Lenovo waterproof. Lenovo-S750 waterproof smartphone

A very inexpensive Android smartphone with good protection against water and dust

Having recently tested almost all modern smartphones that are protected from water and dust (and these were mainly products of the Japanese Sony, although the Koreans last time pleased us with their Samsung Galaxy S4 Active), we decided to take a broader look: in our market we are all “ SUVs" have been examined, it's time to move on. We got a good idea at the international exhibition IFA 2012 in Berlin, during which we came across an interesting product from a well-known manufacturer, from which we certainly could not expect to produce smartphones. However, this happened, and in our editorial office there was a review of one of the most unusual protected smartphones of our time - Cat B15 from the world famous manufacturer of heavy construction equipment Caterpillar. Then we had the idea to look in overseas markets for something else that worked on a similar platform and was unfamiliar to domestic users - for comparison with the Cat B15.

Thus, our editorial team now has one more test subject - the Lenovo A660, a fairly simple hardware-wise dust and waterproof smartphone. Also not the latest manufacturer on the world market, and also based on a similar hardware platform. And most importantly, the smartphone is not officially supplied to our market, and this adds an “exotic” feel to the device. Finally, as a true all-rounder, the Lenovo A660 smartphone supports dual SIM cards, which is so popular among travel enthusiasts. In general, there was something to tell about this model.

In the pictures: Lenovo A660 in comparison with dust and waterproof Sony smartphones - Xperia acro S, Xperia V and the latest of the new products, Xperia ZR, as well as the hero of the last review - Cat B15.

Key Features of Lenovo Ideaphone A660

• SoC MediaTek MT6577, 1 GHz, 2 cores, ARM Cortex-A9
• GPU PowerVR SGX 531
• Operating system Android 4.0.4
• Touch LCD display TN, 4″, 800×480
• Random access memory (RAM) 512 MB, internal memory 4 GB
• MicroSD card slot up to 32 GB
• Communication GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• Communications 3G UMTS 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g, point Wi-Fi access
• GPS, A-GPS
• Camera 5 MP, autofocus
• Camera 0.3 MP (front)
• Dust and moisture protection (IP67)
• Li-ion battery 1500 mAh (BL194)
• Dimensions 125x65x10.5 mm
• Weight 138 g

Scope of delivery

The smartphone goes on sale in an unattractive outwardly flat box made of white unvarnished cardboard with a plastic tray inside. However, in terms of richness of equipment, the smartphone did not lose face: here, in addition to a standard charger and a wired stereo headset, there was also a good rubber case, and even protective film to the screen.

I liked the case: since the smartphone itself does not have protection from shocks and falls, the thick rubberized walls of the case can play a good service and save the delicate electronic filling in an extreme situation. In addition, this case has extremely rough textured pimpled sides, so the smartphone is unlikely to slip out even from wet hands. A good help for lovers of an extreme lifestyle.

About security

This is perhaps the most interesting section in the description of the Lenovo A660. After all, technically the smartphone is not anything outstanding, and will be chosen by the buyer, of course, mainly only for its protective qualities at a very low selling price. Therefore, we will try to describe the protective functions this phone as much detail as possible.

The Lenovo A660 smartphone is officially certified to IP67 dust and water resistance, which means full protection against dust ingress, as well as protection from low pressure water jets from all directions, and can be kept up to 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter in fresh water. water.

As mentioned above, we purchased the smartphone for comparison with the Cat B15 and other devices of the same niche, so several waterproof devices ended up in our water container at the same time.

With protection against water getting inside the case, the Lenovo A660 is in perfect order: the smartphone turned out to be just as impenetrable in this regard as the Cat B15 and Sony Xperia ZR. Since the A660 has the same removable back cover as the others, the organization of protection is similar here: inside there is a rubber rim that does not surround the entire frame, but only its central part, containing all the slots and metal contacts. The camera window and speaker grille remain open to water, but they have their own protection.

