Those guys over in China get all the luck! First it was the release of the Meizu MX4 Ubuntu edition and now it is the Lenovo Vibe Shot at a cracking low-price!
The Lenovo Vibe Shot shouldn’t be news to anyone who has followed Chinese tech this year. The smartphone was on display at MWC and there has been plenty of news about this camera centric phone, but until today no firm pricing details.
Packing a 16 mega-pixel rear camera, 3 X LED flash and OIS the camera hardware certainly ticks all the right boxes, and at 1799 Yuan its a phone hard to pass up on at the price!
The 7.6mm Vibe Shot also sports an alloy chassis, 5-inch 1080 display, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory, support for 128GB SD cards and an octacore Snapdragon 615 chipset.
As usual the phone is currently only officially available in China but watch reseller sites for unofficial international availability.
very good price
Now this looks like a nice phone. Even without the very nice camera it’s a pretty good phone for the money.
I do like the compact form ( 5 inch screen, nice ) and the fact that it has a 2900 mAh battery.
The SOC while not everwhelming is more than enough if you’re not a power user ( games or something ? )
Would love tot give this one a shot. Especially since summer is closing in. Great time for letting that shooter do its job.
I think the lenovo vibe z2 pro has the same camera, better specs, bigger battery and a 2k screen for an extra $50.
The Z2 Pro has dual LED Flash this has triple.
Still a marketing gimmick for me since I never use flash. I would rather have a camera sensor that performs good in low light situations.
And it’s a much bigger phone, I’d rather have this one but it’s good that Lenovo offers a wide range of choices.
Btw keep in mind that the much larger screen + 2K res will result in more power usage so even though the battery is larger you can end up with less or around the same battery life.
I got a feeling the camera will be rubbish!
What makes you think that? It is most likely either from Omnivision or Sony and both of them have excellent 16mp sensors.
what about the image processing software? its like putting v12 engine in a fiat punto! lol Hopefully this phone is a game changer as I really like the looks of it ?
You mean Lenovo Super Camera? They have perhaps the best camera software of any phone. Keep trying…
Absolutely right there. I was using OPEN camera on my Kingzone Z1 thinking it was great; then I tried Lenovo Super Camera and it really is brilliant!
Open camera is actually one of my favorites along with FV-5 but Super Camera is amazing.
for a TRUE 16 mp , 3 leds , OIS and a phone that looks like an ACTUAL digi-cam , 290 is pretty good !
Heey! What happened with the infrared focus? Nobody mentioned it…
very good price
With Lenovo, you generally get what you pay for.
I’ve had one of their flagships, which looked great on paper, but never really worked right. Poor reception, constantly dropped calls, frequent FCs….
Lenovo had one minor update and nothing ever got fixed. The phone was barely usable as a phone and the camera grossly over-processed. Photos looked great on the phone, but viewing them on a large screen had a “velvet painting” effect.
I finally dropped the phone and the screen broke, too easily, IMO. But I got to see how it was put together, and it was really cheaply done.
So I am not touching another Lenovo phone.
What phone was this?
Now this looks like a nice phone. Even without the very nice camera it’s a pretty good phone for the money.
I do like the compact form ( 5 inch screen, nice ) and the fact that it has a 2900 mAh battery.
The SOC while not everwhelming is more than enough if you’re not a power user ( games or something ? )
Would love tot give this one a shot. Especially since summer is closing in. Great time for letting that shooter do its job.
I think the lenovo vibe z2 pro has the same camera, better specs, bigger battery and a 2k screen for an extra $50.
The Z2 Pro has dual LED Flash this has triple.
And it’s a much bigger phone, I’d rather have this one but it’s good that Lenovo offers a wide range of choices.
Btw keep in mind that the much larger screen + 2K res will result in more power usage so even though the battery is larger you can end up with less or around the same battery life.
Still a marketing gimmick for me since I never use flash. I would rather have a camera sensor that performs good in low light situations.
I got a feeling the camera will be rubbish!
