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Lenovo VIBE Shot review: Good all-round performer at a decent price

SINGAPORE — The Android landscape has long been dominated with big names like Samsung, HTC, Sony and Huawei — and admittedly, Lenovo is better known for its laptops and desktops, rather than its mobile devices. However, if you are looking for a mid-range Android smartphone/point-and-shoot-camera hybrid, the Lenovo VIBE Shot is a contender well-worth a look.

SINGAPORE — The Android landscape has long been dominated with big names like Samsung, HTC, Sony and Huawei — and admittedly, Lenovo is better known for its laptops and desktops, rather than its mobile devices. However, if you are looking for a mid-range Android smartphone/point-and-shoot-camera hybrid, the Lenovo VIBE Shot is a contender well-worth a look.

Stylish and sleek, the angular VIBE Shot flaunts a crisp and vibrant 5.0-inch Full HD IPS display fringed with a snappy red aluminium trim. It’s a classy look that follows through to its rear — flipping the lightweight phone over, you would find it fitted with a slip-resistant Corning Gorilla glass exterior. One small complaint is that this makes the device a fingerprint magnet, but the issue isn’t a dealbreaker.

On the right side, other than the usual controls — a volume rocker, a power control and a dedicated camera shutter button — there’s a switch that allows users to toggle between the phone camera’s Auto and Pro modes, and this leads us to where the main draw of the 16-megapixel VIBE Shot arguably is.

The phone’s Pro mode allows users to manually set their aperture, exposure compensation, shutter speed, white balance control and ISO settings, akin to what a prosumer point-and-shoot camera offers. While we applaud the idea, and found its execution novel and user-friendly, the physical constraints, such as having to set these parameters one-by-one on a touchscreen phone, make it less of a plus for us.

Nonetheless, we had no complaints about the phone’s camera performance, especially in low-light settings. With its 16-megapixel back-side illuminated sensor, speedy infrared Autofocus and optical image stabilisation, photos turned out well-coloured, detailed and sharp. Its 8-megapixel front camera is no slouch either.

The phone comes ready with 32GB of onboard storage, but trigger-happy snappers will be pleased to know that you can add up to an additional 128GB. There are slots for two micro SIM cards and a microSD card on the left side of the phone.

Running on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), Lenovo has added a couple of bells and whistles, including pre-installed apps like the Lenovo Companion, a self-diagnostic tool, and SYNCit, a backup and restore app. These aren’t unique to the device and can be downloaded via the Google Play store on other Android devices.

Performance-wise, it ran lag-free and smoothly with a built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 1.7 GHz octa-core processor and 3GB RAM. With a 3000mAh non-removable battery, the phone lasted about one day and a half with regular usage (phone calls, web surfing on 4G and WiFi, photo-taking, app usage), even with its brightness level up to the maximum.

Given its decent all-round performance and affordable price-tag, the VIBE Shot deserves a spot along with the other Android juggernauts. It’s not good enough to replace a dedicated camera, but we certainly can see shutterbugs flocking to get their hands on it.

The Lenovo VIBE Shot (Carmine Red) is available for S$479 on Lazada Singapore.

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