There’s no denying that casual photography has seen a phenomenal rise in popularity in recent years, thanks wholly to the proliferation of smartphones. Small as they are, camera sensors in smartphones keep getting better and better. Lenovo has just jumped on the bandwagon and released the purposeful VIBE Shot – a photo-centric Android smartphone that will appeal to photography enthusiasts. This follows its other purpose-built product – the Lenovo A7000, with Dolby Atmos.
Launched at Mobile World Congress (MWC 2015) back in March, the VIBE Shot takes a shot at where the Nokia Lumia and Samsung has succeeded – make smartphones that look and operate like dedicated cameras.
Looks-wise, the VIBE Shot resembles a typical generic Android smartphone from the front. It gets a 5-inch FHD IPS display protected by Gorilla Glass.
Turn it to the back however, the styling is more akin to a point-and-shoot camera, touting a high-res 16MP f/2.2 main shooter with OIS and tri-colour LED flash. The tri-colour LED flash is a first-of-its-kind in the world. The aluminium body is slim and light (measures just 7.9mm thin), and is pretty nice to hold in the hand.
It’s all about the camera
The infra-red laser focus includes these features:
- 20ms for range finding
- 150ms for fine tuning
- 24fps focusing
- IR auto-focus’ range finder is limited to 50cm
- Switches to infinity focus when it exceeds range
Up front you get an 8MP wide-angle and that should make you selfie-lovers absolutely happy.
Let’s talk about the camera a little bit. What’s great, and what you’ve seen on the Lumia 1020 is the physical camera button on the top of the device. It’s a two-step mechanism that triggers auto-focus and shutter. Additionally there’s a physical slider that enables you to move from Smart (Auto) to Pro shooting mode.
There’s a Shoot Companion that intelligently analyses an environment and selects the best shooting mode and settings for you.
If you need more control over your shots, switch to Pro mode and you’ll be able to control white balance, ISO, shutter speed, exposure compensation and more.
The 16MP Samsung-sourced sensor isn’t the biggest you’ll find in a smartphone these days and no, you don’t have to dump your DSLR. Having said that, it’s more than good enough for general shots, including those tricky low-light conditions and when shooting moving objects.
A mid-range phone
As a smartphone, the VIBE Shot packs an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chip with 3GB RAM. Storage is standard at 32GB, with an option to expand via microSD (up to 128GB). The same processor you’ve seen on the OPPO R1x, OPPO R7 Plus and Mi 4i.
It’s a dual-SIM, dual-LTE device and also comes with a large 3,000mAh battery.
The VIBE Shot runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with VIBE UI on top and will come in three colours – Carmine Red and Graphite Grey.
Pricing and availability
Available from today, the VIBE Shot retails at RM1,399.
For a limited time and whilst stocks last, every purchase of the VIBE Shot will come with a free VIBE Xtension Selfie Flash (worth RM99).
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