True, the opponents taking part in the “swim” simultaneously with the Lenovo A660 turned out to be each more interesting than their opponent in some way. The Cat B15, for example, has a true safety lock—a latch that holds the back cover securely in the event of impacts or drops. It is noteworthy that the creators of the Lenovo A660 reproduced exactly the same element. The part looks so similar to a real valve that at first I just wanted to “open” it. But in the end it turned out that this is just a prop, and not a real locking element - the cover is actually simply attached here with several plastic latches, like any other ordinary smartphone. By the way, the creators of the Sony Xperia ZR also did not take care of the lock on the lid, which is very sad. If dropped well on a hard surface, such a cover may bounce off, and then all protection from moisture will simply disappear.

As for the Sony Xperia ZR, it also has its own special “trick” - the ability to take photographs underwater. It’s difficult to answer how much such a function is in demand in fresh water, but for photographing underwater sea beauty, the device could well be useful. Officially, however, all these protected smartphones cannot be immersed in salty sea water, but if you act at your own peril and risk, the device will survive such treatment, and then you just need to rinse it with fresh water to wash off the salt.

Unlike his opponents, the hero of today's review did not have a hardware camera control key, therefore, the Lenovo A660 is also not able to shoot underwater. Let us remind you that with full immersion, not a single screen will perceive finger touches, which means that it is impossible to take pictures by clicking on virtual icons on the display - only if there is a hardware camera shutter key.

Thus, it turns out that the Lenovo A660 does not have any of the additional little things, such as shock protection, a lock on the lid, or the ability to shoot underwater. However, the smartphone provides adequate protection from dust and water, and this is the most important thing. Well, it will also be useful for lovers of an active lifestyle to know that the Lenovo A660’s screen remains completely manageable even with wet fingers.

Appearance and ease of use

Regarding appearance Lenovo smartphone A660, then it fits well into the image of a sporty, protected, even somewhat brutal mobile device. The smartphone looks very nice, not boring - the device has its own expressive design, which is rare for such inexpensive things. Naturally, there is no gloss here - all surfaces are matte, and to ensure that the smartphone does not slip in your hands, there are also ribbed notches. Not only the entire back surface is textured here, but also the sides, all this allows you to securely hold the smartphone in your hand in any situation.

The dimensions of the smartphone are perfectly combined with its weight - everything is so well chosen that there is nothing to complain about. Case materials: high-quality plastic, hard (without a rubberized effect) to the touch; there is no metal. All parts fit neatly together, there are no cracks, nothing creaks when compressed, the assembly is of high quality. Along the entire side perimeter of the device there is an expressive bright green stripe, giving the black body a kind of “anxiety”, corresponding to the obvious extreme orientation of the device’s image.

The back cover here is removable and is secured, as is usually practiced, with several plastic latches. As mentioned above, there are no locking locks here, although the smartphone is a secure device. The cover, by the way, is very difficult to tear off from the body - it sits so tightly on its latches that you can even get hurt trying to pry it off with your own fingernail. Never before in our experience have we come across lids that were so difficult to open.

Under the cover, both slots for SIM cards and a microSD memory card are hidden as standard. All of them are lined up on the same level, which is very convenient to use. If the internal slot slots of the same Cat B15 turned out to be extremely inconvenient, then in this case the use of Micro-SIM cards with adapters does not cause any problems.

The battery here is removable, and when installed, it supports all three cards when they are inserted into their slots. Accordingly, hot swapping is out of the question.

The front panel of the Lenovo A660 is not completely covered protective glass Gorilla Glass: at the very bottom there is a neat plastic protrusion rounded on all sides. However, unlike most modern smartphones, here they tried to not only physically reduce the empty space under the screen as much as possible, but also disguised it with additional details, such as an inscription about the presence of water protection, as well as a nice elongated light indicator made to match the color of the light green side stripe. The indicator shines only one, poisonous yellow light, notifying about various events, from incoming messages to charging results. The bottom part of the smartphone turned out to be very nice and visually complete, which is extremely rare.

