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Battery life
- Incredible battery that will last a solid two days with above average use
- A huge 5,100mAh cell inside and great battery saver mode
- Did well in our video test, but does particularly well during general use
The standout feature the Lenovo P2 is its battery life – we were bowled over by how long this phone can last on a single charge.
That's largely down to its 5,100mAh battery, which is far higher capacity than most phones at any price.
But to be clear, we didn’t find the Lenovo P2 stood up to the company’s claim of three day life. Instead it lasted around two and a bit days with medium to heavy usage.
But that's still a big jump up from most other devices out there. Most smartphones in 2017 will only last you one day, and some won't even be capable of doing that with heavy usage.
For example, the Moto G4 Plus only usually lasted us a day between charges in our review, and sometimes struggled to even make it through the whole day if we’d been pushing it hard.
Average use of the Lenovo P2 meant we could take it off charge at 9am on one day and it would be only down to 58% by the time we went to bed that evening. We didn’t put it on charge then, and by the end of the next day of normal usage we found the P2 had 24% left over.
That means it wouldn't last another full day, but it would be able to last at least another half day of average use.
When we ran the video battery test - where we play a 90 minute clip at full brightness with connectivity on - the Lenovo P2 also did well and only dropped 8% of its charge.
The Moto G4 Plus dropped 17% while the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - a phone with great battery life - fell down 14% during the test.
Don't believe how good the battery life on the Lenovo P2 is? Take a look at the video below where we pit the P2 against the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
If you're frustrated with the battery life on your current phone you won't have that problem with the Lenovo P2.
There is also a fast charging mode on the Lenovo P2, which allows you to pump more battery into the phone quickly, but you’ll need to make sure you’re using the charger included in the box.
It won’t work as fast as other fast charging options, such as the one on the Samsung Galaxy S7, as there's such a large battery packed into the phone, so even with fast charging we found it still took about two hours to charge the phone up to full.
Another downside to the Lenovo P2 is it's recharged with a micro USB cable rather than a USB-C connection.
That's a bit of a shame as you won’t get a reversible cable, but it does mean the phone will still work with all your other cables if you’ve previously owned a micro USB-toting device.
If you're concerned about your phone dying, the Lenovo P2 also comes with an Ultimate Power Saver mode. There's a switch on the side of the phone that you can flick up to activate the mode and it will extend your battery life by turning off some of the phone's features.
You can still make calls, access your contacts and send SMS messages while it's in this mode, as well as being able to access the calendar, calculator, radio and clock apps, but in order to save on battery you won't be able to access your other apps while this is on.
With this mode enabled the Lenovo P2 should last over 100 hours just from a single charge, which could come in useful if you're going away and will be without power.
Camera
- Holds its own against competition at this price point
- Includes a 13MP rear sensor and 5MP front-facing selfie cam
The Lenovo P2 isn’t the best camera phone on the market, but it holds its own against similarly priced competitors. You won’t get a good enough picture to go toe-to-toe with the Google Pixel XL or iPhone 7 Plus, but you’ll get a picture similar to the Moto G4 Plus or a phone from Wileyfox.
The P2 features a 13MP rear sensor, which is a bit lower than some of the competition but it still does well. Especially with well lit landscape shots, the Lenovo P2 can capture a really good image.
When pixel peeping, we found the P2 struggled a little on close up shots and night time shooting. That said, it doesn’t do too badly and the auto mode is quite reactive and will usually provide you with the best image possible.
The lens has an f/2.0 aperture, which is quite small and means less light hits the lens than on many cameras, which will be a big part of why low-light shooting isn't handled brilliantly by the P2.
As for video recording, we found the camera's footage was solid but not fantastic. It can record in either 1080p or 2160p at 30 frames per second.
The selfie camera on the Lenovo P2 will take a good shot for social media but won’t provide you with the best photography you’ve ever seen from a front-facing shooter.
It has a 5MP lens, which is standard for this level of phone, and it can shoot video in 1080p. There are no real extra features such as a beauty mode here though, it’s basically just a choice between photography or video on the front.
Camera samples
