Lenovo began its journey in the smartphone market by releasing models that focused on affordability. Today, having already become a prominent player, Lenovo is beginning to explore new opportunities to expand its share, gradually adding more expensive models to its smartphone portfolio. We received the Lenovo Vibe X2 for review, which the company tried to highlight not so much through its characteristics as through its unusual design. Let's see if Lenovo managed to create a smartphone that may be interesting not only in price and characteristics, but also in appearance.
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Specifications
When comparing two devices on different operating systems, you can’t pit them head-on, because numbers, cores, and frequencies on the part of Android devices are often just flexing their muscles in front of the mirror. Thus, the puny 2-core iPhone 6 processor with a clock frequency of 1400 MHz in the Apple ecosystem will leave no chance for the 8-core Lenovo Vibe X2 with a frequency of 2000 MHz running Android. This does not mean that Lenovo consumed anabolic steroids in childhood, but never learned to fight. Both of them are quite fast. Modern smartphones can fully cope with most tasks, because for a couple of years now the power of hardware has outpaced the requirements of software.
The Vibe X2 has enough potential to handle any task and any toys from Google Play. The hardware, coupled with the PowerVR 6200 GPU, easily handles complex textures and graphics.
AnTuTu benchmark tests, Lenovo took a place between the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and OnePlus One, which in itself is not bad. Not bad.
On store shelves, the Vibe X2 differs only in color, because all models have exactly 32 GB of memory without the possibility of further expansion via SD cards. The board is controlled by Android 4.4.2 Kitkat. SIM card type: micro.
The RAM capacity is 2 GB. The iPhone 6, please note, only has 1 GB. Again, numbers, numbers. More doesn't mean better. You don’t have to look far for examples: let’s look at the camera.
Performance
Let's look at the test results.
In general, the brains of the phone provide it with very serious performance, on par with the flagships of this year and early next year.
We have already talked about the processor and other components. Their resources are sufficient for the vast majority of tasks, including heavy toys. Now let's talk about the behavior of the system as a whole.
The Lenovo Launcher shell is mostly well-debugged. Desktops and animation flutter spectacularly. However, some glitches occur from time to time. Either the “Back” button will not work right away, then the screen unlock icon will stop responding to presses, and the multitasking mode will, no, no, but think for a couple of seconds - the user will definitely have to deal with this. It's not annoying, but it catches your eye regularly.
As for launching applications, there are no problems here. Everything loads quickly, I didn’t notice any errors or random application crashes.
Camera
Lenovo Vibe X2 has a 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front camera.
For comparison, iPhone cameras will have smaller megapixels – 8 and 1.2 MP, respectively.
The race for pixels is just a marketing ploy. While Apple invested in technology, Lenovo didn’t bother with the Vibe X2 camera, as can be seen from the test images below.
Lenovo whitens photos as if using a monocle instead of a lens, resulting in a loss of depth in tones.
The sliders on the pictures can be moved. Rotate your iPhone horizontally.
The phase focusing of the iPhone 6 is unrivaled. Detail too. So what if it’s 5 MP less?
Girls should love portraits from this phone: the constant monocle effect of the camera blurs pimples, wrinkles and other skin irregularities.
Vibe X2 records 1080p video at 30 frames/s, which won’t surprise anyone these days.
What do you want? At Lenovo’s price of 25,000 rubles versus 54,000, the iPhone 6 doesn’t do miracles.
Software Features Overview
All applications are located directly on desktops. They are installed and uninstalled directly from here. Of course, you can use the software manager, but for most cases it is not needed.
Desktops are fully customizable. You can choose different design themes, set your wallpaper, create folders - everything is as always.
I would like to express special thanks to the developers for the themes. The ability to install the skin you like right out of the box is not an unnecessary way to customize the appearance for the user. The advantage is that all these actions are safe than installing and launching third-party themes that may be incompatible with the system. It's a pity that the choice is limited to only six skins available by default.
I sincerely don’t like it when a manufacturer tries to force the user to use some programs. This used to be a problem with almost all laptops, but now the trend is spreading to mobile devices.
So, by default, an “extremely necessary” antivirus called Security is installed and running.
It successfully cuts down suspicious activity, including various notifications from Viber and other necessary applications. It is impossible to remove this program using standard means. I stopped all processes associated with this antivirus and stopped fighting the utility.
Usually Google is guilty of this behavior, which requires manufacturers to place their branded store in the most visible place. I am convinced that developers also do not need to join these games! There's a fine line here, where going overboard means losing the loyalty of your fans.
Let's return to our topic. There are additional features that simplify communication with the phone. So, you can wake up the screen or send it to sleep mode by double tapping. It's comfortable!
In addition, you can take a photo directly from sleep mode by double tapping on the “Home” icon. A useful feature when you need to take a photo very quickly and don’t have time to normally launch a photo application.
But the gesture of launching a photo application, when you just need to lift the phone in landscape orientation, did not work for me. Maybe I was doing something wrong.c
In addition, sound profiles are adjusted depending on the time of day. For example, from 9 am the vibration is activated, and from 19:00 the call volume is at full volume. Turning on Wi-Fi can be tied to a location and so on. These are, of course, not breakthrough settings, but it’s good that the manufacturer cares so much about its consumers.
Design
Briefly, the appearance of the Lenovo Vibe X2 can be described in two words: a multi-layered block.
