The
company's latest devices are the Vibe P1 and P1m,
both of which feature massive batteries and promise longer runtime
than similarly priced competitors. On our test bench today is the
Lenovo Vibe P1, which
offers all the usual features that buyers look for in a smartphone, along with a
4900mAh battery. We go in-depth with the Vibe P1 in our review.
Look and feel While
the identically priced Vibe S1 has a sleek, sophisticated body and is
clearly focused on looking good, the Lenovo Vibe P1 is less concerned
about aesthetics and more about function. As a result, this smartphone is
large, thick, and very ordinary-looking, getting nowhere near as
many second glances as the beautiful S1. The edges are sharp and
straight, the colours are muted and basic, and the general design has
nothing special about it.
The front of the device is 72 percent screen,
and reminds us of typical Samsung designs thanks to the physical home
key. The fingerprint sensor is integrated with the home key, while the Back
and Recents buttons are backlit capacitive soft keys located on
either side of it. The body of the phone is entirely metal,
with the exception of a plastic strip on the top which hides the slots
for the SIM cards and microSD card, and a small portion at the bottom
which is also plastic.
The screen of the Lenovo Vibe P1 is a
5.5-inch full-HD panel, with a density of 401ppi. It's a
typical IPS-LCD screen that is sharp and clear in normal light, but
falls a bit short under harsh sunlight and at extreme viewing angles.
The screen isn't quite as bright as we'd have liked even at the brightest
level, and the ambient light sensor never seems to get the automatic brightness right. That said,
it's still a great screen in terms of sharpness and colour reproduction,
and is great when used indoors.
The back has a smooth, dull
finish that feels great to hold. The camera and dual-tone LED
flash are in the centre near the top, while the typical Vibe and
Lenovo logos also find their way onto the back. The sides follow a
standard layout, with the power and volume keys on the right, the
3.5mm socket and secondary microphone at the top, the Micro-USB port and
speaker grilles (only the right grille actually houses a speaker) at
the bottom, and a slider switch that controls the power-saver mode on
the right. As previously stated, the SIM slots and microSD slot can be
found under the plastic cover on the top, and are entirely hidden
away when the cover is in place.
Of particular note is the
power-saver slider, which switches the phone quickly between normal
battery consumption and an extreme power saving mode. When in this mode, the phone switches off data connectivity and
the vast majority of other functions, allowing only basic features such as calling, SMS, contacts, calculator, calendar,
clock, and radio. It also displays the estimated time left at its current charge level,
which is reassuring in situations where you're dealing with a low battery
and need basic phone functions to be active. While the mode itself is
incredibly useful, we didn't see the need for a physical slider to be
dedicated to it. It would have been useful if the slider was
user-customisable and could be assigned to other functions.
Also of
note is the fingerprint sensor, which is located within the physical
home key. It can be used to directly unlock the device from sleep mode,
and usually works well. The Synaptics sensor can store and
read up to two fingerprints, and for now only allows you to unlock the
device. The sensor itself usually works well, but occasionally doesn't
read a fingerprint, requiring you to reposition your finger and try
again.
Lenovo states that the sensor can also be used to 'shop
online more securely' and 'read other fingerprints'. However, allowing
just two fingerprints to be stored severely limits this capability, and
we didn't actually see any other use for the sensor apart from unlocking
the device.
Also included is a massive 2A/7V charger, which charges the
device quickly. We went from zero to 65 percent in just 35 minutes, which is
impressive considering that this is a large 4900mAh battery. The package also includes an OTG adapter that will let you use
the Vibe P1 as a portable battery to charge other devices.
Specifications and software Although
the Lenovo Vibe P1 is priced the same as the Vibe S1, there are some
significant differences in the two phones' specification sheets. While the latter
sports a MediaTek SoC, the former features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615, which is frequently seen on smartphones in the Rs. 10,000-20,000 price range. The P1 also has 2GB RAM, which is less than the 3GB on the
S1. This phone has NFC connectivity and distinct slots for both SIMs as well as the microSD card, rather than the hybrid slot seen on the S1, which means you have to choose between expandable storage and the second SIM.
Internal storage on the Lenovo Vibe P1 is 32GB, which is excellent at this price range.
One
of the key features of the Vibe P1 is its 4900mAh battery.
