Lenovo Vibe X2

Introduction

The Motorola acquisition will put even more wind in the sail of outward bound Lenovo but blockbuster smartphones carrying their own brand are needed just as much, both at home in China and internationally. The QHD Vibe Z2 Pro is undoubtedly the top-of-the range offering, but what about the midrange? The Lenovo Vibe X2 reporting for duty.

The Vibe X2 looks stunning in its layered magnesium alloy body and that's exactly the impression Lenovo was after. It's hard to get noticed in this particular segment of the market, but the Vibe X2 has nothing to worry about. The layered design of the Vibe X2 is not unlike the Jolla phone, but there's an extra layer, for a total of three, whose different colors complement each other nicely.

Lenovo Vibe X2 official photos

Underneath the flashy outfit, the Vibe X2 offers equally impressive innards. We are talking one of MediaTek's latest True8core chipsets, where four of the CPU cores are 2GHZ Cortex-A17s. The Vibe X2 offers a solid 5" IPS display of 1080p resolution too. Complete with the 13MP camera at the back, the Vibe X2 is tiptoeing close to premium territory.

But Chinese phone makers are known for offering more than the usual for the price bracket. Let's see what the Vibe X2 has to say about it.

Key features

5.0" 16M-color 1080p IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen
Android OS v4.4 KitKat with Vibe UI 2.0
Quad-core 2.0GHz Cortex-A17 and quad-core 1.7GHz Cortex-A7; MediatTek MT6595m True8Core, PowerVR G600 GPU
2GB of RAM
13MP camera with 1080p video recording @ 30fps
5MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording
32GB of built-in storage
LTE Cat. 4 (150Mbps), Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, GPS/GLONASS receiver, Bluetooth v4.1+LE, FM Radio
Standard 3.5mm audio jack
Accelerometer and proximity sensor, notification LED
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
2,300mAh battery

Main disadvantages

No microSD
No NFC
Front camera is fixed focus
No 64GB option
No 4K video recording although the chipset supports it
A bit pricey
Non-removable battery

The only other phone to be powered by this particular MediaTek chipset is the Meizu MX4. Fortunately, unlike most of its compatriots, the Lenovo Vibe X2 is more readily available outside its home market.

Riding on charm alone won't take the Vibe X2 too far and Lenovo certainly knows it. The Vibe X2 needs to click with customers on a deeper level and that's always easier said than done. At least on paper though, the phone is more than adequately powered, with things like Cat.4 LTE and 2 gigs of RAM boosting its credentials with users who value performance over looks. The option to layer on accessories is a welcome touch of novelty.

Lenovo Vibe X2 at our office

Coming up next is the usual unboxing and hardware checkup. We'll take the Lenovo Vibe X2 out of the box and see if the handling is as good as the looks. And that's just for starters. Let's go.

Generous retail package

Lenovo is absolutely keen on making a great first impression and it all starts with the packaging. We were very pleasantly surprised not only from the looks of the retail box but also with its contents. The Vibe X2 comes bundled with the usual microUSB cable and charges as well as a pair of headphones.

Lenovo has provided a rich retail package

However, there's more to it, as Lenovo has gone an extra step to charm the customer and has thrown in a screen protector as well as a transparent plastic back cover. A SIM ejector is provided as well. While not much, it's certainly more than the majority of manufacturers bundle with their phones.

Design and build quality

The looks of the Lenovo Vibe X2 are easily described as flamboyant, but we'll be careless to leave it at this. The phone's design is separated into four distant layers with a bunch of color schemes available. Each layer has its own hue that complements the adjacent ones. It works quite well and, while you'd think that four-layer design would add to the waistline of the phone, it doesn't.

The Lenovo Vibe X2 measures 140.2 x 68.6 x 7.3mm and weighs just 120 grams. It's ever so slightly larger than an iPhone 6, but lighter and with a 5" display instead of a 4.7", but more on that later on.

The Lenovo Vibe X2 really stands out from the crowd

The lightness of the Vibe X2 is due to its magnesium-alloy unibody. It also makes it quite durable, although we hope any potential drop tests are all the phone's drops stay in Lenovo's testing labs. But if you do drop it, you can be fairly confident the unibody build will stay in one piece.

