Lenovo S90 Sisley

Introduction

The Lenovo S90 Sisley wants to be many things at once and one up every possible rival in the crowded midrange. An AMOLED screen, an 8MP selfie cam complete with an LED flash, Dual-SIM and LTE in a package powered by Snapdragon 410 and designed by Apple but not in California.

Lenovo obviously saw no need to invest heavily in the Sisley, which mostly inherits its hardware from the Vibe Z2. In fact, they simply went ahead and re-packaged the Z2, most probably for markets where the origins of the otherwise sharp unibody design wouldn't be taken the wrong way.

Lenovo S90 Sisley press images

As for what's under the hood, the Lenovo S90 Sisley isn't likely to disappoint its target audience. The chipset is the increasingly popular Snapdragon 410, with four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.2GHz and Adreno 306 GPU. The camera setup is quite impressive, at least on paper, with a 13MP main shooter and an 8MP selfie cam with its own LED flash. The S90 comes in two main hardware setups: a 16GB model with 1GB of RAM and a 32GB version, with 2GB of RAM. The display is a 5-inch 720p Super AMOLED unit.

Key features

5.0" 16M-color 720p Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
Android OS v4.4.4 KitKat with Vibe UI 2.0
Quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A53; Qualcomm MSM8916 Snapdragon 410, Adreno 306
Dual SIM (Micro-SIM, dual stand-by)
1GB/2GB of RAM
13MP camera with 1080p video recording @ 30fps
8MP front-facing camera with AF, LED flash and 720p video recording
16GB/32GB of built-in storage
LTE Cat. 4 (150Mbps), Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/, GPS/GLONASS receiver, Bluetooth v4.0, FM Radio
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
2,300mAh non-removable battery

Main disadvantages

No microSD
Non-removable battery
16GB version has a single gig of RAM
Design is a blatant rip-off

Lenovo is taking a completely different approach with the S90 Sisley compared to the fairly recent Vibe X2. Technically, both of them are midrangers, though obviously not in the same price bracket and not after the same target audience. The original, layered design of the Vibe X2 goes well with the Full-HD screen and more powerful octa-core CPU.

The Sisley on the other hand, is powered by a more modest chipset but boasts a high-res selfie cam and an AMOLED screen. Whatever the reasoning behind their choice of design, some of the specs are perhaps a direct response to specific competitors like Samsung and Sony.

Lenovo S90 Sisley live images

These will be named and blamed in due time but not before we've looked at the Lenovo S90 Sisley from all possible sides. Coming up next is the usual unboxing and hardware checkup.

Design and build quality

The goal of the S90 Sisley was to get noticed and Lenovo wasn't particularly subtle about the ways to achieve it. From a distance, you'll be hard-pressed to distinguish it from an iPhone 6, especially looking at it from the sides. The look and feel are incredibly similar, which is quite a compliment actually.

Lenovo S90 360-degree spin

We can't help but notice how the 13MP camera is sitting flush on the back and not protruding in any way, a notable difference from Apple's design. The Lenovo Sisley measures 146 x 71.7 x 6.9mm and weighs 129g - resulting in a surprisingly light and comfortable feel in hand.

The Lenovo S90 Sisley next to the iPhone 6 Plus

Corners on the Sisley are nicely rounded and the phone is a pleasure to handle. Against the pure white front, only the LED flash breaks away from the color palette. Speaking of, the Lenovo comes in gray, gold and platinum (the latter our review unit), all matching paint jobs for an aluminum exterior, which go nicely with the white front panel.

The Lenovo S90 Sisley has a distinct Apple vibe

Sadly, the fluent elegance is abruptly broken at the top of the device. The Sisley has a large chunk of plastic covering most of the top side. This would've been nearly bearable if it wasn't for the glaring mismatch in the shades of white between the plastic strip and the front glass. It almost seems like a flimsy patch that's completely out of place in an otherwise handsome device.