Although it adds serious bulk to the device, it's also incredibly useful
and will appeal to anyone who has trouble getting
through a full day on a single charge.
The Vibe P1 runs Android 5.1.1,
with Lenovo's Vibe UI layered on top. While previous smartphones from
Lenovo have used the same single-layered user interface, the Vibe P1
interestingly starts up with a stock-Android-like dual-layered UI. It's
possible to switch back to a single-layered UI if you prefer that, and it's great
that users now have the choice. The rest of the interface is pretty much
the same the Vibe UI we've seen before, from the quick settings and status bar to the Settings app.
There are of course specific sections within the Settings app for features such as the fingerprint sensor,
screen gestures, and quick snap, but the rest of the menu is identical to
what we saw just recently on the Vibe S1. This includes permission controls, secure
zone management and power consumption details. Most of the
bloatware on the phone can be uninstalled, and we get the feeling that Lenovo's software has matured a lot now.
Camera The
Lenovo Vibe P1 has a 13-megapixel primary camera with dual-tone LED
flash, and a 5-megapixel front camera. Both are capable of recording
video at full-HD resolution. Although not quite as interesting as the
Vibe S1 or Vibe Shot in terms of features and tricks, the cameras on the
Vibe P1 are functional and capable enough.
The camera app is easy
to use, with on-screen keys for quick video recording, camera
switching, the flash, and HDR mode. The settings menu opens up a few more
options, including manual settings, photo and video resolution,
self-timer and location tagging. You can also use the volume keys to
capture shots, and double tapping a volume key from anywhere on the device,
including in sleep mode, will quickly launch the camera app and capture a picture if you enable that function in the settings. There is also a panorama mode, along with filters which can
be applied while shooting.
(Tap to see full-size image)
The primary camera is decent in terms
of detail and sharpness, and is particularly good at maintaining focus.
It accurately captures moving objects and composes a decent
shot where it's easy to perceive distances and details, even on the screen of the phone itself. There are some issues with colour,
especially bright colours. Under intense sunlight, pictures tend to wash
out, losing colour accuracy and having certain portions appear entirely
white.
This leads to some problems with outdoor shots, but a bit
of careful composition and focusing can reduce the saturation a
little. Some noise and tearing can be detected when zoomed in deep,
but in general photo quality is acceptably good and the Vibe P1 will serve most smartphone
photography needs comfortably. The front camera is basic and is suitable
for the occasional selfie and video chat, but selfie lovers won't find
much appeal in the front camera of the Vibe P1.
(Tap to see full-size image)
Performance The Snapdragon 615 offers decent, reliable performance
on a lot of the other devices we've tested, and continues to do so on
the Lenovo Vibe P1. Heavily encoded videos and graphically intensive
games, as well as general day-to-day performance are all good, and we
experienced no lag, stutter or crashes during our time with the phone.
The
device also returned benchmark figures that are on par with what we've
been seeing on other Snapdragon 615 devices. The P1 scored 35,388 and
19,995 on AnTuTu and Quadrant respectively, along with 14fps and 5496 points in GFXBench and 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme. Simply put, this phone can be
expected to perform reliably.
Coming to its key feature, the phone
ran for 20 hours, 38 minutes in our video loop battery test,
and ran for a full two days with ordinary use. In situations where you
need basic phone functionality, the power saver mode can help stretch
battery life by a lot, and users who need a good phone with a solid
battery will not be disappointed with the Vibe P1. The phone is also
capable when it comes to holding on to cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity, and call
quality is good as well. The single speaker is a bit weak in our
opinion, but audio performance is fine with headphones connected.
Verdict As
smartphones get more and more powerful, battery life continues to
suffer. Phones today are designed to be solid performers and have good
features, but aesthetic requirements mean that many phones neglect the
battery. As a result, it's becoming harder for your smartphone to last through even a single day. Phones such as the Lenovo Vibe P1 aim to fix
that.
With the Vibe P1 you're getting a solid smartphone
experience with all the necessary features and specifications, enough
power, a decent camera and a fingerprint sensor, along with a much-needed boost to battery life. The only shortcoming of the P1 is the fact
that it's a heavy phone with no real aesthetic identity. If you're okay with a heavy, average looking
smartphone, the Vibe P1 has everything you need. This is an
excellent mid-range smartphone and one that you should definitely
consider if you're looking at buying a new device for less than Rs.
20,000.
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