The company's designers were allegedly inspired by nature itself: the texture of ice, fields from a bird's eye view, the play of light on representatives of flora and fauna, growth rings of tree trunks, etc. It turned out nice. The smartphone stands out from the crowd of faceless “colleagues in the robot shop.”
The dimensions of the gadget are as follows: 140.2 x 68.6 x 7.27 mm , weight 120 g.
iPhone 6 will be thinner: 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm , weight 129 g.
In male hands, plus or minus two millimeters does not play any role.
You use Lenovo for a few days, and then you can’t forget it. He turned out so cool. I would also like to add the smoothness of the lines of the iPhone...
Advantages and disadvantages of Lenovo X2-CU
Positive aspects of the subject:
- Small amount of RAM by modern standards
- There is a 3.5 mm jack for headset and headphones
- Slim body (7.0 mm)
Cons we found:
- Lack of support for 64-bit computing
- No support for 4G LTE networks
- There is no possibility of memory expansion
- Single band WiFi (2.4 GHz only)
- No fingerprint scanner
- Weak battery (2300 mAh)
Top
Screen
The Lenovo Vibe X2's screen is fine. IPS matrix, 1920 x 1080 pixels, 5” diagonal, pixel density 441 ppi. Gorilla Glass with oleophobic coating protects from scratches on top.
Android provides rich settings for controlling brightness and color balance, which is so lacking in iOS.
Good viewing angles and brightness make it easy to read information from the screen even in bright sunshine. Small text can be read without eye strain because the dot density is 441 ppi.
Display
The smartphone is equipped with a 5-inch IPS screen with Full HD resolution. There is an oleophobic coating, making fingerprints easily erased. The pixel density is 441 per inch.
In sunny weather, the software's ability to increase brightness and contrast is a great help. Thanks to them, the information on the screen remains visible even in direct sunlight. The automatic brightness adjustment sensor behaves adequately, smoothly adjusting the brightness when it is really necessary, without increasing or decreasing it.
One of the features of the smartphone is advanced screen settings. In addition to the standard mode, there is also an adaptive mode, a high-brightness mode, a customizable and an advanced outdoor mode. In custom mode, you can adjust hue and saturation.
The results of screen measurements showed the following: the maximum screen brightness is 373 cd/m² in normal mode and 564 cd/m² in high-brightness mode, the minimum value is 5.3 cd/m² in normal mode and 13.7 cd/m² in increased brightness, display contrast is 1:792 in normal mode. As can be seen from the results, it is not surprising that even in sunny weather the information on the display is easily visible.
Checking the screen calibration shows us that the display's color gamut is significantly larger than sRGB. Green and red colors are shifted towards warmer shades. The color temperature graph really pleased with the minimal deviation from the reference value. This is extremely rare. But the gamma curve didn’t work out at all. The graph shows a significant jump.
The result is a very good, I would even say correct, display. It incorporates both the correct temperature and high brightness levels. For those who like to read at night, the screen will also not seem bright.
Battery
The X2 has a 2300 mAh non-removable lithium-polymer battery (versus 1810 for the iPhone 6). With very active use, Lenovo lasts for the whole day, and with the smart saving mode turned on, you can stretch it until lunchtime of the next day.
The iPhone will sit down earlier.
As with audio, the back cover can accommodate an external battery specifically designed for the Vibe line.
Autonomy
The capacity of the built-in battery is only 2300 mAh. Despite this, with moderate use it can last a day with data transfer and automatic brightness turned on. If we limit ourselves to the basic capabilities, then we can count on two days of battery life with 4 hours of active screen and always-on data transfer. If this is not enough, then there is an “Emergency mode”, in which only calls and SMS messages are available. Naturally, if you use your smartphone to the maximum – play heavy games and watch videos – then be prepared to charge your device in the evening.
OS
Android 4.4.2 Kitkat has its own proprietary shell Vibe UI , which is a constructor from system programs. Each model has its own assembly, which allows you to quickly update individual elements without accessing the kernel. For example, the headquarters decided to change the location of the buttons - you will receive a small OTA update.
Lenovo Vibe X2 comes with a lot of pre-installed software, some of which you will never need, and the best replacement for the other can be found on Google Play. Go through the folders and remove all garbage, including Gameloft advertising installations... At the same time, free up the device memory.
Lenovo plans to release a global update for Android 5.0 Lollipop with an updated Vibe UI in the second quarter.
Equipment
The smartphone comes in a box made in several colors, and even it tells us that what awaits us inside is not quite a simple phone. In order to open the box there is a special loop, pulling which opens access to the upper compartment.
It contains the device itself, paper documentation, a paper clip for opening the SIM card slot, a bumper made of transparent plastic and a protective film for the screen. The lower compartment contains a vacuum headset, a microUSB cable and a 1.5 A power supply. As you can see, the kit is more than good.
conclusions
Unfortunately, Android is characterized by lags, which Roman Yuryev wrote about. Either Google Maps starts to crash at the most unnecessary moment when plotting a route, then the camera does not turn on, or scrolling turns into a turn-based strategy. Perhaps Android users are used to all this and are ready to endure minor inconveniences, preferring to save on buying a new device under the banner of a green robot. After all, the prices for iPhones, due to the jump in the dollar, have become completely unaffordable for most, but here you are - the Chinese come and offer the gadget at half the price. Well, yes, sometimes it lags, but essentially the Lenovo Vibe X2 is strong, noticeable and will fulfill your every whim. Unless he just brings tea in bed.
Thank you to the Up-House.ru store for providing the sample.
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