What makes you think that? It is most likely either from Omnivision or Sony and both of them have excellent 16mp sensors.
what about the image processing software? its like putting v12 engine in a fiat punto! lol Hopefully this phone is a game changer as I really like the looks of it 😁
You mean Lenovo Super Camera? They have perhaps the best camera software of any phone. Keep trying…
Absolutely right there. I was using OPEN camera on my Kingzone Z1 thinking it was great; then I tried Lenovo Super Camera and it really is brilliant!
Open camera is actually one of my favorites along with FV-5 but Super Camera is amazing.
Lol @ SD615. Less than 33,000 AnTuTu, ha ha.
Lol @ people who quote Antutu scores like they really mean anything.
Antutu is like flooring the pedal in your car in neutral gear and listening to the loudness of the engine to determine the horsepower.
Then again SD615 exists to satisfy the need for “octacore”. Quallcomm forgot that people who “need” a 64 bit octacore also use antutu for comparing performance.
Antutu can be useful if it is taken in context. People use it as the be all end all of performance for phones. Your comparison is similar to mine I often say it’s like 0-60 times for cars.
I like this comparison (y)
for a TRUE 16 mp , 3 leds , OIS and a phone that looks like an ACTUAL digi-cam , 290 is pretty good !
Heey! What happened with the infrared focus? Nobody mentioned it…
With Lenovo, you generally get what you pay for.
I’ve had one of their flagships, which looked great on paper, but never really worked right. Poor reception, constantly dropped calls, frequent FCs….
Lenovo had one minor update and nothing ever got fixed. The phone was barely usable as a phone and the camera grossly over-processed. Photos looked great on the phone, but viewing them on a large screen had a “velvet painting” effect.
I finally dropped the phone and the screen broke, too easily, IMO. But I got to see how it was put together, and it was really cheaply done.
So I am not touching another Lenovo phone.
What phone was this?
The phone recalls Sony Cybershot T series which I still don’t understand why Sony drops that design trend.
Lol @ SD615. Less than 33,000 AnTuTu, ha ha.
Lol @ people who quote Antutu scores like they really mean anything.
Antutu is like flooring the pedal in your car in neutral gear and listening to the loudness of the engine to determine the horsepower.
Then again SD615 exists to satisfy the need for “octacore”. Quallcomm forgot that people who “need” a 64 bit octacore also use antutu for comparing performance.
Antutu can be useful if it is taken in context. People use it as the be all end all of performance for phones. Your comparison is similar to mine I often say it’s like 0-60 times for cars.
I like this comparison (y)
615 is gud proceesor for mutitasking?
615 is a mid range SoC, it’s not as good as the latest Mediatek chips but it is more than capable for general multitasking. It’s not great for extreme performance or gaming as it tends to overheat. But for daily activities (camera, social media, calling, light gaming etc) it is good.
What is the aperture size?
I believe it is 2.2, but don’t quote me.
“I believe it is 2.2” – Balcobomber25
The phone recalls Sony Cybershot T series which I still don’t understand why Sony drops that design trend.
I have never been a huge phone of Lenovo’s styling but I am in love with this design. It’s classy and retro looking at the same time. And that camera sounds like it is going to be amazing, can’t wait to see some hands on/reviews with this bad boy.
615 is gud proceesor for mutitasking?
615 is a mid range SoC, it’s not as good as the latest Mediatek chips but it is more than capable for general multitasking. It’s not great for extreme performance or gaming as it tends to overheat. But for daily activities (camera, social media, calling, light gaming etc) it is good.
What is the aperture size?
I believe it is 2.2, but don’t quote me.
“I believe it is 2.2” – Balcobomber25
It’s a f2.2
I’ve seen a Russian review of the prerelease unit and with light it is superb; in low light however is a shit, seems in focus but too much digital noise to struggle with.
I don’t think that software could improve in this situation, that’s why I discarded what would have been the perfect smartphone for me: beautiful, compact, and with good camera
ugh. a phone that is marketed as a camera, with a f2.2 dop lens? should be 2.0 at least, 1.8 would be better! 🙁
are you totally sure of that? 🙁
Can you link it? My bit rusty Russian should still be enough to view the thing.
http://vido.com.ua/article/11978/obzor-kamierafona-lenovo-vibe-shot-udachnyi-vystriel/
Here is one preview. There is a review on cnmo.com (Chinese website, always use Google chrome).
