Lenovo A859

Lenovo's next phone is the A859, a midrange Android 4.2 device that doesn't wow with its specs.
The A859 has a 5-inch LCD IPS screen with a 1,280x720-pixel resolution, which is much lower than than other phones of this size. Just like Lenovo's other smartphone offerings (save for the Vibe Z), this model has an 8-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3Ghz quad-core MediaTek processor, and a microSD card slot. No word yet on price or availability, but a lack of LTE support could indicate that this phone is not meant for the US.

A midrange effort that Lenovo will announce for CES next week, the A859 smartphone skates by on specs that should satisfy, but certainly not astound. Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 is a fine operating system, but one that feels a bit stale when Android 4.4 KitKat is already updating smartphones today.

Operating system aside, the phone's 5-inch LCD IPS screen has a 1,280x720-pixel resolution, which is a big step down from the 1,920x1,080p HD resolution we're seeing on many phones of this size.

Still, it has a 178-degree viewing angle for those who look for such things. The handset measures 9.2 millimeters (0.36 inch) thick.

Further equipping the A859 are an 8-megapixel rear camera and 1.6-megapixel front-facing shooter. MediaTek supplies the 1.3GHz quad-core chipset, and a microSD card slot capable of taking 32GB in offboard storage balances out the 8GB internal storage capacity and 1GB of RAM. The features are very similar to Lenovo's 6-inch S930 and slightly stepped-down 4.7-inch S650.

We don't know price or availability yet, but we do know that the A859 has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a 2,250mAh battery that promises a very decent life span on a single charge.