2017 has so far been quite fruitful for budget buyers. You may not have a bought a device yet, but options like the Coolpad Cool 1, Honor 6X and Lenovo P2 do make for a sweet proposition. While the Cool 1 and Honor 6X the in-vogue dual-camera feature to cheaper products, the Lenovo P2 is quite literally a battery monster.
We’ve been live on Facebook with the three devices separately, and on almost all those occasions, there was at least one of you asking for a comparison. So, here it is, a quick but comprehensive performance and camera comparison between the three smartphones.
Performance
The Coolpad Cool 1 is by far the most powerful smartphone of the lot. The smartphone drives higher frame rates on games, while regular usage is snappy and faster than the two competitors. On the Honor 6X and Lenovo P2, we saw definite stutters while switching between apps and playing intensive games. The Cool 1 manages these tasks much better.
The difference is notable in gaming. While the Coolpad Cool 1 and Lenovo P2 are both able to keep the frame rates up, frame drops are most pronounced on the Honor 6X. In practice, it seems the Honor 6X never really pushes frames up to 30fps on Asphalt 8, while both the Lenovo P2 and Coolpad Cool 1 keep frame rates at 30fps for long.
This leads us to believe that in the long run, the Coolpad Cool 1 and Lenovo P2 are much more likely to stay lag/stutter free than the Honor 6X.
Camera
Both Coolpad and Huawei put dual-camera modules on their devices, while the Lenovo P2 has a lone 13MP sensor on the back. In practice, the Honor 6X’s camera produces the best colours and the most details, followed closely by the Cool 1. Colours are sometimes slightly oversaturated by the Cool 1, but its major weakness is in the fact that it produces lesser details.
Top to Bottom: Lenovo P2, Coolpad Cool 1, Honor 6X. Shot in natural light, outdoors
Top to Bottom: Lenovo P2, Coolpad Cool 1, Honor 6X. Shot in comparatively low light
On the other hand, the Lenovo P2 is the weakest on the lot. The smartphone focuses on producing vibrant colours, but softens images too much and can’t produce good details. Its low light performance is also sub-par, with lots of noise and morphed colours. The Lenovo P2 often distorts colours, as you will see in the images below, particularly, the image with cars and trucks on the road.
The Honor 6X has the best camera by virtue of details. We mentioned this earlier in our first impressions of the Honor 6X camera.
Coolpad Cool 1 Camera Samples
Lenovo P2 Camera Samples
Honor 6X Camera Samples
Display
In terms of brightness and sunlight visibility, the Lenovo P2 is the best amongst the lot. Its Super AMOLED display isn’t perfect for sunlight visibility, but you’ll not have to squint unless you’re in very harsh sunlight. On the other hand, the Cool 1 is also reasonably visible under sunlight, but is not as bright as the P2. The Honor 6X stands pretty much the same as the Cool 1.
In terms of colours, the Lenovo P2 produces punchy colours, thanks to the AMOLED panels. Colours look good on the Cool 1 and Honor 6X, but they aren’t as well defined as the P2. The representation of colours on the Lenovo P2 seem the best.
Battery
The Lenovo P2 has the best battery life amongst all smartphones right now. The phone lasts 20 hours 54 minutes on the PC Mark Work 2.0 benchmark test. In comparison, neither of the other two devices can pass the 10 hour mark.
In regular usage, both the other devices will pull through a full work day, or perhaps a bit more. However, the Lenovo P2 can last for two days without breaking a sweat.
Bottomline
While the Lenovo P2 is indeed the choice for those who can’t compromise on battery, it comes with quite a few compromises. The Honor 6X, on the other hand, has the best camera amongst budget devices today, but that too comes with compromises. From our tests, we can conclude that the Coolpad Cool 1 is the most balanced smartphone amongst these three. It lasts a full work day, has an admirable camera, and is the fastest of the lot.
Buy Lenovo P2 at Rs. 16,999 on Flipkart