Lenovo Vibe S1 phone review - pros and cons

Released in 2016 by the Chinese manufacturer Lenovo Vibe S1, it positions itself as the world's first model with a dual front-facing camera. Has established itself as a stylish mid-range device. The smartphone has already caught the fancy of connoisseurs of a beautiful "wrapper" - its interface for a middle-class phone is five-plus. What other advantages exist for this gadget and are there any disadvantages, we will consider below.

External parameters

Design

As mentioned above, this phone model impresses with its exquisite appearance. Despite the fact that the smartphone is not a rookie, the design of the Lenovo Vibe S1 is still relevant in 2018. The gadget weighs 132 grams. The body of the smartphone is metal, the back panel is made of Gorilla Glass and has rounded corners. The glass is fairly resistant to scratches and abrasions. In terms of aesthetics, it is better to choose a model in white. Defects that have appeared during operation are almost invisible on it. The edges of the gadget are made of aluminum. The smartphone is comfortable to use and does not slip due to the bending of the back panel in the sides. The Vibe logo is located on the back.

The volume control buttons are located on the right side. However, due to their ultra-thin profile, the phones are not very comfortable - “beauty requires sacrifice”. The keys responsible for controlling the system are located under the display and are not backlit. Here, too, you will have to get used to their placement.

Due to the presence of two front-cameras at once, the front side of Lenovo Vine S1 is slightly more "perforated".

The cameras are located above the display next to the light sensor. On the left side there is a slot for a SIM card and microSD. A significant disadvantage of Lenovo Vine S1 is the choice: either 2 SIM cards, or a SIM card and microSD. Owners of two SIM cards will have to sacrifice additional memory or buy another gadget. In 2018, Lenovo Vibe S1 will no longer compete with its counterparts, released with 3 slots in this regard. A micro-USB port is located at the bottom of the phone, and a headset with a 3.5 mm output is at the top. The color scheme is presented in three colors: white, blue and gold.

Display

The diagonal of the screen is 5 inches, the screen resolution is 1920x1080. The display is equipped with a 5-point touch system and has 16 million colors. It is possible to manually adjust the color balance and screen brightness. For the dark time of the day, a "night" mode is provided. But in sunny weather outside, the brightness does not "hold out" - you need to bring the gadget closer and peer. The sensor works great, responds quickly to touch. In the cold season, you can activate the special sensor sensitivity mode, which will allow you to control the gadget through gloves.

Main characteristics of the phone

Camera

Now about the notorious "hybrid" camera: the 8-megapixel camera (which takes pictures of you) is the soloist, and the 2-megapixel one will play the role of the second violin (its function is to capture the background). There is a separate flash for selfies in order to increase the brightness of the photo. The manufacturer claims that the photos are obtained like a professional DSLR.However, here he is slightly disingenuous. For a good photo, at least everything should be good with lighting. But for an avatar on a social network, the quality will be very good.

What are the features of the dual camera? You can blur the background. Both foreground and background. It is important here that the camera recognizes the face. To put focus on, say, a wall will not work. Automation simply will not fix it.

You can also cut out the face and paste it into a different background (it's not a problem at all to be in front of the Eiffel Tower). There is a "beautification" button that allows you to make yourself loved as much as possible.

The main camera (13 megapixels) is pretty decent. Equipped with LED flash. If you shoot in a sufficiently lit place, the pictures will come out decent. The expansion reaches 4096x2304 (16: 9). At a frame of 4: 3 - 4160x3120. The video quality is high (Full HD). The files are stored in MP4 format. The camera shutter is released by pressing the screen or by gesture. For the sake of convenience, you can define a volume slider for this function.

In general, for a gadget of an average price category, the camera is quite tolerable, provided there is sufficient illumination. For lovers of night shots, it is better to find something more worthwhile. Smartphone autofocus often misses the mark in the dark.

Sound and speakers

There are 2 speakers in the gadget: conversational and speakerphone. The loudspeaker is located at the bottom. The speaker quality is okay. Being even on a noisy, busy avenue, you can perfectly hear the interlocutor. The same is with the speakerphone: you can safely move within 30 square meters, conducting a dialogue without a phone in your hands.

The speaker volume and sound quality of the Lenovo Vibe S1 is a four. When listening at maximum volume through the speaker, the quality of the music is not particularly distorted, the sound clarity is average. The presence of a voice recorder and FM tuner (for the latter, you need headphones). Speaking of headphones: the downside is the lack of advanced internal equalizer settings. The audio player does not appear in the list of "native" applications, but you can use the "cloud" ones.

Autonomy

The battery has a capacity of 2400 mAh and a full charge takes about 2 hours. The battery, let's face it, is not the strongest point of this smartphone. The manufacturer claims 24 hours of standby time and 8 hours of active use. However, in reality, the gadget can withstand an average of 4-6 hours of active work. To watch a video at maximum brightness, the charge will last for about 5 hours (accordingly, with a decrease in brightness, the phone will "live" a little more).