It’s not bad, but a 2.0 or 1.9 would have made the perfect cameraphone
Thanks. Actually, after what she says, it looks better than I expected.
I have never been a huge phone of Lenovo’s styling but I am in love with this design. It’s classy and retro looking at the same time. And that camera sounds like it is going to be amazing, can’t wait to see some hands on/reviews with this bad boy.
It’s a f2.2
I’ve seen a Russian review of the prerelease unit and with light it is superb; in low light however is a shit, seems in focus but too much digital noise to struggle with.
I don’t think that software could improve in this situation, that’s why I discarded what would have been the perfect smartphone for me: beautiful, compact, and with good camera
ugh. a phone that is marketed as a camera, with a f2.2 dop lens? should be 2.0 at least, 1.8 would be better! 🙁
are you totally sure of that? 🙁
Can you link it? My bit rusty Russian should still be enough to view the thing.
http://vido.com.ua/article/11978/obzor-kamierafona-lenovo-vibe-shot-udachnyi-vystriel/
Here is one preview. There is a review on cnmo.com (Chinese website, always use Google chrome).
It’s not bad, but a 2.0 or 1.9 would have made the perfect cameraphone
Thanks. Actually, after what she says, it looks better than I expected.
Skeptical because when it comes to the cameras in phones notice how all the most expensive phones (regardless of megapixels, just look at the iphone is still using a 8mp sensor) also tend to take the best photos?
It’s no coincidence. And I don’t expect Lenovo to break this mold.
Looks great on paper – very good price, too. Yet still, if what asciscin syas is true, the phone is not worth getting it. I’d love to have a compact like this with good specs, and camera comparable to current tops (SGS6, iP6, etc), without paying for top other components. F2.2 does kind of imples it will perform worse inside … Pitty.
I keep thinking about getting back to old, already verified solution: Iuni U2, for a much better price.
I think the IUNI U2 is really nice too, especially with its given screen / body size, but lacking any 4G support instantly knocks it off my wanted list.
Chances of this having RAW support? Zero?
If it is an Omnivision sensor they all have RAW support.
The new “Camera v2 API” in Android Lollipop 5.0 already supports raw. I see the Lenovo Vibe Shot is shipping with Android 5.0 so you should be good to go with raw.
Skeptical because when it comes to the cameras in phones notice how all the most expensive phones (regardless of megapixels, just look at the iphone is still using a 8mp sensor) also tend to take the best photos?
It’s no coincidence. And I don’t expect Lenovo to break this mold.
Looks great on paper – very good price, too. Yet still, if what asciscin syas is true, the phone is not worth getting it. I’d love to have a compact like this with good specs, and camera comparable to current tops (SGS6, iP6, etc), without paying for top other components. F2.2 does kind of imples it will perform worse inside … Pitty.
I keep thinking about getting back to old, already verified solution: Iuni U2, for a much better price.
I think the IUNI U2 is really nice too, especially with its given screen / body size, but lacking any 4G support instantly knocks it off my wanted list.
Its Better to buy a Gionee Elife E7 better specs 165 dollar
The E7 is a good phone and the camera is superb. While it is cheaper there are some advantages to the Lenovo:
1. The Vibe Shot is more compact than the E7. A lot of people don’t like bigger phones.
2. Gionee is very slow with updates, it just recently got updated to Kit Kat. Lollipop might never come to it.
3. No LTE on the E7
4. E7 doesn’t support SD cards.
And the whole ado is about having even better camera than in E7, for a still reasonable price. This Lenovo can be a step in the right direction.
Otherwise, I would still choose Iuni U2 which is practically E7 in a much compact and metal casing.
1949deal shop do have it in their catalogue already. Not on the stock yet, but priced according to previous rumours – 350$, which is just to much for a Snap615.
http://www.1949deal.com/lenovo-vibe-shot-msm8939-1-7-ghz-octa-core-android-5-0-smartphone-3gb-ram-32gb-rom-5-0-inch-fhd-screen-4g-black.html
No sign of the 720p yet and I would be very interested to see the price on it, since only difference is the screen resolution, as was said in here.