Traditionally for Lenovo mobile devices, there are not three, but four buttons for controlling the system and applications. The Home button is Lenovo's signature quatrefoil, which on older models is even present on the display as a screen saver. There, each of the four petals could be pulled to the side to quickly jump to the corresponding program. There is nothing like that here: the lock screen is a standard horizontal strip that can be moved to one side to unlock.

The remaining controls and connectors are traditionally located along the edges of the device. The audio output (3.5 mm) and the Micro-USB connector are combined here into one unit and covered with one protective cover. If you need to plug the charger plug here, it will be very close to the headphone plug if you connect them at the same time. But there is only one cover - a more ergonomic solution. The cover has a rubber gasket that protects the connectors from moisture, and is held on the body with a rubber clamp.

The power and lock keys are located here, on the top edge. In principle, it is equipped with some kind of indicator light, but we were unable to make it glow, and we did not find the corresponding settings in the menu. It looks like it's just a decorative element.

The volume button is a two-position rocker key located on the right side of the device. The buttons are made in the same style with the side light green stripe, and do not protrude beyond the body at all, which is why they are practically invisible to the touch. Obviously, you won’t be able to get used to this—you’ll have to constantly look at the device while adjusting the volume.

And finally, traditionally, about the color options of the new item. “Starry Night Black” and “Vibrant orange” are the two options available to the buyer. “Starry Night” is completely black with only a poisonous light green stripe along the side perimeter - we tested this smartphone. The orange version has the opposite: a black stripe runs along the entire side perimeter of the completely brick-orange phone body. There are no other differences, both options are non-staining, the choice only depends on taste preferences.

Screen

The Lenovo A660 smartphone is equipped with a modest TN touch matrix measuring 52x87 mm, diagonal - 102 mm (4 inches), resolution - 800x480 pixels, pixel density is 233 ppi.

The display brightness has both manual and automatic adjustment, the latter based on the operation of the light sensor. Multi-touch technology allows you to simultaneously process up to three touches - at least that’s what the AnTuTu Tester program intended. On the Cat B15, by the way, she was able to recognize five simultaneous touches. The screen is quite responsive, there are no problems with this. The smartphone also has a proximity sensor that blocks the screen when you bring the smartphone to your ear.

Detailed examination using measuring instruments conducted by the editor of the “Monitors” and “Projectors and TV” sections Alexey Kudryavtsev. Here is his expert opinion on the screen of the sample under study.

The smartphone screen is covered with a glass plate with a mirror-smooth surface and, judging by the barely noticeable decrease in the brightness of reflected objects, has a weak anti-glare filter. On the outer surface of the screen there is either no oleophobic (grease-repellent) coating at all, or it is very weak. The surface of the matrix itself, located under the glass (and separated from it by an air gap, of course), is highly matte; as a result, the screen reflects both side and direct light.

When manually controlling the brightness, its maximum value was 350 cd/m², the minimum was 9 cd/m². As a result, in bright daylight, even at maximum backlight brightness, given the matte surface of the matrix and a very weak anti-glare filter, the readability of information on this screen is unlikely to be high, but the reduced brightness will allow you to comfortably use the device even in complete darkness. There is automatic brightness adjustment based on the light sensor (it is located to the left of the logo on the front panel). IN automatic mode When external lighting conditions change, the screen brightness increases and decreases. In complete darkness, the auto-brightness function reduces the brightness to 9 cd/m² (a little dark, but large text can be read), in an artificially lit office, the brightness is set to 110 cd/m² (comfortable brightness), and in a very bright environment it increases to a maximum of 350 cd /m² (which is to be expected). The backlight brightness is modulated with a frequency of about 200 Hz. This is not a very high frequency, so if desired, flicker can be detected visually, for example by waving a pencil in front of a white field on the screen.

