LeEco Le 2 review: A value-for-money smartphone

Chaitanya Gudipatymoneycontrol.comSpecs: 5.5-inch (1080x1920p, 401 ppi) LCD display | Octa-core 1.8 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor | 3GB RAM | 32GB storage | 16MP rear camera + 8MP front | IR Blaster | Fingerprint scanner | Li-Ion 3,000 mAh battery | Android Marshmallow OSPrice: Rs 11,999A bunch of smartphones from the likes of Motorola, Lenovo, Huawei and Xiaomi have ruled the roost in the Rs 10,000-15,000 price band for sometime now. Chinese entertainment conglomerate LeEco’s Le 2 smartphone is capable of disrupting the status quo in the segment. Its USP — hardware at par with its peers coupled with entertainment content — makes it a good value-for-money smartphone.Smooth PerformerLe 2 is one of the few phones which runs Android Marshmallow OS out of the box. Its octa-core processor takes smoothly pretty much everything you throw at it. The phone barely stutters while responding to touch commands or multi-tasking and will last you through the day, thanks to its 3,000-mAh battery.Its unibody metal chassis gives assurance of sturdiness unlike the phones with thin, removable plastic back covers. Le 2 isn’t a sleek phone, but it isn’t a bulky bar either. The device’s cameras can be at best called decent and given the price range the phone falls in, it would be unwise to ask for more. Having said that, Le 2’s rear camera is capable of producing very good results in well-lit conditions. The camera captures details fit for consumption on social networks. Both cameras, front and rear, suffer in dimly-lit or night conditions. Le2 comes with entertainment content worth Rs 4,900 free for an year and it is this area that can be a game-changer. Smartphones these days sport similar hardware. Going ahead, hardware-plus offerings will be the differentiator.LeEco’s premium video offerings include over 100 live channels and 2,000 movies. The company will soon add a music section as well. It must be noted that though this content is free, it needs data connection. Needless to say you will need a data/WiFi connection that offers good speeds. This option can be accessed by swiping right from the homescreen.Le 2 does away with the 3.5mm audio jack and has integrated it with the Type-C USB charging port to ensure a very good output. LeEco provides USB Type C to 3.5mm output audio adapter which can be used with the headphones that you may have. The output technology — Continual Digital Lossless Audio — is a winner. Clearly, you won’t miss out on the finer details of a music score and it would be safe to say that it is the best audio performers in the market. It must be noted that listening to audio consumes more power.If solid performance, good battery life and bright display are Le 2’s strengths its user interface is the Achilles heel. Android Marshmallow OS on Le 2 is heavily skinned. The skin — called EUI — will take a while to get used to because it departs heavily from stock Android OS.For starters, you’ll notice the absence of app drawer and drop-down shortcuts menu. This menu is clubbed with the recent menu which can be opened with the button on the bottom left portion of the phone. Also missing is the quick search option to find apps. A way to make life easier while searching for apps is to use the Google Now widget. Alternately, dragging an app icon onto another will create a folder. You can organise apps better by creating mutiple folders. This will also make screens clutter-free. Why should you buy it?Solid performance, good battery life, superb audio output and free one-year multimedia offering make Le 2 a very good purchase. If one-year multimedia subscription worth Rs 4,900 is considered, you are getting Le 2 for about Rs 7,000-odd. Isn’t that value for money!Also read: Three smartphones to buy under Rs 15,000