Where did you see something about a 720p version?
Gizchina – use the search, that’s how I found it. Here is Czech one:
http://gizchina.cz/2015/04/03/lenovo-vibe-shot-uspornejsi-varianta-spatrena-v-tenaa/ – but I swear tehre was one .com too. Can’t find it now.
I wasn’t doubting you, I was curious because with a 720p display this is a much better phone for me. Should be a lot cheaper and the battery/performance will be better. I hope they do have a 720p version.
Exactly same reason why I am interested in 720p version.
Exactly same reason why I am interested in 720p version.
Mor info for both of you: https://www.gizchina.com/2015/04/03/mid-range-lenovo-vibe-shot-gets-global-4g-lte/ – so it’s gonna be MTK instead of Snap615 – which isn’t a bad thing too.
Be careful with the Chinese market version. I heard a bird sing it will have different software and maybe lower storage than the international one. Not sure how big the difference is, just be sure to check carefully before you order.
Really looking forward to some serious camera reviews!
Cheers,
Matthias
it does have a vibe ui chinese version, with loads of bloatware. 32 GB storage. Camera is ok, I was expecting better. Perhaps software improvements can be made. In low light it’s not that good though :/.
I think with a custom ROM it could be very nice.
Chances of this having RAW support? Zero?
If it is an Omnivision sensor they all have RAW support.
The new “Camera v2 API” in Android Lollipop 5.0 already supports raw. I see the Lenovo Vibe Shot is shipping with Android 5.0 so you should be good to go with raw.
I can only hope the tackled some of the (serious) software issues that were bothering the everyday use of the Vibe X2.
See https://www.gizchina.com/2015/01/04/lenovo-vibe-x2-review/
Its Better to buy a Gionee Elife E7 better specs 165 dollar
The E7 is a good phone and the camera is superb. While it is cheaper there are some advantages to the Lenovo:
1. The Vibe Shot is more compact than the E7. A lot of people don’t like bigger phones.
2. Gionee is very slow with updates, it just recently got updated to Kit Kat. Lollipop might never come to it.
3. No LTE on the E7
4. E7 doesn’t support SD cards.
And the whole ado is about having even better camera than in E7, for a still reasonable price. This Lenovo can be a step in the right direction.
Otherwise, I would still choose Iuni U2 which is practically E7 in a much compact and metal casing.
1949deal shop do have it in their catalogue already. Not on the stock yet, but priced according to previous rumours – 350$, which is just to much for a Snap615.
http://www.1949deal.com/lenovo-vibe-shot-msm8939-1-7-ghz-octa-core-android-5-0-smartphone-3gb-ram-32gb-rom-5-0-inch-fhd-screen-4g-black.html
No sign of the 720p yet and I would be very interested to see the price on it, since only difference is the screen resolution, as was said in here.
Where did you see something about a 720p version?
Gizchina – use the search, that’s how I found it. Here is Czech one:
http://gizchina.cz/2015/04/03/lenovo-vibe-shot-uspornejsi-varianta-spatrena-v-tenaa/ – but I swear tehre was one .com too. Can’t find it now.
I wasn’t doubting you, I was curious because with a 720p display this is a much better phone for me. Should be a lot cheaper and the battery/performance will be better. I hope they do have a 720p version.
Exactly same reason why I am interested in 720p version.
Be careful with the Chinese market version. I heard a bird sing it will have different software and maybe lower storage than the international one. Not sure how big the difference is, just be sure to check carefully before you order.
Really looking forward to some serious camera reviews!
Cheers,
Matthias
Mor info for both of you: http://www.gizchina.com/2015/04/03/mid-range-lenovo-vibe-shot-gets-global-4g-lte/ – so it’s gonna be MTK instead of Snap615 – which isn’t a bad thing too.
it does have a vibe ui chinese version, with loads of bloatware. 32 GB storage. Camera is ok, I was expecting better. Perhaps software improvements can be made. In low light it’s not that good though :/.
I think with a custom ROM it could be very nice.
