How do you define an affordable smartphone today? And what do you compromise to have to accept to have that low price tag? All the answers can be found on the Lenovo A369i, the company’s smallest and most entry level smartphone in the affordable series. The Lenovo A369i is one of the interesting entry-level smartphones that really gets our attention, it won’t surprise you with looks but what Lenovo has to offer in a smartphone that costs RM200.
Video Review
Surprisingly capable hardware and software
Most entry level smartphones will offer you specs that you don’t even care to look at, the Lenovo A369i offers both entry to mid level hardware specifications, and compromises on things that don’t matter to the entry level user.
Lenovo A369i Hardware Specifications
Processor: MediaTek MTK6572 Dual Core 1.3GHz
RAM: 512MB RAM
Storage: 4GB ROM, expandable via microSD
Display: 4-inch WVGA (800×480) TFT LCD
Camera: 2MP Fixed Focus, no front facing camera
Connectivity: WiFi B/G/N, Bluetooth 3.0, Dual SIM standby, A-GPS
Networks: SIM1: GSM/HSPA 7.2Mbps
SIM2: GSM
Battery: 1500mAh
Operating System: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Judging from the specs sheet, the camera, battery and lack of a GPS chip is where the company has compromised to make thephone cheap.
The User Experience
The phone is purely made of plastic and although it has a textured back, the phone feels really slippery and we’ve accidentally dropped the phone a few times during our review.
Despite having a WVGA resolution, the display isn’t too bad to look at as text and images don’t look fuzzy, touch responsiveness is also pretty good for an entry level device.
Lenovo has opted not to skin the device too much knowing it is an entry level device, which we loved it and wished that Lenovo implement this for the rest of its devices, the phone’s user interface merely has its app and status bar icons changed, otherwise the operational method is just simply like stock Android.
Despite having a meagre 512MB of RAM, the phone’s performance is consistently fast most of the time, though you shouldn’t expect it to be a champ in multitasking, it runs apps smoothly and reliably, the phone will attempt to reload the launcher at times when it tries to free memory when exiting from a heavy app.
We love the overall user experience of the Lenovo A369i, given the fact that this is a crazily affordable entry level smartphone, which offers a greater user experience than many entry level and similarly priced phones out there.
Problems with app compatibility and no further OS support
Although it runs on Android 4.2.2, the phone has problems in supporting apps that require location services, as it doesn’t have a dedicated hardware GPS chip and relies on A-GPS a.k.a Cell Triangulation. Therefore, apps such as Instagram and Foursquare can’t be installed directly from the Play Store, you may want to source for external APKs but you won’t get instant updates for sure.
This is probably the first entry level smartphone that comes with no further OS support, if you visit the About Phone page, you won’t be able to see a system update button, which means the phone is stuck at its current OS and Lenovo won’t be issuing any patches or new OS updates to the phone. If you’re looking forward to have Android KitKat on the A369i, don’t even think of putting your hopes on it because it isn’t going to happen.
Camera
We’re not overwhelmed, of course. A 2-Megapixel camera on a smartphone today won’t be able to produce decent shots, and you probably won’t even use it as your social camera. Pictures taken with the camera looks washed out and grainy, as what you would expect from a low resolution shooter. Check out the sample shots below.
Benchmarks and Battery Life
MediaTek has a history of making decent entry level SoCs, the one being used in the Lenovo A369i isn’t just only a capable one in running apps reliably, it also managed to run games smoothly though it still have a little lag due to the limited amount of RAM.
Benchmark test results show that the Lenovo A369i is performing better than a Samsung Galaxy S2, which we’ve agree based on real world tests. The phone scores 10929 in Antutu and 3278 in Quadrant.
Battery life on the Lenovo A369i is what we’ve expected, despite having a small display and less powerful processor, the phone lasts about 11 hours with HSPA, syncing email accounts, very light web browsing and gaming. Of course, we don’t expect any great results from a 1500mAh battery, and you can probably just buy a spare battery or powerbank.
Verdict
We have a love and hate relationship with the A369i, the phone has great performance and user experience in its class, but lacks important hardware that almost made it a perfect entry level smartphone. Of course, we mustn’t forget that there needs to be compromises to have the phone priced that cheap.
The Lenovo A369i retails at RM209, making it the cheapest Android smartphone ever in history, and we mean an Androidsmartphone that at least runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
The Good
+ Incredibly affordable price tag
+ Good display quality in its class
+ Decent touch screen responsiveness
+ Runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
+ Decent everyday performance
+ Maintains stock Android experience
The Bad
-Phone feels slippery to hold
- Stuck on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
- Lacks hardware GPS, causing compatibility issues with apps
- Low RAM
- Poor camera
- Meagre battery life
- Still using Mini SIM
We rate the Lenovo A369i at 3.5 out of 5 stars
