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Lenovo Vibe X3 review

Lenovo Vibe X3 is the new phone that has just launched in India for a price of Rs 19,999. Here’s our review.

Lenovo has been pushing the Indian market seriously for the past few quarters and making a serious impact. However, it hasn’t been a serious contender in the mid-range so far. Other Chinese manufacturers have made a killing in the space, or whatever is left of it. Now, the Lenovo Vibe X3 aims to change all that by playing into the OnePlus space by offering a real mid-range flagship.

Watch Lenovo Vibe X3 First Look Video


Lenovo Vibe X3
The Lenovo Vibe X3 has one clear goal: tick all the boxes that matter. So from a high resolution display to a powerful processor and camera, it has everything a smartphone buyer would want to see, at least on paper.
 

Lenovo Vibe X3 has a cleaner Vibe UI, closer to stock Android.

Specs: 5.5-inch FullHD (1080x1920p, ~401 ppi) IPS panel | Qualcomm MSM8992 Snapdragon 808 (Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 & Dual-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A57) | 3GB RAM | 32GB internal storage expandable by up to 128GB | 21MP rear camera + 8MP front | Fingerprint scanner | 3500 mAh battery | Vibe UI based on Android 5.1

Price: Rs 19,999

What is good?
Let’s start with the design. The phone looks and feels as if it is built to last. It has a ceramic finish at the back, and though I am not so sure how the white back will look after a couple of months in Indian conditions, it is a stylish design nonetheless. And this has been a relatively new aspect of Lenovo phones, which have been boring till recently. Plus it is nice to see front facing speaker grills take up space above, and below a display again.
Lenovo Vibe X3 has a fingerprint scanner on the back.
The Lenovo Vibe X3 has a Full HD display that is crisp and clear. It is also a bit brighter than regular screens which means it can work really well in sunlight, and give you a reasonable headache when used in the dark.

However, the most interesting feature for me is the fact that this smartphone has one of the best audio capabilities I have tested in recent times. It comes with Dolby Atmos like some recent Lenovo devices, but it also has a mix of the best DACs around to deliver excellent sound reproduction on speakers as well as on headphones.

I tested its capabilities with some Dolby Atmos test audios and the directional sound worked really well. Then with 320KBs files the playback was stunning, and up to the standards of Hi-Fi media players. This is the return of the music smartphone.
 

Lenovo Vibe X3 also offers a very good camera, one that can shoot 4K video too. I have had issues with Lenovo’s camera app before. However, with this phone the glitches seem to have been fixed, and the experience was really good. The photos were good too, offering detail where needed. In fact, in the Pro Mode this camera might have one of the best Macro shots at in this price bracket.

The overall performance of the smartphone is quite good and that too without heating up at all. The phone handles games pretty well, and multi-tasking is a breeze. Given audio quality and smooth graphics, I am tempted to suggest this phone for people who want to try out some serious gaming. The phone scores pretty well on benchmarks and is ranked near the Sony Xperia Z5.

Lenovo Vibe X3 supports fast-charging.
The phone has a good battery that should last you the entire day despite the Full HD screen. However, keep the display at medium brightness to stretch this a bit more.

Though I found the Vibe UI a refreshing change when it was initially launched, soon I realised that it meant unlearning a lot of things you would know about Android, especially with the recognition of icons. It seems the engineers at Lenovo are getting an education from their friends at Motorola. So the latest edition of the Vibe UI is as close to pure Android as possible, while giving users the add-ons and customisations otherwise not available.

What is not that great?

There is nothing particularly wrong with this phone. While the design is great, the ceramic-finish back appears to be a bit too slippery. It is a good thing that Lenovo is packing a back case in the box.
Also, stick to the charger in the box. With other chargers this phone takes a bit too long to reach maximum capacity.

The camera has a slight lag when you are clicking pictures, and you hence need really steady hands. The actual capture happens after a delay, and if you move your hand right after, the images could end up blurred.

Should you buy?

If you are looking for a mid-range smartphone then the Vibe X3 is a good option, given that it is priced so competitively. There is competition within the house in the Moto X Play with similar specs and the Qiku Q Terra, but this Lenovo phone needs to be taken seriously as well.
If you are looking for a phone that offers you all that you would want for this price, then the Lenovo Vibe X 3 ticks all the right boxes. This is one of the best value for money phones in the market at the moment.
                                                                                                                                                                   

Lenovo Vibe X3 first impressions: The sub Rs 20k phone segment competition just got fiercer

Lenovo has been quite aggressive with its mobile phone launches over the last year, which saw it release some really popular budget smart phones such as the A6000, A7000 and the K3 Note. Lenovo has started this year with the launch of the K4 Note and accompanying it at the higher end will be the company’s latest phone – the Vibe X3 which was launched in China last year.
Launched at Rs 19,999 price point, the Vibe X3 brings will start selling from 28 January. We got to spend some time with the device, and here are our first impressions.

