After a sabbatical, Lenovo will launch its first K-series smartphone, the Lenovo K9, in India today. The smartphone will be a successor to the Lenovo K8 and the Lenovo K8 Plus (Review) that were launched last year in September. The company had sent an invite last week saying “The Killer Returns”, showing a silhouette of a phone. The invite was followed by a teaser mail in which the company confirmed that it is launching a “new range of mobiles this festive season.”
Lenovo has confirmed in a video that the smartphone will be a Flipkart exclusive device and is marketing the device as “The Killer 2.0”. Lenovo was reported to be struggling amid fierce competition from fellow Chinese brands and its own sub-brand Motorola. The tagline suggests that Lenovo is looking for a comeback, at least in India. Earlier this year, market research firm Counterpoint Research reported that global smartphone market declined year-on-year for second successive quarter in the first quarter of 2018.
“Lenovo (including Motorola) captured the eight spot with a market share of 2 per cent. While the Motorola brand did well, it was Lenovo smartphones that registered decline during the quarter. The Lenovo brand declined in India and in rest of APAC while Motorola continued to do well in LATAM and US smartphone markets,” the firm had said.
The Lenovo K9 is expected to feature a 5.7-inch HD+ (1440×720 pixels) IPS display, and may be powered by a Qualcomm or MediaTek chipset. The smartphone could launch in two variants: 3GB RAM + 32GB storage and a 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant. It is tipped to feature a rear dual-camera setup with 16MP primary and a 2MP second sensor, with AI capabilities. On the front, the smartphone may house an 8MP shooter with beauty mode. The Lenovo K9 could get a 3,760mAh battery, and it is expected to run Android 8.1 Oreo. If the expected specs of the device are anything to go by, then it could be a budget offering to rival the Xiaomi Redmi 6 or Nokia 3.1 Plus. The Lenovo K9 launch will be livestreamed starting 4PM this evening. You can tune into Lenovo India's YouTube channel to catch the livestream of the launch.