With a bigger RAM and a powerful camera, Lenovo S60 could beat Microsoft Lumia 540

This review brings Microsoft Lumia and Lenovo face to face. After taking over Nokia’s ‘Lumia’ franchisee, Microsoft has introduced several changes in these models, particularly related to display technology, camera etc. Lenovo has been an established player for a while in the market and has products that compete for attention. Therefore, we have selected two models, Microsoft Lumia 540 and Lenovo S60, for this comparative review.

LOOK & FEEL

Looking at the over all size, Lenovo S60 measures 143.3x72x7.7mm and weighs 128g with an all-plastic body, whereas the Lumia 540 measures 144x73.7x8.6mm and weighs 152g, and is made of a polycarbonate base with matte or gloss backs in a variety of fruity colours, such as orange, white, black, gray and blue. The ergonomics of this model may make it difficult for users that opt for a gloss back to handle the phone as it has tendencies to slip. On the other hand, Lenovo S60 is available in pearly white, graphite grey and yellow. Both the smartphones offer multiple color choices.

DISPLAY

The display indicators in both the devices are the same, that is, 5.0’’ screen size with a 720x1280 pixel resolution. However, while Lenovo S60 has an IPS Capacitive screen, Lumia 540 has an IPS-LCD Capacitive display, which gives Lumia 540 a leg up as IPS-LCD display has several advantages over the IPS display type including the capacity to provide wider viewing angles and colour intensity. As such, on the display front, Microsoft Lumia takes a clear lead.

PROCESSOR & MEMORY

On the processing front, both models have a Qualcomm Snapdragon clocking in the same processor speed of 1.2 GHz. However, the key difference lies in RAM, where Lenovo S60 offers 2 GB of RAM, Lumia 540 comes with 1 GB RAM, which makes Lenovo capable of handling more tasks smoothly. Both the devices have 8GB internal memory. However, the provision for expanding the memory is a big differentiator, where Lenovo S60 can only expand to a maximum of 32GB, Lumia leaps ahead by offering the possibility of expanding the same up to 128 GB. Therefore, the choice is to be made between the higher capacity to multitask and smoother functioning and higher memory.

OPERATING SYSTEM (OS)

Given Microsoft’s association, all Lumia devices run on a custom Windows Phone (8.1) OS with a LUMIA DENIM UI on this particular model, while Lenovo has opted for the free Android OS v4.4. Therefore, it may be a matter of preference as to which platform a customer is more comfortable using.

CAMERA & BATTERY

While both the devices come with a 5MP secondary (front) camera, Lenovo S60, with its 13MP primary (rear) camera, takes a big lead over Lumia 540 that comes with 8MP front camera. Furthermore, on the battery front, Lenovo has a 2150 mAh battery capacity, which is almost comparable to Lumia’s 2200 mAh capacity.

CONCLUSION

We note that both the smartphones are lightweight devices that come in multiple color options, similar display screen size, resolution, processing speed, secondary camera and almost equal battery capacity. However, there are points on which they differ. Microsoft Lumia offers relatively superior display technology and capacity to expand the memory of the device significantly more than Lenovo. However, Lenovo offers double the RAM, which would enhance functional ease on the device, and a lot more powerful primary camera promising very high quality photos. Furthermore, we note that in the Indian market, Lenovo S60 costs around Rs.13,000, where as Lumia 540 is available in around Rs.11,000. The higher cost of Lenovo seems justified on account of RAM and superior camera.