Build and Design

The Lenovo Vibe X3 is a really well designed phone. It employs metal in the build of the frame and this is complemented neatly by sturdy white plastic rear cover that is not removable. The metallic frame appears sandblasted and it has nice champfering ensuring there are no sharp edges as such. The in hand feel of the phone is really good with the index finger resting perfectly in place of the fingerprint scanner on the rear side, just below the camera module. The phone is a tad bit slippery though, thanks to the smooth back.

Despite having a 5.5-inch display, the curved arc design on the rear side makes the phone quite easy to operate with a single hand. Of course, reaching all the edges is still not comfortable. The phone measures 3.2mm on the thin edge and around 9.3mm overall thanks to the curve. The phone weighs around 175 grams.


The left hand side has the hybrid dual SIM card slot whereas on the right hand side you have the metallic volume rocker and power/standby buttons. At the base there’s the microUSB charging port and at the top you have the 3.5mm audio jack along with the infrared blaster. There are plastic antenna cuts on the top and the base.

Display

Lenovo Vibe X3 sports a 5.5-inch full HD display. It uses an IPS LCD panel which gives good viewing angles. The display is vibrant and text is sharp, but we will need to use it outdoors and check out our test video clips to give a full verdict.

Chipset, RAM, Storage, Connectivity

Lenovo has not gone with the tried and tested Snapdragon 615 SoC for the Vibe X3 considering its pricing. It has gone a notch higher and got the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 chipset which houses a hexa-core processor which one dual core cluster clocked at 1.8GHz and one quad-core cluster clocked at 1.2GHz. This is paired with 3GB of RAM. While handling the phone for the limited time, we did not notice any lag or stutter, but we will need to test the phone in the real-world scenario to get a complete picture.

On the storage front, Lenovo has provided 32GB and also lets you add in a microSD card if you want to expand the storage. The phone comes with a hybrid dual SIM configuration. So you can either add in a microSIM or microSD card along with 4G nano-SIM card. Other connectivity options include Wi-fi 802.11ac, Wi-fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, FM Radio, NFC as well as USB OTG. Pretty much all bases covered there. The phone also houses a square shaped finger print scanner on the rear side just below the camera section.

OS and Software

The Lenovo Vibe X3 runs on Android 5.1.1 along with the Vibe UI skin atop it. This is an improved version of the Vibe UI, in the sense that it has an app drawer and there are relatively less proprietary apps, relative to its older VibeUI based phones. Lenovo has added on an app called Peel which can make a program guide for you based on your location and cable operator. We will need to try this out to elaborate properly on this app. Apart from this, the camera app has got some new additions which we will discuss in the Camera section. The notification drop down gives you the option to move around quick settings based on your preferences.

Speaker

Lenovo has used an advanced Sabre 9018C2M DAC to offer lossless audio playback for the audio enthusiasts and it is also capable of powering high end headphones. We will have to test this out on advanced headsets. The phone has front-firing stereo speakers located on the top and bottom of the front-face and from the limited time that we had, the audio output was loud and retained clarity even at higher volumes. It also comes with the Dolby Atmos certification. So if you have a 5.1 channel movie, you could enjoy it in all its audio glory claims Lenovo. The Vibe X3 also supports TheatreMax, which lets you video movies or play games in a wide-angle viewing mode using a VR headset.

Camera

Lenovo has added in a 21MP rear camera along with an 8MP front-facing camera. The rear camera comes with an f/2.0 aperture and uses the Sony IMX230 sensor, which we had last seen on the Moto X Play and has a dual LED flash unit. The camera app has a lot of interesting additions which add much more value than a stock Google camera app. It comes with a Smart auto mode, which analyses the scene and accordingly activates the right mode while taking the picture. For the more advanced users, there’s also the Pro mode. Here are some sample shots from the camera. We will need to use the camera more intensively in all lighting conditions to see how it stands up.

Battery

Considering this is a 5.5-inch full HD device, Lenovo has added in a 3,500mAh battery which is sufficient for this configuration. We will need to use it in real life to see how that translates into real life use-case scenario.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Vibe X3 seems like a phone offering a good overall package and it has really priced it well. At Rs 19,999, the Vibe X3 has competition in the form of its own Moto X Play, QiKU Q Terra 808, even the slightly more expensive LG Nexus 5X. This is certainly a premium offering from Lenovo at an aggressive price point. We will need to see if all the features seen above come together to provide a good overall phone user experience. So do keep checking back for a detailed review soon.

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