeizuM1 Note Specs Review: the other "Noteworthy" phablet

Lenovo K3 Note vs. Meizu M1 Note

Display, Dimensions, and Chipset

Both devices frame a 5.5-inch screen real estate with 1920 x 1080 pixels. The handsets pack the same 401 ppi pixel density in their full HD display. When we talk about their respective front panels, the Lenovo K3 Note is tad wider with 152.6 x 76.2-mm dimensions compared to the 150.7 x 75.2mm of the Meizu M1.

The latter is also thicker with 8.9-millimeter depth compared to K3 Note's 7.99-millimeter thickness. Chipset-wise, both feature the blazing fast MediaTek MT6752 which churns with octa-core 1.7GHz Cortex-A53 CPU and Mali-T760 MP2 GPU.

Design and Camera

Of course, the major points that keep these two apart are the design and aesthetics. While we all know that the Meizu M1 Note is heavily patterned with the iPhone 5c in many ways, the K3 Note comes with a striking yellow appeal. It is made up a polycarbonate plastic which features a unique circular bump which surrounds the Lenovo branding at the back plate.

The 13-megapixel rear sensor also made its way to both smartphones. The M1 Note's main shooter is Samsung camera sensor that is capable of 1080p video recording at 30 fps; the camera is also accompanied by the two-tone LED flash. The K3 Note also features a 13-megapixel camera with the same video capabilities and the dual-LED flash. Both handhelds also have 5-megapixel shooter for selfie takers.

Memory, Battery, Software, and Connectivity

These features highlight the difference between the handsets. The M1 Note is powered by a bigger juice with 3140 mAh non replaceable battery. The K3 Note, on the other hand, may be a tad smaller in capacity with 3000 mAh but you can always swap the battery anytime unlike the M1 Note.

Both devices may also have the same 2GB of RAM and 16GB internal memory, but only the K3 Note supports microSD expansion of up to 32GB. In the software department, the K3 Note scores a notch higher having Android 5.0 Lollipop on the get-go; while the Android 4.4.4 KitKat of the M1 Note is also subjected for an update to the latest mobile OS.

What's even more mouth-watering is that both support LTE connectivity, dual-SIM and complete set of radios.

Conclusion

In terms of pricing, the Lenovo K3 Note 16GB is slightly cheaper at CNY 899 (USD 145) than the Meizu M1 Note counterpart which is price at CNY 1099 (USD 180).

The "Lenovo K3 Note vs Meizu M1 Note" title fight may change with a few contenders coming along the way. Aside from these two, there are also few good competitors in the market like the Lenovo Vibe X2, Asus Zenfone 2 and Samsung Galaxy A7. However, these two lead the pack with their looks, processor of choice and premium build.

Of course, the pricing is still the best deal-maker for these devices. We just hope that Meizu and Lenovo will distribute the phablets in several other territories.

	Lenovo K3 Note	Meizu M1 Note
Display	5.5-inch IPS Full HD display	5.5-inch Full HD Sharp IGZO
	1080 x 1920 pixels, 401ppi	1080 x 1920 Pixels at 403 ppi
Chipset	MediaTek MT6752	MediaTek MT6752
CPU	1.7GHz Octa-core Cortex-A53	1.7GHz Octa-core Cortex-A53
GPU	Mali-T760 MP2	Mali-T760 MP2
RAM	2GB	2GB
ROM	16GB	16GB & 32GB variants
MicroSD	Up to 32GB	No support
Main Camera	13MP Autofocus	13MP Autofocus
	with dual-LED flash	with dual-LED flash
Front Camera	5MP	5MP
SIM	Dual SIM (Micro), Dual Standby	Dual SIM (Micro), Dual Standby
Connectivity	4G/LTE, HSPA+	4G/LTE, HSPA+
WiFi	WiFi, WiFi hotspot	WiFi, WiFi hotspot
Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0, A2DP, LE	Yes, v4.0, A2DP, LE
GPS	GPS, with A-GPS, GLONASS	GPS, with A-GPS, GLONASS
MicroUSB	Yes, v2.0	Yes, v2.0, USB OTG
3.5mm jack	Yes	Yes
FM Radio	Yes	Yes
OS	Android v5.0 (Lollipop)	Android 4.4.2 Kitkat with Flyme 4
Dimension	152.6 x 76.2 x 7.9 mm	150.7 x 75.2 x 8.9 mm
Weight	150g	145 g
Battery	3000 mAh Li-Po battery	3140 mAh battery, non-removable
Price	$145 (Php6,500)	$ 178 (Php 7990)