Several weeks ago, Lenovo rolled out the Lenovo A7000, the world’s first smartphone to come with the famed Dolby Atmos technology. The 5.5-inch device also packs the latest MediaTek True8Core chipset with 4G LTE, and runs Android 5.0 Lollipop. As far as value-for-money goes the A7000 certainly pushes the envelope. For just RM699, you get a well-packaged performer and bits of surprises in between. I unboxed the new Lenovo mid-ranger recently, so read on for some quick first impressions of the device.
The Lenovo A7000 is what you’d call ‘understated,’ and even that could be an understatement. It’s a pleasant, if a slightly common-looking design with a polycarbonate exterior. Available in Onyx Black or Pearl White, the A7000 measures 7.9mm thin and weighs just 140g. Overall, feels solid in the hands and appears to be well put together.
The 5.5-inch HD IPS display is bright and sharp, minus any Gorilla Glass protection. It does however, come with a bundled screen protector, to give you some peace of mind.
Inside the nicely packaged box, you’ll get the A7000 unit, USB charge cable, wall charger, headphones, manuals and screen protector.
Under the hood, the A7000 hides the 1.5GHz octa-core MediaTek True8core chipset mated to a Mali T760MP2 GPU and 2GB of RAM. While MediaTek may be known its low cost, value-driven chipsets, the octa-core is quite a performer. Initial AnTuTu benchmark tests returning over 40,000 points puts it in between the Xiaomi Mi 4 and Samsung Galaxy S5. And that, isn’t at all shabby, for a device that costs under RM700.
Storage is as low as it can get at 8GB, but you can expand that via microSD.
The main shooter is an 8MP unit, while the front-facing unit tops the megapixel count at 5MP.
Keeping the A7000 powered the entire day is a 2,900mAh removable battery. Expect a full day’s worth of average use.
One of the cool things about the A7000 is that it runs Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box, with the much-improved Vibe UI on top.
Initial impressions
I admit that the first time I saw the A7000, I was underwhelmed by its ordinary looks. However, once I picked it up, I appreciated that it was solidly-built, yet light. And it has quickly grown on me. It’s snappy, responsive and delivers all-day battery life. And what I thought was a marketing gimmick with Dolby Atmos? Well, let’s say I’m pleasantly surprised. One of my favourite phones under RM700 this half of 2015. Stay tuned for a full review.
