Finally, my official written review of LeMoto P2.
Warning : TLTR...
Coming from Nokia 3210, Moto Razr V3x, Nokia E61, Nokia N78, Sammy P780, HTC HD2, iPhone 4, LeMoto S890, LeMoto P780, Alcatel Idol X, LeMoto K910, Sammy Galaxy Note 3, Sammy Galaxy S5, Huawei Honor 3C, Huawei MediaPad X1, ZTE Blade S6, Meizu M1 Note, ASUS Zenfone 2 ZE550ML, Xiaomi Mi4i, Ulefone Be Touch 2, Meizu M2 Note, Elephone P4000, Alcatel OneTouch Flash Plus, Huawei Honor 7, Xiaomi Redmi 3, Xiaomi Redmi 3S, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro, Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime and current daily driver the Sammy Galaxy Note 5.
As a start, I shall renamed the combo of Lenovo and Motorola Mobility LLC as "LeMoto".
Bought the LeMoto P2 offline for RM1,199 with 0% interest of 12-month installment plan. Included in the intro-promo is LeMoto-OEM Bluetooth speaker.
I have been using it for 7 days now and will give my honest review and comparison to my previous smart devices, where applicable. The P2 is being used as stock and no unlocked bootloader or rooting access permission are performed.
A = AndroidLeMoto has learned their mistakes in the past. No more funny/pesky/rogue bloatwares and clunky Vibe UI experience. The brand new Android skin is called "One UI" (or Pure UI in India...?). The "One" here is defined as merging the old Vibe UI with stock AOSP as "One" consolidated UI. However, if one still like the legacy Vibe UI in stand-alone mode, one can easily switch it in the launcher preferences menu. The Android 6.0.1 has been slightly tweaked with my favourite extra features like :
1) Double-tap-to-wake;
2) Double press volume = snap photo while device is sleep;
3) Screen "brightness protection" = bluelight protection;
4) Smart scene = activate certain mode/functions with NFC tags;
5) Wide touch = floating one-touch shortcut access;
6) Dual app profile = clone WhatsApp, FB, etc.
7) Long press Home button = activate flashlight when device is sleep;
8) Long tap "Recent apps" on-screen button to activate "Menu" command in any apps;
9) Etc-etc-etc... (which one need to dig inside the system settings.
One UI is snappy just like AOSP UI. Overall experience is positive.
B = Body-BuiltLeMoto maintain the structure to be unibody metal design. However, the rear-top and rear-bottom edges are slapped with plastic/PVC panels to allow great signal reception results. However, like many other unibody metal design and with slim profile, P2 is very slippery for dry palm human being. No wonder LeMoto provides free hard-slim transparent case to mitigate the slippery issue.
Physical buttons are positioned properly so that when mounting P2 onto car/camera holder, these buttons are not clashed with the car holder legs. Buttons are satisfactorily give good tactile feedback and quite sturdy too. There is one clickable "Home" button below the 5.5" 1080P screen. No capacitive button is presence as navigation can be done either via on-screen navigation or the "Home" fingerprint button/sensor. I personally prefer the latter as the thumb moves in one small direction. However, this clickable "Home" fingerprint button may worn out one day just like many other iPhones and Sammy "Home" button.
Camera lens are slighly buried underneath the metal plate by about 2mm. NFC sensor is located below the dual LED flash for easy cashless transactions and other connectivity actions.
There is one special slider on the left side of the device. It's called "One-Key Power Saver". I personally enable this "Power Saver" before bedtime. During 8 hours sleep, only 1% battery is drained. Brilliant implementation by LeMoto.
For other physical appearance, you can refer to online pix and YouTube vix. Overall, the P2 has closed to "premium" build quality suited its price category.
C = ConnectivityThe major function of any smart devices. Call quality is excellent with good signal reception. Rare disconnection issue so far even while taking calls inside an elevator. At par with other Huawei and Motorola call quality results. Bluetooth 4.1 with Low-Energy tech works as expected. It does pair with my 2 years old Sony SmartBand Talk SWR30 flawlessly with all notifications and call communications running thru without hiccup. Dual band Wi-Fi connections for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz ac/a/b/g/n are above average and stable too. No infra-red blaster is presence but the NFC sensor is available for miscellaneous activities.
Broadband data modules are compatible with all Malaysia telcos including VoLTE support (YES telco so far).