This smartphone has a TN type matrix. The microphotograph demonstrates the subpixel structure typical of TN (or rather, the lack of structure):

At the same time, we present another micrograph with a lower resolution and with a focus on the film covering the matrix:

Visible dots merging into groups are artificial surface defects that create the effect of a matte finish. The density of these dots is high, and therefore the matte surface of the matrix is ​​strongly expressed.

The screen has good viewing angles in the horizontal direction, but at the slightest upward deviation, dark shades are inverted, and when tilted downward, light shades are inverted. When viewed perpendicularly, the uniformity of the black field is good. The contrast is not very high - about 600:1. The response time for the black-white-black transition is 15 ms (10 ms on + 5 ms off), the transition between halftones of gray 25% and 75% (based on the numerical value of the color) and back takes a total of 27 ms. Relatively short response times are perhaps the only positive property of this matrix. The gamma curve constructed using 32 points did not reveal a blockage either in the highlights or in the shadows, and the index of the approximating power function turned out to be 2.24, which is close to the standard value of 2.2, while the real gamma curve coincides well with the power dependence:

Color gamut is slightly less than sRGB:

Apparently, the light filters of the matrix mix the components with each other, and the spectra confirm this. This technique allows you to increase the brightness of the screen with the same energy consumption for the backlight, but the colors lose saturation (in this case, slightly).

The balance of shades on the gray scale is below criticism, since the color temperature is higher than the standard 6500 K and varies greatly from shade to shade:

The deviation from the blackbody spectrum (delta E) is relatively small, but this does not correct the situation:

From the "extremely budget" label this screen They are saved by the presence of automatic brightness adjustment and not the narrowest color gamut available - in total, it’s simply “budgetary”.

Sound

In terms of sound, the smartphone was quite surprising. Typically, secure phones have a specific internal arrangement designed to protect them from moisture. The speaker there is additionally covered with a special protective membrane that does not allow water to pass through, so the sound of such devices is duller and quieter. This effect occurs in many waterproof models, and the Cat B15 is no exception. With the Lenovo A660, the opposite is true: the smartphone produces such a loud and piercing sound that it would probably be heard next to a mountain waterfall. A very useful feature, especially for travelers. The grille of the external speaker is located at the back, but it is impossible to muffle such a speaker in principle: even when you directly press your finger on the grille holes, the smartphone still continues to rattle “with its whole body.” What can we say about the fact that the sound is practically not muffled by the surface when the phone is on the table.

There are no special distortions in the telephone dynamics; the voice of a familiar interlocutor, intonation and timbre are well recognizable, the sound is also loud and clear throughout the entire spectrum.

The standard audio player is nothing particularly remarkable; the only sound settings available are a standard equalizer with several preset values.

Camera

Lenovo A660 is equipped, like most modern smartphones, with two digital camera modules. Front camera here it is equipped with only a modest VGA module with a resolution of 0.3 megapixels. An example photo is shown below.

The main rear camera is also equipped with a rather modest 5-megapixel module. By default, the camera shoots in the maximum possible resolution of 5 megapixels, and the resulting images are 2560x1920 in size. Examples of photographs taken with factory settings and our comments on them are presented below.

	The clarity on the foliage is quite good. Noise is noticeable on grass and asphalt.
	Sharpness decreases quite smoothly with distance. The foliage sticks together only in the background.
	Overall, the sharpness is quite good. The photo is severely underexposed, although this is quite a compromise.
	Smooth decrease in sharpness towards distant plans. The foliage in the background is well done.
	Again a compromise exposure. There is strong noise in the shadows. The number plate of the nearest car is clearly visible.
	It turns out that the camera knows how to choose exposure.
	Macro detail is not bad, but clarity is not so good.
	The text is well done. Virtually undamaged.

The camera doesn't cope too badly with its 5 megapixels. Of course, the results of the work of the sharp and noise reduction are visible, and there is noise in places, but overall this does not spoil the result much. If we consider the pictures only as the finished result, then underexposure is, of course, a disadvantage. However, it's much better in processing than overexposure, so the camera is smart in that regard. The camera works well with text. It will probably be able to work well with smaller text - most likely, Sharp will cope.

