Lenovo is getting worried about Chinese smartphone rival Xiaomi taking all the glory, and has announced its first phone to combat the rapidly expanding firm. The device’s name? Well, according to the website where it can be purchased, it’s the Music Lemon K3, but elsewhere it’s referred to as the K3 Le Lemon. Either way, it has something to do with lemons. Why? Well, it’s probably more about the color yellow – apparently a highly symbolic hue in Chinese culture – than the fruit.
The Le Lemon is designed to challenge Xiaomi’s entry-level phone, the Redmi 1S. This doesn’t mean the spec is dreary though. It’s actually pretty good. Lenovo has fitted a 5-inch, 720p IPS touchscreen to the 128 gram device, and it’s powered by a 64-bit, 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor and 1GB of RAM. Considering the phone costs the equivalent of $100 without a contract, that’s pretty good.
On the rear of the bright yellow body shell is a Sony-produced 8-megapixel camera, while a 2-megapixel camera on the front will take care of the selfies. A total of 16GB internal storage memory is ready for use, plus there is a MicroSD card slot, a 2300mAh battery, dual-SIM slots, and 4G LTE connectivity in China. Lenovo has also added some flashy speakers and a few audio tweaks to make the K3 sound great.
In October, Lenovo said it would launch an online-only rival brand to Xiaomi. Sure enough, the Le Lemon K3 won’t be sold in stores, and is currently only available through the Chinese online retailer JD.com. In August, Xiaomi became China’s number one smartphone brand, leaving Lenovo, Samsung, and Yulong all fighting over second place.
It’s unlikely the Le Lemon K3 will make it to America, but it’s possible Lenovo will launch it in other regions where Xiaomi is beginning to take off, including India.
