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Introduction
Talking about high-end smartphones in our parts of the world, Lenovo is hardly the first name that pops in your head. The Chinese maker's first two attempts at a premium handset have been hard to find outside of its homeland, but Lenovo appears to have enough faith in the Vibe Z2 Pro to make it a truly global phone. Perhaps climbing to the number 3 spot in China was the confidence boost they needed to try and storm the international smartphone market.
The Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro certainly seems fit for the job. It features a 6" QHD IPS LCD display and a Snapdragon 801 chipset with 3GB of RAM, all packed in neat-looking metal body with very little screen bezel.
As a result, the Vibe Z2 Pro is actually quite compact for the massive 6" screen it flaunts. 2.1mm shorter than the 5.5" Apple iPhone 6 Plus is impressive whichever way you look at it. Here's the rest of the key specs.
Key features
- 6.0" 16M-color QHD IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass 3
- Android OS v4.4.2 KitKat with custom Lenovo UI
- LTE Cat 4 support
- Quad-core 2.5GHz Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset
- 3GB of RAM
- 16MP OIS camera with 2160p video recording @ 30fps, 1080p @ 60fps, 720p @ 120fps
- 5MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording
- Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA
- GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
- 32GB of built-in storage
- microUSB 2.0 port with USB host and MHL 2.0
- Bluetooth v4.0
- NFC
- Standard 3.5mm audio jack
- Accelerometer and proximity sensor
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
- 4,000mAh Li-Po battery
Main disadvantages
- Non-expandable storage
- Snapdragon 805 would have been a better fit for the QHD resolution
- Battery isn't user-replaceable
- No Infrared port
There are virtually no deal-breakers we can spot right off the bat. The lack of a microSD card slot can turn off quite a few users, but the base storage option of 32GB should still be enough for most. And while the battery isn't user replaceable, it's got enough juice to make you forget about it.
With a thin waistline of 7.7mm, the Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro makes a great first impression, while the metal body and QHD screen are likely to keep you happy in the long run.
Conclusion
The Vibe Z2 Pro is just as classy as it is big. Lenovo has done a great job of putting together a marvelous piece of hardware. The metal build not only looks good, but also gives you that premium feel that's a must for a handset in this price range.
In spite of its massive display, the Vibe Z2 Pro isn't any larger than its competitors. Much like Huawei did with the Ascend Mate 7, Lenovo trimmed the bezels to make the phone manageable, which will certainly broaden its appeal.
The company says the Vibe Z2 Pro is a result of its engineers having no budget to try and stick to and it shows. The 6" display of QHD resolution is excellent, the camera does very well and the build and finish are great. We just wished the company went for the latest Snapdragon 805 chip as it would have added the final touch to a perfectly rounded package.
Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro key test findings:
- Fantastically solid aluminum build with very thin bezels
- The 6" IPS QHD display is sharp, vibrant, but somewhat lacks contrast.
- Great battery life thanks to the 4,000mAh battery, which can be further enhanced using the Power Management app
- All-round connectivity with LTE Cat.4, dual-SIM option available
- Overall great performance and great CPU score, but fails at GPU benchmarks
- Relatively quiet loudspeaker, lacks stereo setup
- Still images offer a lot of detail and saturation, but not much in terms of dynamic range
- Great looking 4K videos with a lot of detail
- Video player handles all video and audio codecs, but not AC3 sound and subtitles
- Vibe UI v.2 is great, fast and with tons of personalization options and custom apps
Mind you, the phone's chipset is the only component that isn't the latest in mobile technology. Everywhere else, the Vibe Z2 Pro can easily stand up to much more prominent rivals.
As for the software, while we aren't fans of Chinese companies trying to emulate the iOS experience under Android, we have to admit Lenovo has done well with its launcher. For the most part it's perfectly intuitive and offers heaps of functionality.
The Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro isn't without its flaws though. In a phone this big, we can't see how Lenovo couldn't fit a microSD card slot. We do appreciate the pair of SIM slots, but a cheap memory expansion option would've been great.
The phablet universe is expanding rapidly and the Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro is bound to face some heavyweight competition. All three major camps (Android, iOS and Windows Phone) offer alternatives to the Vibe Z2 Pro that are at least worth a look.
All in all, the Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro is a great phablet, even if not quite the best there is. Its take at Android may not be everyone's cup of tea and the lack of expandable storage may turn a few people off, but those looking to get a fresh new interface while saving a few bucks certainly won't regret going the Lenovo way.