I would have liked a little more clarity in the shots, especially the macro ones, but what the camera does in wide shots is generally not that bad for a budget smartphone camera.

By default, the camera shoots video in a resolution of 640x480; an example of a video is presented below. The videos are saved in a 3GP container (video - MPEG-4 Visual (Advanced Simple@L5), sound - AAC LC, 96 Kbps, 16 kHz, 2 channels).

• Video No. 1 (11.9 MB, 640×480)

The camera control settings are standard for the Android system: the poor layout of the icons forces you to scour the menu. Selecting options, such as shooting resolution, is done by clicking on the small arrows to the right and left, which is very inconvenient. In general, manufacturers are doing the right thing by modifying the standard Google interface. The control options are standard: you can add geotags, artistic effects, color effects, adjust white balance, saturation, brightness, contrast, and even use the HDR mode.

Shooting, as already described above, can only be done by pressing a virtual button on the screen - there are no hardware buttons for control on the body. You can’t take photos while recording video - you need to select only one mode “the old fashioned way.”

Telephone and communications

The smartphone works as standard in modern networks 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA. The 5 GHz Wi-Fi band is not supported, there is no support for NFC technology and fourth generation networks (LTE). The implementation of working with two SIM cards is standard: there can only be one active conversation, only one of the cards works in 3G mode, the second is limited to 2G, although you can change modes for cards without physically changing slots - through the software menu, just 3G mode can only support one of the cards.

There were no freezes or spontaneous reboots/shutdowns observed during testing. When you bring it to your ear, the screen is blocked by the proximity sensor. The light sensor controls the screen brightness level automatically. There is also the already mentioned light sensor, very large in area and shining with a poisonous yellow light.

OS and software

There's not much to talk about in this section. The system uses the Google Android software platform, which is far from the latest version 4.0.4, and its proprietary interface. The developer did not use any additional graphical user interfaces of his own production here, and there are no additional pre-installed third-party applications. The only useful thing is a file manager - and nothing more. You will have to download and install everything you need through the Google Play online store.

Performance

The Lenovo A660 hardware platform is based on the MediaTek MT6577 single-chip system (SoC). CPU has 2 Cortex-A9 cores operating at 1 GHz. It is assisted in processing graphics by the GPU PowerVR SGX 531 video processor. The device has only 512 MB of RAM. Storage, user accessible for uploading your own files, initially amounts to about a gigabyte of the nominally designated 4 GB of internal memory, but there is the possibility of expanding the memory through microSD cards. Interestingly, the file manager determines installed card memory as internal, and calls its own built-in memory “External Memory Card”. This is, of course, highly misleading. Connection mode external devices To USB port(USB Host) is not supported here.

Based on the data obtained during testing, the performance of the Lenovo A660 was at an expectedly low level. For such a filling, the results are quite predictable - exactly the same numbers were obtained as a result of tests by the Cat B15, which operates on a similar hardware platform.

As for testing the graphics subsystem in the cross-platform 3DMark test, neither the Cat B15 nor our current “ward” frankly failed to cope with it: the phones simply could not pass the test, throwing failure messages on the screen every time. However, this is not surprising, since both devices do not officially comply minimum requirements test at least in terms of the amount of RAM (3DMark requires 1 GB of RAM).

In the Epic Citadel gaming test, the results of the Lenovo A660 graphics subsystem are modest, but at least the testing passed without failures.

As for benchmarks for assessing the speed of the javascript engine, the results in them significantly depend on the browser in which they are launched, so the comparison can only be truly accurate on the same OS and browsers. In the case of devices running on an operating system latest versions Android, we always try to use Google Chrome. In tests in this category, the device showed the worst results we have ever seen - almost twice as bad as the Cat B15.

