Lenovo P2 Review: Specs & Hardware
- Display: 5.5in AMOLED Full HD 1080p
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 2GHz octa-core
- RAM:4GB
- Storage:32GB, microSD up to 256GB
- Primary Camera: 13MP Dual-LED Flash
- Secondary Camera: 5MP
- Battery: 5,100mAh
The BIG selling point of the Lenovo P2 is its HUGE 5,100mAh battery cell - there are very few, if any, other phones which pack a battery this big, in fact it’s approaching tablet levels.
The battery performance is phenomenal, beating pretty much anything else you can think of. Couple that with the cheap RRP of £200 and you have quite a compelling package.
The Snapdragon 625 processor is also quite capable, with snappy and responsive performance from that 2GHz clock-speed and a whole 4GB of RAM on Android 6.0.1 - a relatively up-to-date build. Again, that’s a fantastic suite of hardware and performance capabilities for a £200 phone.
Onboard storage at 32GB is acceptable - it’s not a lot these days, but again, for not a lot of money it’s a fair old amount as storage modules are not exactly cheap. The presence of microSD also helps, of course, with a high capacity up to 256GB.
It’s not all great though. Compromises have to be made somewhere to keep the price down, and in this case it’s the camera, which is totally understandable as that too is often an expensive component.
It’s not a bad camera, but there are better offerings in the budget category where other firms have clearly chosen different priorities - but then, they don’t offer INSANE battery life. Swings and roundabouts.
However, at this point we should break the bad news. Lenovo has now discontinued the Lenovo P2 - it is no longer being produced and distributed.
That doesn’t mean you can’t get one, but it’s now become something of a collector’s item and the price in many places has shot up to the point where it’s much less of a “value” proposition.
Lenovo P2 Review: Design & Display
Despite the massive battery cell, Lenovo has managed to keep the Lenovo P2 relatively trim. It’s also nice to see a metal body in the budget category, it’s 8.3mm thick and there is some heft to it, but it’s not a clumsy brick by any means and has a reasonably attractive aesthetic similar to some of Huawei’s recent devices.
The display is a real treat - a 5.5in AMOLED with a Full HD 1080p resolution gives OLED’s typically lush and colour rich visuals with a 99% sRGB colour gamut coverage and excellent contrast. Brightness is decent on the whole, although it lacks top-end clout compared to OLED king Samsung’s offerings, but again - cheap phone, can’t complain.
Lenovo P2 Review: Verdict
A really quite excellent handset. This is basically to the £200 and below segment what OnePlus is to the flagship tier - an incredible value package for the original RRP with some of the best battery life ever seen in the smartphone space. Add to that a great display and smooth performance, as well as a nice metal build, and we find there’s a lot to like here.
The only fly in the ointment is that it’s no longer officially available and you might struggle to find it for that original RRP, which somewhat erodes the value package element.
If you can find one for £200 don’t hesitate to grab it (unless it’s an obviously broken unit or something), but otherwise, you’ll have to seriously consider whether you’re prepared to pay a lot for an OOP phone and whether the best battery life ever is worth the cost.