Lenovo K8 Plus Review: Plus on Performance, Killer Price

Lenovo is back with another budget offering, the K8 Plus, which is positioned as a successor to the popular Lenovo K6 Power. Like the K8 Note (review), Lenovo is inclined towards using a stock~ish version of Android rather than going for its Vibe UI. Since the K8 Plus (FAQ) packs dual rear cameras, it is one of the cheapest dual cam phones around.

But can we really recommend this phone on the basis of just dual cameras and stock android? Are these two the only interesting things about the K8 Plus? Let’s find out in our full review.

Lenovo K8 Plus Advantages and Disadvantages

Lenovo K8 Plus Specifications Review

Lenovo K8 Plus Design Review

Design-wise, the Lenovo K8 Plus takes a lot of cues from its month older sibling K8 note. There are striking similarities between the K8 Plus and K8 Note in the way they look and feel. However, the K8 Plus is the more compact one (yes, in spite of the ‘Plus’ moniker). That also means it’s  Lenovo K8 Plus is handier, especially if you have small hands. It’s quite easy to operate using just one hand.

The phone is predominantly made of metal and glass but there is a shade of plastic trimming on the rear. Even though it’s not a trend setter by any yardstick, its tough built quality can hold up well with rough usage. The K8 Plus is slightly chunky (8.99mm) and weighs 165g, but that doesn’t get in the way simply because of its ergonomic contour and compact footprint.

Up front, it features a 5.2-inch display and capacitive keys for navigation. There is a power key and a volume rocker on the right edge which offers decent tactic feedback, rig pattern on the power button ensures you can differentiate it even in the dark.

Just like the K8 Note, there is a music button on the left edge which can be really useful for music enthusiasts. However, there is scope for improvement in its implementation as it doesn’t perform any action on a single tap. What’s good about it is that it can be remapped to perform different functions. SIM tray is also on the left edge which can hold two Nano-SIMs a microSD card any given time (thumbs up for that).

At the rear side, the K8 Plus flaunts a dual camera setup followed by a responsive fingerprint sensor and Lenovo branding. Up top, it has a 3.5mm audio jack whereas bottom firing speaker and micro USB port are placed at the bottom edge.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mi A1 Vs Moto G5s Plus Specs Comparison: Stock Android Rivalry

Lenovo K8 Plus Display Review

The Lenovo K8 Plus flaunts a 5.2-inch full HD display which is layered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection against minor scratches. The IPS display on the phone manages to offer good viewing angles. It produces natural looking colours and has good contrast ratio. We found brightness levels good enough for indoors but under the harsh Sunlight, one might have to put in some extra effort to read stuff on the screen.

Lenovo K8 Plus Performance and Software Review

This budget offering from Lenovo rocks a MediaTek Helio P25 chipset at the heart which is the same as the Samsung J7 Max which cost almost double of the K8 Plus. The 2.5GHz octa-core chipset is paired with 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. In the sim tray, there is a dedicated slot for microSD card which can hold a card up to 128GB.

Like K8 Note, Lenovo once again chose to go Motorola way and use almost stock version of Android Nougat. Our unit of K8 Plus came with security June 2017 security patch. The UI of the phone is simple, clean and user-friendly. Apart from Microsoft Office, there is no other bloatware on the phone.

During my time with the K8 Plus, we didn’t face any issues related to performance. There were no app crashes and usual social networking apps and entertainment worked perfectly. Even when there were multiple apps cached in the background we managed to use chrome with multiple tabs without any drastic dip in performance. Gameplay was mixed back, while we were able to play heavy games like Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 5 smoothly at medium setting, we did notice some frame drops when played with best settings possible.

Also Read: Nokia 6 VS LG Q6 VS Lenovo K8 Note: Detailed Specs Comparison

Lenovo K8 Plus Camera Review

The Lenovo K8 Plus boasts a 13MP + 5MP sensor at the rear side where secondary sensor does the depth sensing work. Both sensors come with f/2.0 aperture along with a dual-LED flash.

Lenovo seems to taken feedback with it and worked on it. Unlike the K8 Note, the K8 Plus camera focuses a tad quicker and with better accuracy. The primary camera manages to take reasonably good shots in well-lit conditions.  Details in the images are fairly decent, colours were accurate and dynamic range was decent. In low light, like, image quality takes a beating, especially in details.

To trigger dual cameras on the K8 Note one have to activate depth enabled mode. It lets you choose the level of blur from f/0.8 to f/5.6.  Even though bokeh feature works better than the K8 Note, there is still scope for improvement. After taking few shots in depth mode we also noticed some shutter lag.

On the front, there is an 8MP selfie camera with a single LED flash. It comes with beautify option which you can tweak manually as well. The selfies we took with K8 Plus tuned out good enough for social media purposes.

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Lenovo K8 Plus Battery Review

It comes with hefty 4000mAh battery which can be blamed for its chunky design but you won’t really complain about it as it will ensure that you won’t have to scramble for a charging point midday. While we were using it as our daily driver, it consistently managed to last for more than a day and a half with my multiple accounts synced in and moderate to heavy usage. Lenovo further bundles a 10W charger within the box which will prove really handy in refilling the battery.

Also Read: Lenovo K8 Note FAQ – All Questions Answered

Lenovo K8 Plus Review verdict: Should you buy it?

We evaluated the K8 Plus on various parameters and it did fairly well. It has solid build quality, a 1080P screen, delivers decent performance, and benefits from a massive battery. Besides light stock Android software and camera performance are added incentives. Compact phones these days are few and far between, and if you are looking for one around 10K, the K8 Plus is a great option.

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