To make sure this doesn't happen on a regular basis, the Vibe X2's sides are totally flat providing excellent grip. The sides on the back, however, are a tad sharp and can be a bit uncomfortable for some, as they don't rest quite naturally in the hand. That's strictly personal though, as many would certainly like the rugged feel of the non-chamfered edge.

Blue, gray and red color options are also available

In fact, all of the sides of the Vibe X2 are totally flat. The colorful look nicely counters the otherwise boxy design of the phone. The rounded top and bottom edges also work positively for offsetting the flat sides.

Overall, the Vibe X2 feels nice to the touch and the build quality is impeccable. That's to be expected, since the phone sports a unibody chassis. But there's more to it than that. Lenovo has done a great job of touching up every detail, making the phone's build and materials feel as premium as possible.

The Lenovo Vibe X2 in the hand

Controls

Let's start with the front of the Vibe X2. It houses the 5" IPS LCD 1080p display with the usual for the company three capacitive keys below it: Menu, Home and Back. Above the display, there's the earpiece and a 5MP camera to its right. An array of proximity and ambient light sensors is present, too.

The capacitive keys • The 5MP camera sits above the 5" IPS LCD display

On the left side we find the SIM card tray, which in India only houses two microSIM card slots. It requires a tray pin to eject, but Lenovo supplies one in the box. Sadly, there's no microSD card slot for storage expansion.

The left side of the Vibe X2 houses the SIM card tray

The right side is a home for the volume rocker and Power/Lock buttons, which are done in a fancy looking metal. The 3.5mm headphone jack is at the top left, while at the bottom, there's the microUSB charging port and microphone hole.

The right side is home to the volume rocker and Power/Lock button • The top hosts only the 3.5mm headphone jack

Vibe X2's back is quite stylish and clean looking - the 13MP camera is on the top left joined by a single LED flash. The secondary microphone for noise cancellation is on its right. Below them is the Lenovo logo and the cutouts for the loudspeaker.

Lenovo Vibe X2's back is also stylish

An interesting addition to the back are the three pogo pins, which are used for snapping on Lenovo's custom made Xtension accessories. The currently announced Xtensions include a JBL-made external speaker, which also doubles as a kickstand. There's also an external battery pack case for the Vibe X2, which also snaps to the back and uses the pogo pins for the battery juices to flow.

The snap-on accessories for the Vibe X2

There's no information on the pricing of the Vibe X2 JBL speaker Xtension yet, but the battery pack one is retailing in India for $32 (INR 1,999).

Final words

The Lenovo Vibe X2 is a nice break from the monochrome majority of mid-range smartphones that are available today. The colorful highlights are done just right without getting overboard. Many manufacturers aim to charm potential customers with looks, but not many succeed like Lenovo did with the Vibe X2.

Complete with the Vibe Z2 Pro, the company has very strong competitors in both the mid-range and the premium segment of the market. And we're glad these aren't just available in China.

Similarly to its more upmarket brother, the Vibe X2 is built to last. We're yet to see if the colors will wash away, though. Just kidding, but a water-resistant body would've been the cherry on top of the cake for the Vibe X2, alas it does without this extra protection.

Lenovo Vibe X2 key test findings:

Great and solid magnesium alloy build with great design highlights
The 5" IPS 1080p display is nice and vibrant
Average battery life offered by the 2,300mAh battery
Vibe UI v.2 is great, fast and with tons of personalization options and custom apps
Overall great performance and great CPU score, GPU lacks oomph
Audio quality is subpar
Still images offer a lot of detail and saturation, but not much in terms of dynamic range
Video player handles all video and audio codecs, but not AC3 sound and subtitles

The 5" display of 1080p resolution is now par for the course in the upper mid-range market. Lenovo didn't skimp on it and it delivered punchy colors with satisfactory contrast and brightness and great side viewing angles. If there's something not to like about the display, it is the bezels surrounding it. Lenovo could've made the phone slightly more compact by opting for on-screen Android button and a nudge slimmer bezels.

Nevertheless, once you fire it up, it becomes apparent the latest MediaTek chipset with eight-core CPU inside means business. The phone is fast and fluid, running the custom Vibe UI 2.0. In a large part of the benchmark tests it even managed to outpace its rivals. Our synthetic benchmarks say that the GPU could have used some more oomph, though we didn't have any issues with any games.

