Chinese LeEco, formerly known as Letv, has just entered the Indian market and while its flagship phone, the Le Max, is good, what’s really intriguing is the Le 1s. The device costs Rs. 10,999 and sports a MediaTek Helio X10 processor, along with 3GB of RAM and a 13MP rear camera. From a specs to price point of view, the Le 1s makes a very good point for itself. For those buying phones in the sub-10k range, the Le 1s seems to offer a lot more for just a little more money, while phones like the Asus Zenfone 2, Xiaomi Mi 4i and Moto G Turbo are priced too high and even underpowered than the Le 1s in a lot of ways.
You've read the LeEco Le 1s review, but that often doesn't cut it to make the final buying decision. So, here's a direct comparison against some of the Le 1s' chief competitors in the market.
Performance
From a performance point of view, the Le 1s is ahead of all of its competitors. While the Asus Zenfone 2 does come closer than others, it still can’t surpass the Le 1s. LeEco’s software enhancements through its eUI have enhanced the phone’s multi-core performance. This means that in terms of real world day to day usage, the phone can do much better than devices like the Moto G Turbo, Xiaomi Mi 4i and Asus Zenfone 2. In comparison to the Coolpad Note 3 and Moto G Turbo, the benchmark scores clearly describe the difference in performance and they’re translated to the real world as well.
Where the Le 1s lacks though, is in graphics and GPU performance. On a pure GPU test, like GFX Bench Manhattan 3.0, even the Snapdragon 615/Adreno 405 powered Moto G Turbo can churn out better frame rates than the Le 1s. While that doesn’t mean that the Le 1s is a bad phone for gaming, it just means it’s not the best. The Asus Zenfone 2 is a better choice for those who game extensively on their devices.
UI
While the choice of user interface or OS is up to the user, LeEco’s eUI in China is quite interesting. A swipe towards the left on the home screen takes you to a Blinkfeed like menu that hosts Letv’s ecosystem of content services that come with the phone. However, all of that is missing in India, making eUI similar to any other in the market. The quick settings have been bundled inside the multitasking menu and most of the changes are cosmetic. The background enhancements of the UI play a big role in the phone’s overall performance.
There’s not much to choose in terms of the UI. If you’re a stock Android lover, then the Moto G Turbo remains the best choice, but if you ask us, the Xiaomi Mi 4i and its MiUI is the best of the lot in this comparison, simply because of the useful additions that Xiaomi makes. LeEco’s UI right now looks different, but doesn’t offer anything extra in terms of functionality.
Battery
While the LeEco Le 1s has a 3000 mAh battery, so do the Coolpad Note 3, Xiaomi Mi 4i and the Asus Zenfone 2. The Moto G Turbo on the other hand, boasts a 2470 mAh battery. Despite that, all four phones can do well on the battery front. On paper, the Coolpad Note 3 can last you the longest, but in the real world, the Xiaomi Mi 4i and Coolpad Note 3 can last a few hours more than the others. The Moto G Turbo, LeEco Le 1s and Asus Zenfone 2 can get you past a work day, but you’ll have to make a few compromises to get a full 24 hours out of them.
Practically speaking, none of them give you ideal battery life and but are more or less at the industry standards today.
Camera
While the LeEco Le 1s does have a 13MP sensor on the back, it’s perhaps the weakest amongst the four phones we’ve been talking about. While the Moto G Turbo can take brighter images, the Coolpad Note 3 beats it in terms of sharpness, colour reproduction, low light performance and brightness of images. The Xiaomi Mi 4i though is the best when it comes to low light performance, with the Note 3 and Asus Zenfone 2 coming in as close seconds.
The Le 1s lacks details and subdues images. In addition, the phone doesn't do well under low light, with a lot of noise creeping in under such conditions. While it has one of the fastest cameras in this price range, the image quality just isn't as good as we're used to getting nowadays. It's one area where LeEco needs to work harder.
Bottomline
While the LeEco Le 1s is a very good buy at Rs. 10,999, you will be compromising in the camera department. The phone’s performance makes up for it, but if the camera is of paramount importance to you, then go for one of the other phones.