Compare 6 All-New Lenovo A- and S- Series Smartphones: S860, S650, S660, A859, A680, A526 (May 2014)

Lenovo Malaysia announced the availability of its all-new A- and S- series smartphones in May 2014.

The new S-series smartphones are S860, S650, S660; new A-series smartphones are A859, A680, A526.

Yes, total 6 new smartphone models! They have similar specs with a little different. I was dizzy looking at the specs sheet at the media launch event! I spent time at home to sort them out and compare specs-to-specs.

Here you are, the ONE article compares all 6 Lenovo phones. Guess which model is Best Value among the six? Read on to find out.

(Don’t forget to read my thoughts at the end of article)

[box type=”info”]Info: S series is “elite entertainment smartphones” designed for video, music, and gaming. The series has high resolution display and studio-class audio. It is the main series of Lenovo smartphones. A series, on the other hand, is entry level smartphones at lower price.[/box]

Despite different series and price tags, all new Lenovo smartphones are powered by the same MTK 6582 1.3GHz Quad-core processor and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. They are also all support Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby and support Dual 3G.

Compare new S series smartphones (S860, S660, S650)

S860

Lenovo S860 (RM 1169) is the king among the new smartphones. It has best cameras, 5.3-inch HD display, 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, plus a 4000mAh battery for 24 hours 3G talk time. The phone even includes a USB on-the-go cable to charge your other devices. The metal body phone build quality is good. It has stereo speakers at the bottom, too.

However, S860’s battery is non-removable and it does not support micro SD memory card to expand its storage space.

S660 vs S650

S660 (RM 749) and S650 (RM 699), as you can see from their model number and price tag, have similar hardware specifications.

The major different is the battery capacity. S660 is 3000mAh versus S650’s 2000mAh. The 1000mAh battery juice different gives you 2 hours more talk time on S660.

The other different is phone materia – S660 is aluminium and S650 is polycarbonate (read: plastic).

For RM50 extra, S660 has higher battery capacity and better phone material than S650. Good?

Compare new A series smartphones (A859, A680, A526)

A859

If S860 is the king, then A859 (RM719) would be the queen among the new smartphones. Despite categorized as A-series smartphone, A859 has S-series specs. It has 5-inch HD display, 8MP+1.6MP cameras, 8GB phone storage.

A680 vs. A526

The other two A-series phones – A680 (RM499) and A526 (RM469) – are priced under RM500. Both models have similar specs, such as 5MP+0.3MP cameras, 4GB phone storage. The different is the display size – 5-inch vs. 4.5-inch, both same resolution).

Best Value: Lenovo A859

Among the 6 new Lenovo smartphones, I would give Lenovo A859 the Best Value award.

It has specs higher than S-series phones (S660 and S650) with better display, higher resolution front camera for selfie. The price is only RM719, RM30 cheaper than lower specs S660.

Do not buy Lenovo S650! For only RM20 more, you get better display, better front camera, bigger battery on Lenovo A859. Buy S660 only for its 3000mAh battery capacity.

Thoughts

I do not understand why Lenovo want to release many phones with similar specs and prices. Could not be simplified?

Want to have more choices for customers? I think it is more confusing instead. A salesman would not take the time memorizes all the phone models and specs. Would customers research the phone models like I did in this article? No, most phone buyers only ask for salesman’s recommendation. At the end, phone buyer is not buying the right phone for their needs.

The 6 new models could slash to only 3 models:

1. S860 – highest specs
2. A859 - medium specs
3. A526 - entry level

S660 and S650 are duplicated. Do not need to have.

In the same price range, A859 is already overlapping the S-series models. This is agreed by Lenovo Malaysia when I asked during media event.

Now Lenovo Malaysia is selling a total of 19 smartphone models and more are coming later 2014…