Playing video

To test the omnivorous nature of video playback (including support for various codecs, containers and special features, such as subtitles), we used the most common formats, which make up the bulk of the content available on the Internet. Note that for mobile devices it is important to have support for hardware video decoding at the chip level, since it is most often impossible to process modern options using processor cores alone. Also, don't expect mobile device decoding everything, since the leadership in flexibility belongs to the PC, and no one is going to challenge it.

¹ MX Video Player only played sound after switching to software decoding (in Hardware+ smartphone refused to play MKV); The standard player does not have this setting

Battery life

The capacity of the battery installed in the Lenovo A660 is small 1500 mAh. For comparison, the same Cat B15 has a 2000 mAh battery. The battery, as already mentioned, is removable here, so it can be removed and replaced (battery brand - BL194).

Continuous reading in the FBReader program (with a standard, light theme) at a minimum comfortable brightness level (100 cd/m²) lasted 12 hours 30 minutes until the battery was completely discharged, and continuous viewing of YouTube videos in high quality(HQ) with the same brightness level via home Wi-Fi network The device spent a little more than 6 hours - the results are modest. The Lenovo A660 performed worse than the Cat B15, which is consistent with its smaller battery capacity.

Bottom line

Officially, Lenovo does not sell the A660 model in our stores, although it presents its other smartphones on the Russian market. Overseas, the Lenovo A660 can be purchased for prices starting at $120. If you search in Russian online stores, then in our country the few who sell this model set a price for it of about 7 thousand rubles. The price is already low, but ordering from abroad will still be much cheaper. The smartphone looks very good considering its very affordable price. Yes, it does not shine with performance, but most other rugged smartphones do not shine with it either. Sony is an exception here, but its smartphones are much more expensive. If you don’t chase performance and don’t buy a smartphone to play the role of a multimedia combine, then in other respects the Lenovo A660 can serve its owner with dignity.

Lenovo is starting to sell a smartphone from the “S” series. This is a shockproof, waterproof smartphone, protected according to the IP67 standard and given the full name Lenovo S750. It is in many ways superior to the popular “A” series device of the same type, introduced by the company almost a year ago.

Let us remind you that the level of protection is an internationally recognized standard, compliance with which means complete dust resistance. In addition, a phone protected under this standard is able to work after “diving” to a depth of one meter and “holding its breath” for 30 minutes.

The new product is equipped with a 4.5-inch diagonal IPS touch display with additional protection from impacts and scratches in the form of Gorilla Glass 2. The QHD screen resolution is 960 x 540 pixels. According to some reports, it is equipped with two SIM card slots that can operate in GSM and HSDPA communication standards (up to 7.2 Mbit per second, 3G).

The Lenovo S750 smartphone is powered by a powerful 4-core MTK6589 processor, clock frequency which is 1.2 GHz. The device's RAM is 1 GB, and the built-in memory is 4 GB. Memory expansion is carried out by purchasing a 32 GB microSD and using the corresponding slot in the monoblock.

The secure smartphone is equipped with modules for wireless transmission Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n data. Since it is assumed that it is intended not only for urban use, but also for rural areas, as well as for travel, it contains.

The device is equipped with two cameras - an economical front 0.3 MP for video communication (that's right, there is no point in wasting traffic and needlessly straining the processor and battery), as well as the main one, quite decent, with an 8 MP matrix, digital zoom and autofocus.

Operated by Lenovo S750 operating Android system 4.2. It contains an MP3 player and FM radio. To provide energy, a capacity of 2000 mAh is used. Not much, of course, but, on the other hand, the dimensions of the smartphone fit into the body: 134.5 x 70.4 x 9.9 mm and weighing 157 grams.

Although according to other sources, the same dimensions are 134.4 × 70.3 × 10.55 mm, and the weight is 156 grams. Who can figure them out, these Chinese? The body color can be ash gray or black. It has not yet appeared in the warehouses of online stores, but its official price is already known - 1599 Chinese yuan. Translated into Russian “money” at the current rate, this amounts to 8,445 rubles, excluding postage and taxes.