10 things you must know about Lenovo Vibe X3

Lenovo's fortunes and portfolio have been gathering pace especially since the release of the K3 Note, and the company has even declared that they do not plan on letting Lenovo branded phones play a second fiddle to their Motorola siblings.

With the release of Lenovo's Vibe X3, the company seems to be coming good on that promise, says Himanshu Juneja.

A good amount of thought has gone into the designing of the Vibe X3, but people should be forgiven if they get visions of the celebrated Moto X Style, as the inspiration is quite evident.

Surely, piggybacking somewhat on their own existing product is not against the rules.

So does the Vibe X3 comes with enough capabilities to pack a punch of its own, or will it be another case of being nearly there? Let us find out with a closer look.

Construction

Weighing a decent 172 gms, the Lenovo Vibe X3 is a good amalgamation of metal and plastic, and the combination gives a good overall premium feel. The chamfered edges gives it a nice aesthetic touch to boot, and along with the curved back, users should be able to easily wrap their hands on the device.

Lenovo did well to clad the entire front portion with Gorilla Glass 3 to provide protection for the notification LED, front camera and the sensor as well.

The rear is where things get a bit tricky. A textured back panel would have been good, as the present slippery nature of the back hampers in establishing a firm grip straightaway. Thankfully, there is clear plastic case being provided with the purchase to mitigate this effect.

Lenovo could have avoided the raised camera module which maybe of concerns for some as it will make the phone wobble when placed on a flat surface. Another blunder is the non-backlit nature of the soft keys. Lenovo could have gone for the onscreen buttons if the budget was getting too tight.

Lenovo would be banking heavily on the stereo speakers and the fingerprint scanner at the rear panel surely boosts the phone's credentials further.

As for the other button placement, the right edge carries the power button and the volume rocker. The left edge sports the dual SIM card slot, and the base is where one finds the microUSB port. The 3.5 mm audio jack is placed at the top and a pleasant feeling to find the IR blaster there as well.

Even after being billed as resistant to fingerprints, there were plenty of cleaning and wiping required. But the built quality leaves less room for complaints. It is indeed a well crafted phone.

Display

Lenovo has brought in a 5.5-inch full HD display. With a resolution of 1080 x 1920p, the 401 ppi pixel density ensures that there is no pixellations of the text or of any other content. There was a slight bluish hue to the display, but not heavy enough to disrupt the mood.

Contrast levels are very impressive, the colours vibrant, and the display is bright enough to be carried outdoors for reading pleasures. The option to change the colour balance is a good touch, allowing users to define the display with their own choice.

Specs

Lenovo planned this handset to be a strong mid ranger, and this was clear with the Qualcomm Snapdragon's 808 chipset inside. The fact that even Nexus 5X carries the same hardware should excite a good many owners.

The CPU consists of a Quadcore Cortex A53 (clocked at 1.2 GHz) and a Dualcore Cortex A57 (clocked at 1.8 GHz), making this a hexacore device.

There is the Adreno 418 for handling the graphics, while 3 GB of RAM rounds off a powerful mid range configuration. There is ample onboard storage in the form of 32 GB, and users can expand this via microSD card by upto 128 GB, but that will mean sacrificing the secondary SIM card slot.

Providing the extra hardware punch

Lenovo seems to be bundling something extra with the hardware capabilities here. The microUSB port on the Vibe X3 also enables the users to use the phone as a power bank.

Also, the audio output via the headphone jack is being claimed to be lossless and studio grade. The presence of Wolfson 8281 processor with ESS Sabre 9018C2M DAC with TI-OPA1612 OP Amps makes the Vibe X3 stand out in the given category.

The Vibe X3 is also compatible with TheaterMax headset, (sold separately for Rs 1,299). The Virtual reality headset is cheaper than competitors, and this provides another big advantage with the X3.

Connectivity

The phone is a 4G enabled device, and carries the usual set of connectivity options like WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth (ver 4.1) and even NFC. There is also the GPS navigational assistance option onboard.

Although advantageous, the choice of a hybrid SIM slot provides is generally not something very endearing to the customers. The harsh choice between extra storage memory or another SIM card should not be thrusted and a dedicated slot for both would have been much preferred.