We go hands-on with the Lenovo Vibe Shot!

Lenovo Philippines has finally unveiled the Vibe Shot officially today, and we were on hand during the event to do yet another hands-on. At this point, we’re already pretty familiar with the Vibe Shot, but for the benefit of the other people who are now just joining us, we’re going to go over the features, specs and what we think of Lenovo’s new phone again today. Ready? Let’s start:

Lenovo Vibe Shot specs

• 1.7Ghz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor
• 3GB of RAM
• 5-inch full HD display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 32GB of storage, expandable via microSD up to 128GB
• 16-megapixel rear camera with OIS, IR laser AF, triple LED flash
• 8-megapixel front facing camera
• Dual-SIM
• 3G, LTE
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS
• Android 5.0 Lollipop
• 2900mAh battery

Initial impressions: small, handy phone/camera, with features for the semi-serious photographer

Lenovo designed the Vibe Shot to look more like a point-and-shoot than a phone. People who’ve either seen or owned Sony’s T1 cameras will definitely see a resemblance between the two though the Vibe Shot’s design isn’t completely copied from that particular camera. Flip the phone over and orient it sideways and you’ll see how much the Vibe Shot resembles a traditional point-and-shoot: the 16-megapixel rear camera is located on the upper right, with not two, but three LED flashes. On the upper left sits the company’s logo and the phone’s name. The back uses what looks like Gorilla Glass 3 protection, and while the phone is protected from minor scratches and cuts it’s no match for the grimy fingerprints that seem to mar the back whenever you handle it.

Flip the phone to the front, and you’ll see the 5-inch full HD display, again protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The phone uses physical Android navigation keys on the bottom, with the 8-megapixel front facing camera located right on top of the display.

The right side of the phone is pretty sparse, with only the SIM card/micro SD slot, which is a far cry from the left side of the phone where all the relevant controls lie. The right side has the power button, volume rocker, physical switch for pro and automatic mode as well as a physical shutter button that you can half press to get the phone to focus, just like a real camera. Pressing the shutter button down for a few seconds will also automatically launch the camera application for you.

Speaking of camera, the Vibe Shot sports a 16-megapixel rear camera with a six-piece modular lens. The controls are laid out in such a way that it’s easy to use the Vibe Shot in camera mode. We especially liked the physical shutter button that also focuses when you half-press it. Our one issue with the shutter button was that it’s so small, you’re not really getting any kind of physical feedback if you managed to half press the thing, though you’re clued in via the interface on the 5-inch display. Speaking of focus, the Vibe Shot has a very fast and accurate focusing thanks to the laser AF integrated into the device.

The Vibe Shot has a switch located on the side of the phone that you can flick if you want to go from automatic to manual. On manual mode you’re given a varitey of settings to play with, which includes shutter speed, white balance, focus, exposure compensation being a few of them. Oddly enough, you can only use the other shooting features like Artistic HDR, Blur Background, Art Nightscape and others if you’re in manual mode – it’s not available in automatic.

We’ve attached some photos that we took during the event in Art In Island in Cubao, and the phone performed decently enough, but to be fair the place was very well lit since it encourages people to take photos of themselves among the exhibits.

The Vibe Shot is still a smartphone though, and in that regard it’s a decently specc’d one – it sports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 615 processor, along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. There’s a HD version of the Vibe Shot that’s being sold in China that has a cheaper SRP than the one in the PH, but that model isn’t going to be appearing here in the PH officially, as it’s a China-only model, unfortunately. Anyway, the Snapdragon 615 processor isn’t going to set any speed records any time soon, but it’s powerful enough to keep navigation fast and fluid and the 3GB of RAM should keep the phone chugging along smoothly, without any problems.

After spending more time with the Vibe Shot, it’s become obvious that the phone is targeted at a very specific type of consumer. Its Snapdragon 615 processor isn’t the fastest one out there, so people looking for a speedy performer may need to look elsewhere. From what we can see, the phone is looking to attract people who put a premium on imaging, though we still have to test it out for a few more weeks to see if it’s really capable of delivering the goods when it comes to photos.

The Lenovo Vibe Shot will go on sale on July 31, with an SRP of Php 16,999 in Lazada. It will become available in retail stores two weeks after, for 1K more.