This is quite enough for ordinary use, but fans of active games in the phone will not last long without charging. But in the settings you can activate the power saving functions. It is possible to select the automatic activation mode for energy saving when a certain charge level is reached. When power saving mode is enabled, sync and vibration are disabled, reducing performance.

Interface

Lenovo Vibe S1 runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop with VIBE UI. This is the so-called Chinese version of the android. A lot of "hammered" applications. These programs include office programs, a Chinese browser, work with electronic wallets, an additional store with games, and so on. Installed an application for transferring between gadgets in case there is no Internet. It is called SHAREit. And in case of accidental data formatting, the SYNCit application will come to the rescue. In principle, this does not take up much memory.

All subsequently installed programs will be located on the desktop - a separate “menu” application is not provided here.

The interface is quite varied. The theme allows you to customize the "picture" both in pastel colors and with the addition of bright effects. You can adjust the display manually, or you can "entrust" it with an automatic adjustment. There is an LED indicator on the earpiece mesh. It is configurable to alarm missed calls or notifications from apps.

App notifications are displayed on the lock screen.Double-tap to open the message directly from the locked screen.

The Vibe S1 keyboard does not support continuous input. The lack of borders between the buttons complicates the typing a little.

Of the chips, there is the possibility of a quick snapshot. If you need to take a picture of something urgently, you can simply press the volume button twice. Even if the phone is locked, the frame is already captured.

There are also chips. As mentioned above, the phone's battery is so-so. And in order to somehow extend the life of the gadget, you can customize scripts on your phone. You just set a specific time (for example, from 23:00 to 07:00) and all services that use the most energy are turned off.

There is such a function as a "safe zone". "Safe zone" is an option that allows you to switch the phone to another mode by pressing one button, while simultaneously closing what you worked with (contacts, photos, applications, etc.). As if there was none of this. Of course, not every user will benefit from such a bonus, but someone will undoubtedly say “thank you” to the manufacturer for this.

In addition, the manufacturer took care of security and installed an antivirus that monitors the operation of applications.

CPU

For a mid-range phone, the Lenovo Vibe S1 has decent specs and performance. MediaTek MT6752 processor - 8-core, 64-bit. Operates at 1.7 GHz. The graphics also did not disappoint - one of the powerful accelerators from ARM is responsible for it. The RAM is 3 GB. The built-in got 32 gigs. In practice, only 23.4 GB are free from the built-in. If this does not seem enough, you can use an additional memory card. It is possible to connect a simple flash drive to the gadget - the phone supports USB-OTG.

The smartphone supports the following frequency bands: 1800 MHz, 2600 MHz and 800 MHz. The rest of the wireless communications include Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n, includes 2 bands (2.4 and 5 GHz). There is Bluetooth 4.0.

If necessary, you can use your phone as a modem. And activate the Turbo-loading mode. When activated, WLAN and mobile internet are used simultaneously to download files.

Navigation and location are provided by GPS and GLONASS satellites supported by A-GPS technology.

The smartphone shell is well optimized. No special hangs or glitches were noticed. In AnTuTu, the device scored 47,000 points, in GekkBench - 803 (single-core test) and 4084 (multi-core test) points.

Games

An important question for fans of virtual toys. Everything here, in principle, is not bad. The phone's graphics are decent, the settings are maximum, and the gameplay is excellent. The phone does not lag, so you can while away the time at boring school or on the way home at high settings. The gadget handles most of the popular games lightly. However, Vibe S1 should not be advised to seasoned gamers.

Equipment

The delivery set includes a standard set:

• Telephone;
• Instruction;
• A paper clip to remove the SIM card from the slot;
• Charging adapter;
• USB cable.

The cost of Lenovo Vibe S1 is an average of 8,000 rubles.

Pros and cons of Lenovo VIBE S1

• Stylish and expensive type of gadget;
• Lightweight and thin body;
• High-quality assembly;
• Quite a powerful processor;
• Non-standard front camera with two cameras;
• Decent graphics;
• Budgetary cost.

• The inability to use 2 SIM cards and microSD at the same time;
• Low capacity rechargeable battery;
• Lack of an NFC interface, which does not allow mobile payment systems to work;
• There is no "enhancer" for better sound quality in headphones.

As a result

Lenovo Vibe S1 is a fairly budget model (compared to its sophisticated "brothers"). At the same time, it looks much more expensive than its cost. This is one of the main advantages of the gadget, so it is perfect as a gift for lovers of beautiful devices. There is also uniqueness - after all, the first phone with 2 front cameras, albeit not the most perfect pictures come out on them.

In terms of functionality, the gadget is average. Average sound, average photo quality, average processor power. No fancy bells and whistles. The autonomy is a bit weak for those who are used to “hanging out” for hours on the net and in toys.Technically powerful gadget can not be called, but for the average average user, this is a good budget option. And very stylish.