Le 1S is beauty with brain

When you hold a Le 1S in your hand, the first thing you notice is its similarity with the Apple iPhone. There’s rose-gold colour, rear camera, flash on the left side, and a finger print scanner in the middle in place of the famous eaten apple — so much like a rose-gold iPhone. 

The Le 1s is the first phone that Chinese smartphone maker Le Eco is releasing in India. The company was earlier known as Le Tv. An ambitious Le Eco calls the new phone a “Superphone”. While the ‘super’ part could be debatable, it is definitely a fine smartphone for Rs 10,999.

The device has a 5.5-inch display, and it is almost bezel-less. It has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixel density. Watching a video on this phone or playing a game can be enjoyable, if network cooperates, too.

Powered by 2.2 Ghz octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor and a 3 GB RAM, the device runs on Android 5.0, with eUI user interface. So far, multi tasking on the Le 1S doesn’t show any problem. A 32 GB internal memory is another plus for the phone, but the memory is not expendable. 

There is a 13-megapixels (MP) rear camera and a 5 MP front camera, and these give good picture quality. There are no DSLR-type options that we see on some phones these days, but for an amateur the camera is hassle-free. 

One of the best parts about the Le 1S is its charging, which is fast. It comes with type-C charger, which offers charging in just a few minutes. Le Eco says five minutes of charging can allow 3.5 hours of talk time. 

The finger print scanner on the backside of the phone, the company says proudly, is one of the fastest-responding scanners. It may not yet be possible to independently verify the claim, but the feature is definitely not a disappointment. 

This dual-SIM phone has slots for one nano and one micro 4G SIM.

The menus are different from the usual Android screen, and mostly clutter-free. The square symbol on the bottom screen shows all the already opened apps and right side has the back button. 

The phone also offers access to Le Tv or Le Eco library. But this is India, where data services are still costly but very weak. Given the slow data speeds, watching TV content on phone may be difficult, unless on a wi-fi connection. 

On the weaker side for the phone are the lack of expandable memory and no free FM. Also, some might find the absence of a professional camera mode disappointing.

The Le 1S, however, is worth the money you pay.