Two months after the launch of its latest mid-range phone, the Lenovo K6 Note, the Chinese smartphone brand is ready to unveil its next mid range model and the competitor to the successful Redmi Note 4
“Something more noteworthy is coming soon,” the Chinese company said, unveiling a picture (see above) of a previously unseen model.
It is almost certain that the new model will be named K7 Note.
The predecessor, K6 Note, was launched as an offline model and was priced at a steep Rs 17,000 for the 4 GB model. However, the K6 is hardly different from the K5, which was unveiled in August of last year on Flipkart.
The K5 Note is currently selling at Rs 13,49 and comes with the MediaTek P10 chipset.
REDMI NOTE 4
In the mean time, Xiaomi has launched the Redmi Note 4, the upgrade to the most successful smartphone of 2016.
The Redmi model comes with all the regular features of a mid-range phone, including an affordable price, but also throws in Snapdragon 625.
Snapdragon 625 is built on 14 nanometer technology, which makes the chipset consume much less energy compared to earlier, 28 nm chipsets like MediaTek P10. Besides, the low amount of heat generated by the chipset allows it to run at high-speeds for longer, thus delivering better performance.
This is a major point of distinction for the Redmi model compared to all others in the mid range, including those from Lenovo and Coolpad.
The Lenovo K7 will also come with the same chipset, according to our sources, thus levelling the playing field.
However, it remains to be seen how much of a competition the K7 can really provide to the Redmi model.
Xiaomi has a slightly better brand perception in India and many would go for a Redmi branded device compared with a Lenovo branded device if all specifications and the price are the same.
The Redmi Note 4 is already priced very aggressively at Rs 12,999 for the 4GB + 64 GB version.[polldaddy poll=9665313]
In comparison, the Lenovo K5 Note is priced at Rs 13,499 for the 4+32 GB version. However, given the competitive scenario in the market, Lenovo is likely to price its new model at more or less the same levels as Xiaomi.
How successful it is in the market would depend on whether it can deliver better hardware than the Note4. For example, if the K7 comes with a dual-camera set up at the back, that would be a key advantage.