The S90 is available in a few colors: in gray, gold and platinum and a few more colorful ones

The S90 Sisley feels quite good in the hand and we appreciate the nice contrast between the sturdy case and the lightweight feel. The build quality raises no questions but the execution of some details is far from perfect - let's say, not up to the standards of the one it's trying to emulate.

It's just a little rough around the corners and when we literally mean it. Sliding a finger along the edge of the screen you can feel the coarse surface. Not a major issue but, like we said, not an outstanding attention to detail either.

The Lenovo S90 Sisley in the hand

Controls

The Lenovo S90 boasts a 5" 16M-color display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. Although it's not impressively sharp, the Super AMOLED technology offers vivid colors and deep blacks. Right underneath it we find three capacitive keys, Menu, Home and Back, which is the standard layout for Lenovo.

Above the screen, the earpiece is flanked by the proximity and ambient light sensors, and the front-facing camera setup, which includes an LED flash.

The capacitive keys • 8MP camera with flash sits right above the display

Going round the device we find the left side mostly empty. It only features the SIM card compartment. Inside we find two microSIM card slots. There's no microSD card slot for storage expansion.

The left side of the S90 houses the SIM card tray

The right side is where the volume rocker and Power/Lock button are.

The right side is home to the volume rocker and Power/Lock button

The 3.5mm headphone jack is placed on the top of the device near the left corner along with the second noise-canceling mic positioned right in the middle.

The top hosts the 3.5mm headphone jack and noise-canceling mic

The bottom of the phone houses a microUSB port, two screws and what appear to be two speaker grilles. Only the left grille actually contains a speaker, while the right one houses the mouthpiece.

The bottom is equipped with a MicroUSB port and two speaker grill only one holds a speaker

Going round the back, we find the 13MP camera in the top left corner with a single LED flash right next to it.

The back is very stylish with plastic accent like the one on the iPhone

A plastic strip going all the way from side to side near the bottom brings the whole thing together and it comes as no surprise that when we flip an iPhone 6 over we find one exactly like it.

Final words

Looking back at the Lenovo S90 Sisley, the design is definitely the most questionable piece of the puzzle. The phone was meant to look as close as possible to the iPhone 6, from the exterior all the way down to its custom Android build.

That's not to say that it's not an attractive phone - right on the contrary, but we liked some of the other Lenovo smartphones better, like the Vibe X2 or Z2 and Z2 Pro, which all have a distinct and equally pleasing look of their own.

We get it though. Apple's design on a budget does hold a lot of appeal and potential in certain markets, but a more in-depth look reveals a lot of compromises in terms of the materials used and the fine, precision engineered parts, but more importantly, performance.

The S90 Sisley is reasonably spec'd on paper, but seems to perform under its league. Lenovo may have skipped on some fine-tuning or the ambitious Vibe UI 2 is stressing the device too much but, whatever the reason, the Sisley struggled to come through with a lot of the benchmarks we threw at it.

Lenovo S90 Sisley key test findings

Great design, but certainly not original; materials and execution could have been better
Super AMOLED display offers deep blacks and vibrant colors
The 2300mAh battery provides decent battery life. The device has excellent power-management options
Vibe UI v.2 is great, fast and with tons of personalization options and custom apps
Performance is worse than expected and could benefit a lot from optimization
Does tend to heat up noticeably under pressure which may cause performance drops
Still images offer a lot of detail and saturation, and generally look pleasing
1080p videos turn out quite good, but auto focus tends to hunt more aggressively
Gallery and Camera application could use some more advanced feature to keep up with the rest of the UX; also there is no custom Music playback app.
Video player handles all video and audio codecs, but not AC3 sound and subtitles

Lenovo has inexplicably decided to break away from its routine and churn out what is essentially an iPhone on a budget. This definitely has its appeal, especially considering the company's recent agenda of covering more ground both domestically and internationally under the Lenovo and Moto brands.

We just can't help but think that Lenovo could have put some more effort into distancing its device from the majority of iPhone clones.

After all, we know Lenovo is capable of designing good-looking phones, and not necessarily with premium price tags. The likes of the Vibe Z2 Pro and the Vibe X2 have the high-end market covered, but the S90 has a solid alternative in the Lenovo A6000.

