Smartphone Lenovo Z5 Pro - advantages and disadvantages

The Chinese group of companies "Lenovo" is one of the largest manufacturers of electronic gadgets. This company ranks fifth in the global market for the development and production of mobile phones.

Lenovo smartphones are stylish and durable. In October 2018, another novelty Z5 Pro is presented. According to presumed data, the presentation will take place on the 11th, but some features and characteristics of the new model have already become known.

What surprises to expect from the improved version of Z5? The review below will lift the veil of mystery.

Specifications

Design

The appearance of the device at first glance is not much different from other fresh smartphones. Rounded corners and an aluminum bezel around the case look ordinary, but behind the unremarkable design lies an interesting development from Lenovo. The highlight of the new flagship was the slider display.

The smartphone screen occupies almost the entire surface of the front panel without the usual "monobrow". The bezel around the display is very thin, but widened at the bottom. The front camera with a flash and a speaker is hidden in the opening block at the top of the device. Such a module is very different from the pop-up cameras Vivo NEX S or Oppo Find X. Instead of an automated appearance and hiding of the lens, a mechanical trick is used - a slider. When the display is shifted down, the camera opens from above, however, the application for it will have to be launched manually.

On the left side of the case are the power button and volume control. There are two cameras with flash on the back. The exact position of these elements is still unknown. We can only assume that, by analogy with the predecessor Z5, the cameras are shifted to the left. But the fingerprint sensor on the rear panel will no longer be, but more on that later.

On the bottom, there is a Type-C charging port, a stereo speaker and a microphone. There is no separate headphone jack.

The dimensions of the device are not yet known. Judging by the increased diagonal of the screen, the smartphone will be slightly larger than the Z5. Predecessor dimensions: 153×75.6×7.9 mm. The Z5 weighs 165 grams. The new smartphone will also be stretched in height, so it will retain ease of use.

Case material - metal and glass.In the older model, this solution was impractical and collected a lot of fingerprints. The oleophobic coating only made the device slightly easier to clean.

It is assumed that the Z5 Pro will be made in classic black.

Display

The 6.42-inch full screen has a resolution of 1080×2340 pixels. The pixel density is approximately 401 ppi. The aspect ratio of 19.5×9, which first appeared on the popular iPhone X, is respected. This proportion improves the ergonomics of the smartphone and does not create a feeling of bulkiness. In addition, more information is displayed on the screen in portrait mode.

The Amoled display features high contrast ratio, instant pixel response and thin thickness. Such a screen retains brightness even in the sun. The top of the display is protected by impact-resistant tempered glass Corning Gorilla Glass.

Operating system

The smartphone runs Android 8.1 Oreo operating system, aimed at saving battery power. One of the useful features of this system is the availability of information about the battery charge of paired Bluetooth devices. Among the shortcomings, it can be noted that in sleep mode, the Z5 Pro will not be able to keep the Wi-Fi network active.

CPU

According to insiders, the phone will be equipped with a powerful flagship processor. Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon is a top octa-core system. Performance is provided by four cores with a high clock speed of 2.8 Ghz. The economical component is four cores with a frequency of 1.8 Ghz. 3 Mb cache allows the system to handle light tasks without using RAM.

The Adreno 630 graphics chip is well suited for gaming and virtual reality.Image quality and accurate eye tracking opens up new possibilities in the virtual environment.

Qualcomm's architecture supports AI-related operations. All modules of the system are involved in solving such problems.

Memory

It is assumed that the RAM will be installed 6 Gb or 8 Gb. Thanks to this, the smartphone can easily cope with multitasking and demanding applications.

A lot of internal memory is also expected: 64 Gb in the budget version and 128 Gb in the more expensive one. This is quite enough for a large number of applications, music and other files. This amount of built-in storage justifies the lack of a separate slot for a memory card.

dual sim

For all smartphones with a non-removable cover, the placement of SIM cards in a sliding tray is still used. The Z5 Pro is no exception. The device supports two physical Nano-SIM SIM cards. The hybridity of the second slot in the sliding tray allows you to install a microSD memory card instead of a SIM.

autonomy

The capacity of the non-removable Li-Ion battery will be 4000 mAh. Thus, the smartphone will be able to work at a constant workload for at least eight hours. In standby mode, it can last up to 25 hours. The manufacturer stated that when the battery is completely discharged, there will be a reserve for a 30-minute conversation.