Dual SIM feature has been enhanced to Dual-SIM-4G active mode. P2 is capable of holding 4G+3G (or 3G+3G) simultaneously. In case in the future, carriers decided to terminate the 2G service, P2 is not into trouble. Both SIM slots are nano-SIM size while the SIM 2 tray is hybrid with microSD expansion slot (128GB Max). This seems to be a "downgrade" from P1 Turbo (with dedicated microSD tray). Why LeMoto downgrade this feature? Cost cutting....? It is a mistake in my opinion.
Overall, if one is expecting stellar connectivity, P2 is one of the answer.
D = DisplayiPhone is moving towards OLED tech. P2 is using it now. With 5.5" Super AMOLED China-made panel, expect oversaturation colour by default but thankfully one can tone it down in the One UI settings. However, there is no settings on hue, gamma and others which are presence in some Xiaomi, Huawei and Asus devices.
The 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection is presence with oleophobic coating to make the fingers glides effortlessly during typing/swyping.
Viewing angle is 170 degrees on all corners. Exceeding this angle will produce rainbow effect just like in the Sammy Galaxy Note 5. Direct sunlight readability is average unlike on some advanced sunlight readability features in Xiaomi phones.
We can enable the AOSD (Always On-Screen Display) to view as table clock at night. This feature is borrowed from Sammy flagships.
Overall, the S-AMOLED panel is above average at this price range. Only the durability of this China-made AMOLED panel is questionable.
E = ErgonomicSize-to-weight ratio is perfect. Though slippery, the device is stable enough to hold - thanks to the front finger-print sensor combines with rear the camera modules, makes the device vertically balance, stable and comfortable to use with one hand or during typing using both hands. The 177 grams with slim 8.5mm profile and slight curve at the back-side edges giving a gentle grip on the palm and makes it easier to pick-up when lay on flat surface. No sharp edges is presence. Overall, P2 is not going to challenge the Meizu M1/M2 Note, which has one of the best ergonomic design for one-hand usage on a 5.5" screen in my honest opinion.
F = FingerprintThis is 100% copied concept from the Meizu devices. As an option to the on-screen navigation (which can be hidden by the way), the front fingerprint sensor acts as navigation button too:
1) Single tap to go "Back".
2) Hold-tap to invoke "Recent/Background app".
3) Press to go "Home".
The fingerprint sensor is always in active mode, whereby, one just need to tap to unlock from idle/sleep mode. One can register up to 5 fingers in the setting. Overall, it is fast and reliable.
G = GamingReleasing P2 in the late 2016 is considered as "late" when adopting the Snap625 chipset. Heavy gaming titles like Asphalt 8, Modern Combat 5 and N.O.V.A. 3 will show "slight" micro-stutter at highest gaming settings. However, one can do gaming for as long as he wants without worrying heating issue and NO throttling of the SoC too. P2 always runs in mild warm forever. Thanks to the new 14nm LLP SoC of Snap625. Overall, the owner will not be disappointed with P2's general performance in gaming. Please refer to
Page 1 of this thread for more info.
H = HapticsThe sense of the vibration is firm while the device is in the pocket. Unfortunately, one cannot customise the vibration pattern like in the Sammy Galaxy Note 5 or even in Xiaomi devices. Overall, you can't miss any incoming notifications while watching cinema or in a noisy environment. The phone will vibrate in an adequate manner.
I = InternetUsing Google Chrome to surf the web is a breeze. With 4GB Single Channel 933 MHz LPDDR3 RAM couple with 32GB eMMC5.1 built-in storage, shows the capability of P2 to handle enormous heavy websites with "slight" stutter scrolling. Opening multiple tabs is no issue and the support of all LTE bands for Malaysia telcos is a plus. Overall, the S-AMOLED FHD screen is enjoyable experience for day and night online surfing, shopping and productivity purposes.
J = JuiceFinally, we have reached to the No. 1 selling point of LeMoto P2. 5,100mAh sealed Sony/ATL lithium-polymer cell wins my award as "The Best Energy Consumption Smartphone of 2016". Claimed talk-time, stand-by time, etc. are beyond achievable for dual-active-nano-SIM LTE phone. No words to describe the subjective usage patterns, just review my stats on
Page 1 of this thread for more info. of this thread.
LeMoto proprietary "Rapid Charge" is presence. Stock "Rapid Charger" is bundled in the box. It is "some-what" compatible with Qualcomm's Quick-Charge 2.0/3.0 technology. From 8% to 100% (Device is On), it requires 2 hours and 16 minutes waiting time to fill-up the whole massive 5,100mAh battery capacity.
Overall, the main reason somebody owns P2 is because of longevity, PERIOD!
