Chinese phone maker Xiaomi raised some eyebrows recently when the company introduced a $130 phone with a 5.5 inch, 720p display, a MediaTek octa-core CPU, and a 13MP camera.

Sure, the Xiaomi Redmi Note isn’t the best phone money can buy… but it might be one of the best that $130 can buy… but it’s not the only phone in that category. Lenovo just introduced the Lenovo S898T smartphone which has remarkably similar specs… and a slightly lower price.

lenovo s898t

The Lenovo S898T is also aimed at Chinese customers, and it has a starting price of $126. The phone features a MediaTek MT6592 octa-core CPU, a 5.3 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel display, a 13MP rear camera, and 5MP front-facing camera — just like the Xiaomi Redmi Note.

And just like the Redmi Note, the S898T will come in two versions. The cheaper model has a 1.4 GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. Or for about $159 you can get a model with a CPU clocked at 1.7 GHz and 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage.

There’s no word on whether Lenovo plans to offer this phone outside of China anytime soon. But it’s a demonstration that Xiaomi isn’t the only Chinese company able to offer a low-cost smartphone with mid-range specs.

via GizChina

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7 replies on “Lenovo’s $126 smartphone takes aim at Xiaomi’s Redmi Note”

  2. Pretty interesting phone. The hardware is likely up to scratch, but I’m not so sure about the software. From what I have heard the Lenovo phones aren’t too terrible.

  4. These phones could just be the manufacturers’ implementation of a
    MediaTek reference design, which would account for their similar prices.
    A carryover from what Intel did with laptops (and still does).

  5. I’m surprised at how cheap these phones are getting. I looked at a Lenovo S930 that was 1300RMB before getting a Lumia 1320 for 1800. Both felt like quality phones (the S930 actually felt higher quality than the Lumia) – but I did notice the Lenovo had a pretty lousy battery. I’m going to take a guess and say the Xiaomi does as well.

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