Earlier today, LeEco launched the Le 2 mid-range smartphone and Le Max2 flagship phablet in India. The Le 2 is essentially the successor to the Le 1s and the Le 1s Eco, that were launched in India earlier this year. One of the key highlights of the Le 2 is it is the first smartphone in India with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 652 SoC.. With the increasing battle between mid-range smartphones, the LeEco Le 2 is set to face fierce competition from the likes of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, Lenovo ZUK Z1 and YU Yunicorn. We pitted these smartphones based on their price, specifications and features, and here’s how they compare.
Price and availability: The LeEco Le 2 will set you back by Rs 11,999 and will be available exclusively via LeMall.com and Flipkart. However, the company didn’t mention any date for the same, which will be sometime early next month. The YU Yunicorn is priced at Rs 12,999 for the first month and will be sold exclusively via Flipkart. After the one month introductory period, the smartphone will be available for Rs 13,499 via both, online and offline retail stores. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (3GB RAM + 32GB storage) is priced at Rs 11,999 and can be purchased from Mi.com and from Amazon India. Lastly, Lenovo’s ZUK Z1 is priced at Rs 13,499 and is available to purchase via flash sales on Amazon India.
Display: All four smartphones house a 5.5-inch full HD (1080p) display. Xiaomi has included a mode called ‘sunlight display’ where the ambient light sensor detects the lighting conditions in the surrounding to automatically adjust the contrast and brightness. The ZUK Z1 also had a similar feature called LiveDisplay that adjusts the screen temperature at night by adding a yellow tint to reduce the strain on your eyes. The YU Yunicorn, on the other hand, sports a 2.5D curved glass on the front, which also adds a dash of premium look and feel to it. It also comes with a monochrome mode for reading.
Chipset and RAM: Under the hood, the Le 2 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz and paired with 3GB of RAM, whereas the Yunicorn is powered by MediaTek’s Helio P10 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz and paired with Mali T860 GPU and 4GB of RAM. While the Redmi Note 3, is powered by Qualcomm’s 64-bit Snapdragon 650 hexa-core chipset (two Cortex-A72 cores and four A53 cores), 2GB of RAM and Adreno 510 GPU, the ZUK Z1 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM.
Storage: The Le 2 and ZUK Z1 come equipped with 32GB and 64GB of onboard storage, respectively. Sadly, the storage isn’t expandable. The Redmi Note 3 and YU Yunicorn, on the other hand, feature 32GB of onboard storage and a hybrid SIM card slot, which allows you to use two nano SIM cards or one nano SIM card and one microSD card.
Cameras: For shutterbugs, the Le 2 sports a 16-megapixel rear snapper of aperture f/2.0 with PDAF and dual-tone dual LED flash, and a front facing 8-megapixel camera. The rear camera also supports 4K video recording, something that is missing from its competitors. The ZUK Z1 is equipped with a 13-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and dual LED flash. It is also the only smartphone in this price range to offer OIS to help you capture blur free photos. Up front is a 5-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies and video calling.
While the YU Yunicorn is equipped with 13-megapixel rear camera of aperture f/2.2 and PDAF, the Redmi Note 3 sports a 16-megapixel rear snapper with PDAF. For selfies and video calling, both smartphones come with a 5-megpaixel front-facing, camera.
Battery and connectivity: The Le 2 is armed with a 3,000mAh battery with support for quick charging via USB Type-C Port. It also features connectivity options such as 4G LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, GPS and VoLTE support. The ZUK Z1 is equipped with a 4,100mAh battery with fast charging feature and connectivity options such as 4G LTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, GPS and USB Type-C reversible connector. The YU Yunicorn and Redmi Note 3, on the other hand, feature a 4,000mAh and 4,050mAh batteries. On the connectivity front, both smartphones feature Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth, GPS and dual SIM 4G LTE. The Redmi Note 3 also includes support for VoLTE.
Operating system: The LeEco Le 2 runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow-based EUI 5.5. The Yunicorn runs on stock Android 5.1 Lollipop, which YU calls ‘Android on Steroids.’ The smartphone also gets ‘Around YU 2.0’ service platform where all services are at one place. Simply swiping to the right on the homescreen, you can look for shopping deals from Scandid, look for places to eat on Zomato, scout for some travel deals from Ixigo and also hire a cab from TaxiForSure and Ola. In order to use these services, you don’t need the apps to be installed on your smartphone, which is one of the unique software features of the smartphone. YU will update it to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow soon.
The ZUK Z1 runs on CyanogenOS based on Android 5.1 Lollipop and it is also likely to get a software update to Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The Redmi Note 3, on the other hand, runs on MIUI 7 based on Android 5.1 Lollipop and it is also due to get Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow based MIUI 8 update soon.
Design and additional features: All four smartphones feature unibody design and a fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication. The ZUK Z1 features a metal frame and plastic back, and the fingerprint scanner is embedded inside the home button. The YU Yunicorn features a full metal unibody design and the fingerprint scanner is embedded inside the home button. The Redmi Note 3 and Le 2 also feature a full metal unibody design and the fingerprint scanner is placed on the back, just below the camera module.
Comparison Table
| Features | LeEco Le 1s | Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 | YU Yunicorn | Lenovo ZUK Z1 |
| Display | 5.5-inches full HD (1920×1080 pixels) | 5.5-inches full HD (1920×1080 pixels) | 5.5-inches full HD (1920×1080 pixels) | 5.5-inches full HD (1920×1080 pixels) |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 hexa-core processor | MediaTek’s Helio P10 octa-core | Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor |
| RAM | 3GB | 3GB | 4GB | 3GB |
| Storage | 32GB (non-expandable) | 32GB (expandable) | 32GB (expandable) | 64GB (non-expandable) |
| Rear Camera | 16-megapixel with phase detection auto-focus and dual LED flash | 16-megapixel with phase detection auto-focus and dual LED flash | 13-megapixel dual LED flash | 13-megapixel with OIS and dual LED flash |
| Front Camera | 8-megapixel | 5-megapixel | 5-megapixel | 5-megapixel |
| Battery | 3,000mAh | 4,050mAh | 4,000mAh | 4,100mAh |
| OS | Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow wrapped under custom EUI skin | Android 5.1 Lollipop wrapped under MIUI 7 | Android 5.1 Lollipop | CyanogenOS based on Android 5.1 |
| Price | Rs 11,999 | Rs 11,999 | Rs 12,999 | Rs 13,499 |
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