The Lenovo A6000 is powered by a Snapdragon 410, exactly like the Sisley. The budget-friendly LTE-enabled smartphone is currently only available in India and is doing quite well in flash sales. It is also equipped with a 5-inch screen, but the Super AMOLED panel has been swapped for an IPS LCD, again of 720p resolution. The A6000 is only available with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard memory and its camera setup is a little downgraded as well - 8MP main and 2MP front. At about $113 in India, the A6000 is less than half the price of the Sisley

Lenovo A6000

Over at Samsung's camp, the Galaxy A3 and A5 are built on mostly the same hardware and the 5-inch Galaxy A5 looks like a direct contender.

The Galaxy A5 costs a good $100 more than the Sisley, but it is also a much better device all-around. The CPU, GPU, display and RAM are absolutely identical and the Galaxy A5 also comes in a dual-SIM variant. The couple also offer metal bodies, although the one on the Samsung feels far better in terms of materials and quality. What is really important in this comparison is that the Galaxy A5 outshines the S90 in terms of benchmark performance.

The A5 also comes with a microSD expansion slot, but the tradeoff is an inferior front-facing camera.

Samsung Galaxy A5

The Motorola Moto G (2014) costs about $50 less than the Sisley (can even be found for as little as $200) with a dual-SIM version, which retails for about as much as the Lenovo. It is also quite equally spec'd, packing a Snapdragon 400 SoC, a quad-core Cortex A7 and an Adreno 306 GPU. Despite its simple appearance and less impressive specs sheet, the small Moto packs quite a punch (save for the camera) and is a solid performer.

The Moto G also offers a stock Android experience, second only to the Nexus devices. This allows the budget, low-powered device to really hold its own and outperform a lot of powerful phones.

Motorola Moto G (2014)

A few notable contenders to the S90 in terms of specs that are worth noting are the: Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime, the more recent Galaxy Grand Max, and the HTC Desire 620 Dual SIM.

Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime • Samsung Galaxy Grand Max • HTC Desire 620 dual sim

Now let's take a look at what else there is in the Sisley's price range. The Sony Xperia C3 is Sony's first attempt at a selfie-centered phone. Its hardware is very similar to Moto G (2014), but it comes with a slightly bigger 5.5-inch 720p display. This, coupled with a spectacular endurance rating of 91 hours make the C3 a formidable rival to the Sisley.

Sony Xperia C3 Dual

Last, but not least we can't help but mention another similar Meizu device - the Meizu M1. It is a brightly-colored, plastic handset with a 5-inch screen and a Mediatek MT6732 chipset with a quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 and 1GB of RAM. It is on the list mostly because it comes with a more than intriguing price tag - around $100. Sadly, it is only available in Asian markets for the time being, but if you get the chance, it is definitely worth checking out.

Meizu m1

The Sisley does have its appeal. Sure, most of it has been borrowed from Apple, but an Android-powered iPhone on a budget is quite a marketable thing, to the right target group. The 8MP selfies with an LED flash will certainly help too.

We just wish Lenovo had put a twist of their own instead of simply copying. The fine line has been crossed between saying cheese and smelling it.

3 comments :

sonam jain20 August 2015 at 02:31
Thank you for sharing very useful information.

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Unknown19 March 2016 at 01:26
Lenovo Sisley S90 is a great smartphone comes with the S90’s Super AMOLED screen featuring 127 mm screen powered by MSM8916 64-bit 1.2GHz Quad Core. Really Great. Know More:- http://www.amazon.in/Lenovo-s90-S90-Graphite-Grey/dp/B013K91HHC/?tag=moreinfo00d-21
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Unknown7 April 2016 at 05:08
Lenovo Sisley S90 is one of the most popular smart-phone avaible in market now. Due to its significant performance and a wide range of severe amazing features this phone is in quite a bit demand now. To get best offers on this phone visit : http://www.flipkart.com/lenovo-sisley-s90/p/itme4yjg4g6m54t8?affid=sandeepsem
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