K = KeysNavigation keys for Back/Home/Recent can be done either on the fingerprint sensor or on-screen navigation or even both simultaneously. Overall, anyone can get comfortable with all these three navigation keys behaviors/options. There is also extra slider on the left side which is called "One-Key Power Saver". I use this before bedtime so that after 8 hours sleeping session, the battery only drops 1% overnight. No wasted energy of 5% - 10% overnight. Simply brilliant implementation by LeMoto. Another scenario is when you are stranded in an elevator for hours. Just slide on the Power-Saver button to get 10 hours of 2G usage (SMS is handy while in emergency case...) over 10% battery left.
L = LightsNotification lights is presence with 7 colour options.
The phone also embedded with dual LED flash for low light photography as well as emergency flashlight which can be activated by just long-press the physical "Home"/fingerprint button.
M = MultimediaMedia contents consumption is generally acceptable for 1080P S-AMOLED bottom firing mono speaker. What is suprising in P2 is that the speaker is very loud (1.5 watts to generate >85dB for sure). Built-in DAC supports Lenovo configured TI-TAS2555 SMART amplifier that requires high-end headphones/earphones to enjoy blasting moments when listening to your favorite tracks. It was said that the TI-TAS2555 amplifier is able to play audio files up to 192 kHz / 24-bit. Supports for Dolby 5.1 is presence with 3rd party apps. FM radio is supported with the hooked of bundled stereo headset.
Overall, the 2D multimedia usage is above average and acceptable in this price range.
N = NavigationGPD is working as expected. Lock satellites within 10 seconds from cold start. Waze, Google Maps and HERE Maps are working normally, even indoors. Driving above 100 km/hr does not lost any GPS signal. Only luke warm heat after 1 hour of continuous navigation. Overall, this P2 should be used by those Uber and GrabCar pilots who don't need to charge while driving anymore.
O = OptimisationLeMoto is doing a fine job in optimising P2 in terms of performance and energy consumption. The Marshmallow Doze feature kicks in almost instantly after the screen is turn off. Hence, there is no need to root this device in order to install 3rd party apps to "greenify" certain apps/services. No overheating during heavy gaming, long hours navigation and photography sessions. The supplied 4GB RAM is keeping at least 5 heavy apps running in the background. Looks like the engineers in Lenovo has learned a lot from their in-house Motorola Mobility divisions. Overall, it is performing as close as legacy Nexus devices.
P = PhotographyMany is awaiting this part of the review. Well, I will have to be frank that P2 is NOT born in this planet for hardcore photography fans. Use the output for social media sharing and personal media contents should be acceptable enough. Do not use the output for commercial use or professional events. The 13MP Sony IMX258 comes with f/2.0 EXMOR RS sensor is acceptable accompanied by dual-tone LED flash. No lag while snapping pix but HDR mode as usual requires steady firm hands to get good results.
There is built-in "Smart" mode to guide you how to get good photos, which is useful for kids. Auto mode camera snapshot is reliable. Macro shots are acceptable. Low light image is average.
Selfie is driven by OmniVision sensor which is average and nothing to shout about.
No OIS for still photos and videos. But there is EIS for 1080P video at 30fps. 4K Ultra HD is supported but nothing to shout about...again. Both Slow-Mo and Fast-Mo video do NOT capture audio. OTA update is required here.
Overall, if photography is one of your top 3 reasons to get this device, you will just say "meh...". But, for me, with the proper use of the Pro mode and steady hands, P2 is actually above average. Please refer to
Page 1 of this thread for camera samples.
Q = QuirksWell... for the price you pay, absolutely nothing solid to command P2 to go back to the drawing board. Maybe lack of local accessories could be one of it. Second, in order to root, one needs to unlock the bootloader which requires 14-day approval from Lenovo Tech team. Camera output is subjective so long as one understand how to use the Pro mode and have steady hands, then, one will either say "very good pix" or sadly "very nasty shots". Android update is for sure only up to Android Nougat 7.1.1. There will be no hope for Android Oreo, Android Pancake or Android Quaker Oats in the future, unless, the XDA communities appreciate P2 potentials.
Currently, the SIM 2 slot is hybrid with microSD card (up to 128GB only) which is a "downgrade" from previous LeMoto P1 Turbo that has separate dedicated microSD slot. What a shame, LeMoto...what a shame...
The charging port is the traditional/legacy microUSB 2.0 instead of getting-popular Type-C. No wireless charging and water/dust resistance coatings. But, these quirks should not be a deal breaker to Average Joe user with tight budget and know what to expect from this underdog apparatus.
