Yo, check out this phone from Lenovo! Sorry, that came out of nowhere. But really, the team likes the stuff Lenovo sends us most of the time. In November last year, I attended the launch of the Vibe X2 in KL and yet the one I had really been interested in is the Vibe Z2 Pro. Well, here it is!
DEVICE OF STEEL
How to describe the Vibe Z2 Pro? ‘Sleek’ comes to mind. Housed in a smooth brushed aluminium unibody, the chilled touch of this smartphone feels great in my hands though it may feel a tad too big for smaller ones. The titanium coloured unit I had for review looks amazing too and shows that when it comes to design, Lenovo nailed it with this one. If there’s one thing that detracts from it, I’d say the mini-screws over the panel - where the 16MP rear-facing camera is enclosed in - are just a tad unsightly. However, I’m sure there are people who would like the mechanical appearance.
WINNING DISPLAY
Another thing that makes this smartphone awesome is the lovely 2K display. With 6in of real estate that works up to about 490ppi, images come up great with colour and contrast looking decent. Having that many pixels already ensures visuals will be really sharp. While most of us might not be able to tell the difference between a 1080p screen and this - there’s no denying the advantages it has to offer. Lenovo has also included the option to change the colour balance of the panel, something you don’t usually find on smart devices. With it, you could put it on pre-sets or custom tweak the saturation, tone, and contrast. Thanks to the display and the awesome sound performance, the Vibe Z2 Pro is great for games, video streaming, and general media playback.
OUTSTANDING SHOOTER
Full disclosure: it really does stick out but let’s ignore the semantics this time. Placed on the backpanel with a red accent, which looks really good by the way, and the two-tone flash, the Vibe Z2 Pro 16MP rear camera is a true high achiever. Further enhancing its performance is the Optical Image Stabilisation system and advanced autofocusing functions that are encased within the sensor. It’s on auto (Smart Camera) mode by default and can be switched to professional operation for manual adjustments to controls like exposure, ISO, and even focus length. Quality of shots are great and I love how the results of the HDR function this camera offers.
WARM UNDER THE COLLAR
Thrumming within the Vibe Z2 Pro is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chip. I couldn’t help but wonder if the Snapdragon 805, the one Qualcomm boasts as its 4K Ultra HD processor, would have been a better choice. However, the 801 generates an uncomfortable amount of heat. Even if it is slightly alleviated after an over-theair update, the device still feels warm to the touch when under load. Fortunately, it’s able to more or less tackle anything that comes its way. With 3GB of RAM, multitasking is a non-issue. However, since the 805’s only real advantage is the Adreno 420 GPU for DirectX 11 games, the idea of using it for regular task due its better platform is highly debatable.
CONTENT CONNECTIVITY
Data speeds can be fast on this device, provided you have LTE coverage or happen to be linked onto a dual-band router. It even has DLNA, so you can stream media from compatible storage devices directly or even push HD streams onto DLNA-enabled TVs. Lastly, you get Wireless Display, AKA Miracast, as well. Of course, you’d need to get a dongle for that separately.
UI SWAPPING
It doesn’t take much to get used to the Lenovo Vibe user interface (UI), though I must say that I’m not fond of the icons. Take the YouTube and Google Chrome icons as examples - they look as if they had been squeezed to fit. Thankfully, the ‘Theme Center’ lets you change that and the lockscreen visuals as well. Unfortunately, the given selection is very limited. What’s interesting is that you have a choice of switching over to stock android UI by using Developer Mode. If you prefer having the app drawer and not have to use folders, then this is the alternative Lenovo has prepared.
APP SECURITY
The Vibe Z2 Pro also lets you keep certain apps private under the Secure Zone. With this, you could technically run two separate Whatsapps using two zones; I imagine this would be useful for people who have two SIMs and want to keep the one for work secured.
SUFFICIENT POWER
Since the device has to output at a higher resolution, battery life is going to be affected. Therefore, Lenovo decided to cram a large 4000mAh battery into the Vibe Z2 Pro. Enhancing that is the Power Manager app – a feature that provides a good number of customisations that improve energy management so as to lengthen the battery life. Typically, it can last a day and still have 10-20% of power when I get off work. Of course, all I did had been browsing the Internet, using Whatsapp, loading some entertainment content, and checking out emails. Heavy users will find that they might have to pull out the device chargers sooner than expected.
VERDICT
Design or performance, it excels in all.
SPECS
Dimensions 156 x 81.3 x 7.7 mm
Weight 179 g
Chipset Snapdragon 801
CPU Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
Graphics Adreno 330
Memory 3GB RAM
Display IPS LCD, 6in, 1440 x 2560 pixels
Camera 16 MP rear-facing (OIS, autofocus, and dual-LED flash), 5MP front-facing
Storage 32 GB
Operating System Android 4.4 Kitkat, Color OS 2.0
Battery 4000 mAh