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Review: Lenovo P70

Lenovo has a plethora of phones in the market. But one of the devices that stand out is the Lenovo P70. For PHP11,999, you get a good looking smartphone with a smooth and snappy UI, and a huge 4,000 mAh battery.

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Lenovo P70 key specs:

  • 5.0 inch HD IPS display (1280 x 720; 294 ppi)
  • 1.7 GHz True8Core MediaTek 64-bit processor
  • Mali-T760MP2 GPU
  • 2 GB RAM
  • 16 GB storage, +microSD slot up to 32 GB
  • 13 MP auto-focus main camera w/ LED flash
  • 5 MP fixed focus front camera
  • Dual micro SIM
  • GSM, HSDPA, LTE
  • Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, FM Radio
  • 4,000 mAH battery; non-removable
  • Android 4.4 KitKat

Retail Package: The Lenovo P70 has one of the most complete set of accessories you’ll ever find. Besides the usual USB cable, wall charger and earphones, the smartphone also comes with a back case (always a plus!), a screen protector, and an OTG cable.

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Design

The Lenovo P70 has a simple design highlighted by sleek, clean lines and curved edges. The sides are lined with an attractive shiny plastic, while the top and bottom panel has a glass-like reflective surface, giving the device an elegant appeal. The back panel is rather ordinary with its flat looking matte black finish and the silver Lenovo logo in the middle.

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In terms of build quality, the P70 is solid. It’s well-built, and looks and feels sturdy. The back panel, though, is a bit on the soft side. While the material feels good, it bends a bit when pressed. While this may not be a bad thing for most, it does bother me a bit. Good thing the P70 comes with a strong back case.

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At the top of the device you’ll find the 3.5 mm audio jack. The power button and volume controls are on the right side, and at the bottom are two speaker grills (although there is only one speaker) and the micro USB port.

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Once you remove the back panel, you can find two micro SIM slots, the microSD card slot and the non-removable battery.

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Performance

The Lenovo P70 is powered by a 64-bit 1.7 GHz MediaTek octa-core procecssor, a Mali-T760MP2 GPU and 2 GB of RAM. Suffice it to say, general operation of the smartphone is fast and smooth with little to no lag. The 64-bit True8Core MediaTek processor really does a good job of speeding things up.

The P70 comes with a 5-inch HD IPS display and it looks good. It’s bright with good color saturation. The screen has a resolution of 1280 x 720, and a 294 ppi, making text and images look sharp.

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Lenovo was able to fit a 4,000 mAh battery in the P70’s 5 inch body. With that huge capacity, Lenovo claims a standby time of up to 816 hours on 2G and 696 hours on 3G, and talk times of 46 hours on 2G and 18 hours on 3G. Although the numbers are a bit high, I can assure you that the battery life is indeed impressive. You’ll get more than a day’s worth from a single charge.

The device also supports an advanced TI charging solution (BQ24296M) that will give you up to four hours of talk time in just 15 minutes of charging. The same technology will charge the 4,000 mAh battery to full in about 3 hours.

One of the very few reservations I have with the unit are the phone’s speakers. It’s not up to par with the rest of the device. It sounded tinny and a bit underwhelming.

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I played a few games on the device as well (namely, my favorite, Marvel’s Contest of Champions, and my kid’s favorite, Spider-Man Unlimited). Both games played well without any problems.

Benchmarks

With an octa-core processor powering the device, benchmark scores won’t disappoint. The P70 scored an impressive 44,643 points in AnTuTu Benchmark, 4,031 points in Geekbench 3’s multi-core test, and 812 in the same’s single-core test.

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Camera

The P70 comes with a 13MP main camera. Photos have good colors and above average details, especially in well-lit environments. But when it comes to shooting in low light, you’ll start to notice degradation and a bit of noise in your shots. It should be noted that the dip in photo quality in low light shots is quite common for devices in this segment.

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Here are some sample photos. You an click on the image for a larger view. The images were reduced in size for web with quality setting of 70 using Adobe Photoshop. No other manipulation or enhancement was done.

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Conclusion

The Lenovo P70 is not difficult to recommend to those looking for a smartphone with the right mix of performance, looks and battery life. It’s premium design, smooth UI and good 5-inch display give it a leg up against competition. The highlight of the device, of course, is the huge 4,000 mAh battery. In today’s world of short battery life, this comes as a nice refreshment. It will last you more than a day’s worth of usage, and it charges in about 3 hours.

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The Lenovo P70 has an SRP of PHP11,999. The smartphone is available at all Lenovo Mobile Exclusive Stores and authorized resellers of Open Communications, Lenovo’s exclusive smartphone distributor.

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Bryan is a geek at heart and a tech enthusiast by choice. He has a strong background in corporate communications, marketing services, and customer relations having worked in the telecommunications and banking sectors for over two decades. In his spare time, he enjoys watching clips on YouTube and binge watching shows on Netflix.

2 Comments

  1. I have this phone for 5 months now and im satisfied overall except that its difficult to find phone cases here in UAE

  2. Thank you for this review! This really helped me search for the perfect phone. :)

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