This phone looks really really nice, the design is beautiful and just plain old cool with its blend of metal and gorilla glass. The camera seems like its going to be nice but i think they really should have gone with a lower aperture camera as I don’t ever use flash as Ive yet to find a flash on any phone that doesn’t make pictures look horrible. IF they only squeezed in a f1.9 or f1.8 the pictures would probably be stunning and i still think this camera will do great things but i just prefer better low light performance as that is when the lower aperture comes in handy. I will have a difficult decision to purchase my new smartphone as there are several ones that are catching my eye at the moment, my decision is between the meizu mx4 pro which was my last phone but i lost it at sea :(, but i might just get one back because i absolutely loved Flyme, i got a full grasp of it in about a wee and loved all the features, the email app was just my thing the nice flat look and pastelish colors and themes were just style. I just think it needs better English support and that’s about it, worked flawless for me and the fingerprint reader worked perfectly for me. I personally think flyme is the best looking OS skin i have ever seen. The Galaxy s6 Edge is another contender for me but the price might be an issue but i jsut love how it looks goddammit.. arggg.The Huawei P8 which i absolutely think has a great design right now but camera might now be that good, but i also love the kirin processor as they tend to focus more on what i think all chip makers should focus on more than processing power which is heat management and lower power consumption which if anyone cared to compare the last generation kirins vs snapdragon vs mediatek, they had the best heat management by quite a bit and thats important for me because i dont want to be able to play games at ultra high resolutions and setting if it toasts my hand after 10 mins of game-play, and in my eyes these processors that are out today are more powerful than any game or app needs anyways currently. I want longer lasting game-play and less heat. SD 810 is powerful but is a toaster, its not trash but if ur a gamer its kinda trash, the helio x10 from mtk actually does a much better job with heat and so does the exynos 8 which is probably the best processor in use at the moment. For me any new phone with the SD810 is out of my list of possible buys, so the xiaomi note pro, lg g4. Actually i really am looking forward to the new helio x20 its should be a very powerful processor.
I can only hope the tackled some of the (serious) software issues that were bothering the everyday use of the Vibe X2.
See http://www.gizchina.com/2015/01/04/lenovo-vibe-x2-review/
This phone looks really really nice, the design is beautiful and just plain old cool with its blend of metal and gorilla glass. The camera seems like its going to be nice but i think they really should have gone with a lower aperture camera as I don’t ever use flash as Ive yet to find a flash on any phone that doesn’t make pictures look horrible. IF they only squeezed in a f1.9 or f1.8 the pictures would probably be stunning and i still think this camera will do great things but i just prefer better low light performance as that is when the lower aperture comes in handy. I will have a difficult decision to purchase my new smartphone as there are several ones that are catching my eye at the moment, my decision is between the meizu mx4 pro which was my last phone but i lost it at sea :(, but i might just get one back because i absolutely loved Flyme, i got a full grasp of it in about a wee and loved all the features, the email app was just my thing the nice flat look and pastelish colors and themes were just style. I just think it needs better English support and that’s about it, worked flawless for me and the fingerprint reader worked perfectly for me. I personally think flyme is the best looking OS skin i have ever seen. The Galaxy s6 Edge is another contender for me but the price might be an issue but i jsut love how it looks goddammit.. arggg.The Huawei P8 which i absolutely think has a great design right now but camera might now be that good, but i also love the kirin processor as they tend to focus more on what i think all chip makers should focus on more than processing power which is heat management and lower power consumption which if anyone cared to compare the last generation kirins vs snapdragon vs mediatek, they had the best heat management by quite a bit and thats important for me because i dont want to be able to play games at ultra high resolutions and setting if it toasts my hand after 10 mins of game-play, and in my eyes these processors that are out today are more powerful than any game or app needs anyways currently. I want longer lasting game-play and less heat. SD 810 is powerful but is a toaster, its not trash but if ur a gamer its kinda trash, the helio x10 from mtk actually does a much better job with heat and so does the exynos 8 which is probably the best processor in use at the moment. For me any new phone with the SD810 is out of my list of possible buys, so the xiaomi note pro, lg g4. Actually i really am looking forward to the new helio x20 its should be a very powerful processor.