The Z5 Pro also has a useful fast charging feature.

Communication and navigation

The smartphone supports the GSM mobile communication standard with multiple bands. For Internet access, HSPA and LTE technologies are used, which provide high data transfer speeds.

The device works in a Wi-Fi network of two bands: 2Ghz and 5 Ghz.As a hotspot, your phone will quickly and easily create a network of various Wi-Fi enabled devices. The exchange of files with other electronics is carried out via Bluetooth version 5.0 with low energy consumption.

Satellite systems are used for navigation: GPS, GLONASS and BDS. The optional A-GPS add-on speeds up the search for device coordinates. The Chinese positioning system BDS is little known in Russia, since here its functionality is limited. A stable signal is observed only in the European part of Russia.

Unlock

To unlock the smartphone, a fingerprint sensor and face ID are provided. The fingerprint scanner is built into the smartphone display, so the place for the print appears only on the lock screen.

The face recognition sensor is traditionally located next to the front camera and recognizes the owner in a split second.

Interface

On the lock screen in the lower right corner is a shortcut button for the camera. In the center of the lower part is a round fingerprint symbol. In the upper right corner, the battery charge and network are displayed, and in the center, the date and time.

The start page looks typical for Android smartphones. Below the display are three touch buttons: "back", "recent applications" and "home". Above are the icons of the main applications, the order of which can be changed.

Camera

The rear camera is equipped with two sensors 20 MP and 16 MP and LED flash. The high resolution lens has a 1/2.8” sensor and f/2.0 aperture. Such indicators should provide good quality photos and videos even in low light. True, due to the small pixels of only 1.0 μm in size, some graininess is possible.The second lens has more interesting performance with f/2.0 aperture and 1/2.6” sensor size, with pixels on par with decent budget smartphones of 1.22 μm. The dual rear camera allows you to take good pictures with the bokeh effect responsible for blurring the background. It may well be that the manufacturer will endow such a camera with some other additional property, for example, improved detail or image enlargement without loss of quality.

With PDAF-type autofocus, you can take clear pictures of moving subjects even in the dark. Artificial intelligence itself selects the settings and autofocus to get better shots. Optical stabilization (OIS) reduces handshake and keeps motion shots smooth.

You can shoot video in the following resolutions: 2160p, 1080p and 720p.

The front camera is 8MP with f/2.0 aperture. Judging by the mood of the manufacturer to release a flagship smartphone, the quality of the photo should be decent. The front camera can also shoot Full HD 1080p video.

If the Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon processor is installed in the smartphone, then the Spectra 280 chip will take care of the image processing. It provides video recording with a resolution of 2K and allows you to shoot slow-motion video 720p. It is also possible to take a photo while recording a video. The Rec.2020 HDR extended color gamut delivers richer colors and brighter, richer hues in photographs.

Music and video playback

The bright large display with a clear image is ideal for watching videos. The player supports common formats: MP4, H.264 and FLAC.

Thanks to the capacious internal storage, the smartphone can be used as a player.True, you will have to get Bluetooth headphones or an adapter to a 3.5 mm jack. The phone recognizes audio files: MP3, eAAC + and WAV.

Equipment

Lenovo usually packs its smartphones in white compact boxes with a color image of the device. The kit includes:

• Smartphone with a protective film on the screen;
• USB Type-C cable for connecting your phone to a computer and charging. The length of the cord will remain within 1 m;
• Network adapter;
• Key to open the SIM tray;
• Various booklets.

Price

Prices for this device have not yet been made public. With such characteristics, the smartphone is quite capable of occupying the flagship sector, which will lead to a high final price. As you know, two versions of the Z5 Pro are being prepared for release, from which it will be possible to choose a device according to your pocket without much loss in performance.

Advantages and disadvantages

Based on a preliminary review, the following pros and cons can be identified:

• Two physical SIM cards;
• Dual rear camera;
• 4G LTE support;
• Full screen without "monobrow";
• Powerful iron.

• There is no separate slot for a memory card;
• There is no headphone jack.

Outcome

Smartphone previews may differ from actual Z5 Pro specifications. Lenovo has already been seen exaggerating the quality of expected phones, so some details can be disappointing after the presentation. According to information leaked to the Internet, the device is an interesting solution with a productive “stuffing” and an unusual design. Also, do not forget that the Pro prefix in the model name indicates the top assembly of the smartphone. In general, the release promises to be interesting.