Lenovo Vibe K5 Note hands-on, first impressions

The Lenovo Vibe K5 Note sits on top if its Vibe K5 and Vibe K5 Plus siblings, and it’s also the direct successor to the Vibe K4 Note which was just launched early this year. With just a few months after the predecessor’s introduction to the Philippine market, Lenovo has brought in the K5 Note with a few upgrades up its sleeve and a more solid aluminum construction.

The Vibe K5 Note is a 5.5-inch handset with a Full HD panel with roughly 403ppi pixel density. That’s no different from the K4 Note which has the same resolution and display size. There’s an 8MP front camera up top along with the earpiece and a couple of sensors.  And thankfully, Lenovo has treated the trio of capacitive keys below with backlight.

The right side has the power/lock button and the volume rocker. The buttons are tactile but made out of plastic. The left side houses the hybrid card tray for nano SIM cards and a microSD card.

The top has the 3.5mm jack for wired headphones while the bottom end of the device has the micro-USB port for charging and connectivity at its center. A tiny pinhole for the main microphone is placed just beside the port.

The back panel of the K5 Note is a sealed aluminum plate with a similarly painted plastic strip above and below it to allow radio signals to pass through. There’s a main 13MP camera sporting phase-detecting autofocus (PDAF) and 5-composite lens. Seems like a promising setup, but we’re yet to see how it performs. A rounded and flushed fingerprint scanner is also on the back for unlocking and securing the device. Despite the upgrade of the K5 Note’s construction, the loudspeaker is now placed at the rear opposed to the front-facing stereo speaker of the K4 Note.

What’s powering the K5 Note is a 64-bit MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core processor running at a max speed of 1.8GHz. That’s a considerable upgrade from the predecessor’s chipset although memory is still pegged at 3GB of RAM. Storage is at 32GB with about 23GB available out of the box.

The key feature of the K5 Note is Lenovo’s TheaterMax VR experience which basically turns any content on your device to be compatible with the included VR headset. Speaking of, the VR headset this time around now has a remote control, thus making your VR experience better compared before, as long as it’s supported by your application.

We currently have a review unit on hand as of writing, so we’ll be taking the Vibe K5 Note for a full spin in the coming days.

Lenovo Vibe K5 Note specs:
5.5-inch Full HD LTPS IPS display, 401ppi
1.8GHz MediaTek MT6755 Helio P10 octa-core CPU
Mali-T860MP2 GPU
3GB RAM
32GB internal storage
up to 128GB via microSD
13MP PDAF rear camera w/ dual-tone flash
8MP front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE, 3G HSPA+
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS, A-GPS
NFC
FM Radio
Dolby Atmos
Fingerprint scanner
1.5W speaker, Hi-Fi audio with Dolby Atmos
3,500mAh battery
Android 5.1 Lollipop w/ VIBE UI (upgradeable to Android 6.0)
152 x 75.7 x 8.5 mm
165 g

The Lenovo Vibe K5 Note retails for Php 11,999USD 204INR 17,334EUR 195CNY 1,489 which already includes the new VR headset and controller. Lenovo has also included a clear case and a screen protector in the bundle to protect your newly bought device from unwanted damages. The device comes in two colors — platinum silver and champagne gold.