Lenovo Vibe K4 Note review: Phabulous

Performance

The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note is based on a MediaTek MT6753 chipset, which combines eight Cortex-A53 cores (1.3GHz) and three Mali-T720 GPU cores. One of the model versions (the A7010) has 2GB of RAM, but our unit - the A7010a48 - has 3GB.

The chipset doesn't quite live up to its sibling, the Helio X10, largely due to the limited clock speeds. Still, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 with Helio X10 has a 2GHz CPU, but AnTuTu 6 gives it only a slightly better score. The Snapdragon 650 version does much better, though.

AnTuTu 6

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  75051
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  45474
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  38359
• Huawei Honor 5X
  35469

The difference Basemark OS 2.0 shows is much more significant.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  1622
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  1537
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  1018
• Lenovo K3 Note
  984
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  883
• Huawei Honor 5X
  874
• Motorola Moto X Play
  809
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  729
• Meizu m2 note
  673

Geekbench 3 offers further evidence - the competing Huawei Honor 5X has an octa-core processor, 4x 1.5GHz + 4x 1.2GHz, and those 0.3GHz on the fast cores barely make a difference in single-core speed.

The multi-core test shows little difference too, but somehow the Helio X10-based Redmi Note 3 roars awake. Then again the Moto X Play (S615, 4x 1.7GHz + 4x 1.0GHz) lags behind the Vibe K4 Note.

GeekBench 3 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  1573
• Huawei Honor 5X
  705
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  628

GeekBench 3 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  4537
• OnePlus 2
  4429
• Lenovo K3 Note
  4067
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  3570
• Huawei Honor 5X
  3053
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  2745
• Meizu m2 note
  2649
• Motorola Moto X Play
  2608
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  2582
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  2451

Its graphics performance where the Lenovo Vibe K4 Note really falters. Only the Meizu m2 note (using the same chipset) does worse, just about any other phone in the K4 Note's group posts a better score. Expect to play mostly casual games on the Lenovo.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  22
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  8.5
• Lenovo K3 Note
  6.1
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5.8
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  5.7
• Huawei Honor 5X
  5.6
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  5.3
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  4.2
• Meizu m2 note
  2.3

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  22
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  7.9
• Lenovo K3 Note
  6.1
• Motorola Moto X Play
  6.1
• Huawei Honor 5X
  6.1
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  6
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  5.3
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  4.2
• Meizu m2 note
  2.3

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  16
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  9.1
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  4
• Lenovo K3 Note
  2.9
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  2.6
• Meizu m2 note
  1.5

GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  16
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  9.1
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  3.9
• Lenovo K3 Note
  2.9
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  2.1
• Meizu m2 note
  1.9

Basemark X

Higher is better

• OnePlus 2
  21937
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (S650)
  14732
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (Helio X10)
  8540
• Lenovo K3 Note
  5656
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5032
• Huawei Honor 5X
  5009
• Alcatel Idol 3 (5.5)
  4953
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  4915
• Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
  4072
• Meizu m2 note
  3946

When you consider the price of the Lenovo Vibe K4 Note, its overall performance is quite good - the processor is zippy and there's plenty of RAM.

Lenovo has prepared a VR headset to be used with the Vibe K4 Note, but it will mostly work for virtual cinema (emulating the big screen experience on a phone). We didn't get a chance of trying it out.