R = RootingFlash-a-holic geeks will not be happy on how LeMoto handles this request. One-Click root is definitely a Big-Fat-No-No because the Bootloader is Locked. To unlock the bootloader, one need to create a Lenovo ID and activate Developer Mode to send request for bootloader unlock approval. The pain part is, the approval takes 14 days which one may either get green or red lights.
To-date, my unit still has another 8 days to go to "officially" unlock the bootloader. So, until then, rooting is not possible and XDA community is already in the progress to release TWRP file to general public. Overall, LeMoto mimics Xiaomi rooting access protocols. Very painful experience to all the advanced modders.
S = SoundExternal speaker supplied is of 1.5 watts allowing to produce more than 85dB loudness. However, the sound quality is a bit muddy with bass over-powering the treble.
The 3.5mm headphone port is at the top which is not my favourite location. LeMoto claims the TI-TAS2555 DAC has been configured with "SMART Amplifier", providing the ability to play audio files of up to 192 kHz / 24-bit. So, the Android settings does not have any Audio Customisation/Amplifier. It is all handled by the so-called "SMART Amplifier". Supports for Dolby 5.1 via 3rd party apps is possible but very subjective results.
Earpiece/receiver is crystal clear with noise cancelling mic working as intended. The opposite party can hear my voice clearly with "muddy" background noise while I can hear the opposite party's voice without issue.
Overall, music lovers may need to take the risk of either the Texas Instruments TAS2555 DAC is up to one standard or not.
T = TextingStock Google AOSP keyboard is provided. No need to install other 3rd party keyboard apps as one will get the best typing/swyping experience on the 5.5" screen. The 5.5" oleophobic "Corning Gorilla Glass 3" protection makes your fingers glide happily during typing or playing games. Overall, the slim profile and balance body-to-weight ratio makes texting experience even more pleasurable ride. Overall, the texting experience is as good as in the iPhone(s).
U = USBsThere is no Type-C for this late 2016 device. Traditional micro USB 2.0 located at the bottom works as designed and nothing to complain about. It supports reverse charging as well. LeMoto has bundled-in the microUSB to USB 3.0 female adapter for reverse charging purposes. OTG is also supported. MHL is yet to be confirmed. Overall, there is no need to have USB Type-C at the moment.
V = Virtual RealityLeMoto One UI allows users to turn the screen to dual-side-by-side mode in order to view them in VR headset/Google Cardboard. Google VR support is still unknown. Overall, it is a good option for beginners to explore VR contents before committing to full fledged immersive VR experience. Combining with loud external mono speaker, experiencing VR for the first time is well above expectations.
W = Warranty1) General device components = 1 year local manufacturer warranty.
2) Battery = 1 year local manufacturer warranty.
3) Rapid Charger = = 1 year local manufacturer warranty.
4) Headphones = 3 months local manufacturer warranty.
There is no options to extend the warranty like what Sammy is offering today. So, if one is expecting to keep the device after 1 year warranty, the cost of repair is yet to be discovered, especially the Super AMOLED screen which is not Samsung/LG-based quality. If the screen replacement is below RM300, it is still worth to pay for in my opinion because one cannot get a brand new phone with Super AMOLED panel at RM500 anyways.
X = X-factors1) Longevity. 10 hours of Screen-on-Time is GUARANTEED!
2) Almost stock Android UI.
3) Loud external mono speaker.
4) No throttling or overheating during heavy usage.
5) Excellent connectivity performance.
6) One of the affordable 5.5" Super-AMOLED panel smartphone to-date.
Y = YesterdaysSimilar devices competing in the same price segment should be:
1) Samsung Galaxy A-series and J-Series (2016).
2) Huawei Nova Plus.
3) Asus Zenfone 3 ZE520KL.
4) Xiaomi Mi5 series.
5) LeMoto ZUK Z2.
6) LeEco Le Pro 3.
7) OnePlus Two.
8) LG G4.
9) HTC One M9.
10) iPhone SE.
11) Nexus 5X.
12) And many other yesterdays' devices that you are holding to right now.
Z = Zero-figureBased price at Malaysia Ringgit RM1,299-point-zero-zero is a worthy long-term investment with current 64-bit chip upgradable to Android Nougat 7.1.1 later. But if you get this unit at RM1,299, better top-up a bit more to opt for other options which may provide better low-light camera and perhaps better performance. But for the current zero-zero figure, one should be more than happy to abuse the LeMoto P2 till one eyes becoming red due to watching vix and social media activities non-stop for 15 hours straight!
Thanks for your time to read my review and please refer to
Page 1 of this thread for more details...
regards,
azhar75 @ lowyat.net
Dec 30 2016, 09:40 AM
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go on ya mate.soooo appropri-aPe
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