Speed is one thing, but in some disciplines endurance is more important. Cue in the dirty jokes, but battery life is no funny matter. The 2,300mAh unit inside the Vibe X2 managed an endurance rating of only 50 hours, which is okay, but nothing outstanding. Here's hoping that a potential update to Android 5.0 Lollipop would bring an improvement in that respect. This is a great place to poke Lenovo to shed light on its firmware update plans.

The upper mid-range market is saturated with phones from already familiar manufacturers, so how is Lenovo going to compete? Price-wise, the company is confident in its product and asks around €400 on average, depending on the market.

The first alternatives that come to mind are the refreshed Moto X and Moto G. While again, it would be Lenovo that's pocketing your money, if you get any of these two, they both cost noticeably less than the Vibe X2.

The Moto G (2014) costs half as the Vibe X2, but also offers considerably less in return, too. The second-generation Moto G packs a 5" 720p display, Snapdragon 400 chipset and an 8MP snapper. It can be colorful, too, but you do get what you pay for.

The Moto X (2014) is a bit more expensive and comes with the considerably more powerful Snapdragon 801 and a 13MP camera that can record 4K video.

Motorola Moto G (2014) • Motorola Moto X (2014)

In the Samsung camp, we find the current flagship Galaxy S5. It costs around the same as the Vibe X2, but mainly in Europe, as in Asia that's not the case. However, the Galaxy S5 offers a ton more. For starters, it packs a faster chipset and its Super AMOLED display is an absolute beast. Moreover, it has a larger battery, expandable storage and an outstanding 16MP camera.

Samsung Galaxy S5

HTC has upped its game in the mid-range market recently with the addition of the Desire Eye and One (M8) Eye. The Desire Eye is a bit peculiar, as it features two 13MP cameras - one at the front and one at the back. Needless to say, the selfie experience is miles better than what the Vibe X2 offers. In terms of specs, you get a 5" 1080p display with the Desire Eye and a slightly larger 5.2" one with the One (M8 Eye).

HTC Desire Eye • HTC One (M8 Eye)

We have to also include the obligatory superstar team of phones from China. Xiaomi, Huawei and Meizu all have their 5" 1080p powerhouses, enjoying tons of interest due to their low prices.

All three rock quad-core CPUs, albeit different chipsets and apart from the Meizu MX4 with its 20.7MP camera, the Xiaomi Mi4 and Huawei Honor 6 feature 13MP cameras. Sadly, they're not widely available, so getting one may be tricky.

Meizu MX4 • Xiaomi Mi 4 • Huawei Honor 6

Despite recently turning one year old, the LG Nexus 5 is still a very viable alternative to the Vibe X2. It rocks a 5" 1080p display plus an 8MP camera on the back and a snappy Snapdragon 800 chipset with a quad-core Krait 400 CPU. It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and buying it will ensure you get the latest updates straight from Google.

LG Nexus 5

We shouldn't forget LG, which offers both the year-old G2 and currently carrying the company's flag the G3. Both offer great bang for the buck, especially the G3. It's currently slightly cheaper than the Vibe X2, again in Europe that is, and trumps it in every way imaginable including processing power, the QHD display and 4K recording camera. The only drawback we can think of is that it's plastic, but at least it's very compact.

LG G3 • LG G2

Finally, let's turn our eyes to the Windows Phone team, or the Lumia 930 to be precise. Traditionally, Windows Phone smartphones cost less than their competitors and these two are not an exception. The Lumia 930 features a Snapdragon 800, which runs Windows Phone 8.1 without breaking a sweat. At the back, there's a 20MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, which performs admirably, as we found in our review.

Nokia Lumia 930

As you might have noticed, the Lenovo Vibe X2 puts it in bad company. Its pricing lets it rub shoulders with current flagships on their way to be replaced, and that comparison is not exactly in its favor.

Given the right pricing, we would have had no problems recommending it whole-heartedly. It has a lot going for it and it effortlessly manages to look awesome from any angle.

Lenovo Vibe X2

Introduction

Key features

Main disadvantages

Generous retail package

Design and build quality

Controls

Final words

Lenovo Vibe X2 key test findings:

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