Lenovo's new Z2 Plus flagship smartphone features Snapdragon 820 SoC but costs just $270

Chinese companies are increasingly showing us why one shouldn’t have to pay a premium for a high-end smartphone.

Take Lenovo for example, which today launched the Z2 Plus, its new flagship smartphone for the Indian market. The phone features top hardware modules including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor but costs just Rs 17,999 ($270).

The Z2 Plus sports a 5-inch full HD LCD display (1920 x 1080 pixels), and comes in two variants: one with 3GB of DDR4 RAM and 32GB of internal storage, and the other one with 4GB of DDR4 RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

The company is offering more than just putting the top hardware modules together. It is positioning the phone as a fitness tracking device. The Z2 Plus ships with an app called ‘U-Health’ which can track your sleep, distance, and calories burned. You no longer to have to purchase a fitness tracking device, the company’s executives said at an event today. It is similar to Samsung's S Health app that uses the phone's sensors to track the user's movements.

The home button on the device, which also doubles as a fingerprint sensor, comes with smart gestures as well. Depending on the gesture, users can switch between apps, go a step back or forward or even open Google Now. The Lenovo Z2 Plus is also lightweight as it uses fiberglass for the body. The company says doing this has made the phone stronger and improved its network capability.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Lenovo also touts improvements in camera sensors, noting that it is using a “large pixel” for better image capturing at dark lighting conditions. There’s a 13-megapixel rear camera with a 1.34 micron pixels with PDAF and 4K video recording. It however comes with electronic image stabilization, which is done via software and not the more capable optical image stabilization that most flagship smartphones offer these days. It also has an 8-megapixel selfie camera.

As with several other recently launched flagship smartphones, the Lenovo Z2 Plus also doesn’t come with a standard charging port, and instead has a USB Type-C slot. There’s a considerably large 3,500 mAh battery which thoughtfully supports Quick Charge 3.0 capability so that it doesn’t take forever for the phone to charge.

By any means, the Lenovo Z2 Plus is a flagship smartphone. But its price is nowhere close to what top offering from Apple, Samsung, Sony, LG and others cost. The 3GB variant of the Z2 Plus costs Rs 17,999 ($270), whereas the 4GB variant is priced at Rs 19,999 ($300). Both the variants will be sold on Amazon India from Sept. 26.

Lenovo’s Z2 Plus further underscores how Chinese smartphone companies are increasingly selling top hardware for low-cost. Lenovo’s rival Xiaomi also sells its phones at aggressive price points. Its latest flagship, the Mi 5 also featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 and 3GB of RAM is currently being sold at Rs 22,499 ($338).

Giving the two companies competition is China's LeEco, which entered India just this year. It launched the Le Max 2 smartphone in June with features such as 5.7-inch QHD display, and Snapdragon 820 SoC. The phone was launched at Rs 22,999 ($345), but it is selling for as low as Rs 19,999 ($300) on ecommerce websites.

India is the world’s fastest growing smartphone market and it is extremely price sensitive. This has left with these companies with no choice but to participate in a price war.