Lenovo Vibe X3 – The complete package – Review

Lenovo has been regularly updating its product portfolio with new mobile models. But it has been a while since we saw a true flagship device from Lenovo. The Lenovo Vibe X3 is its newest entrant and it is a flagship model from Lenovo. When they say flagship, the Lenovo Vibe X3 does not have beastly hardware specifications. Instead it concentrates on providing the best experience as a media device and as a smart phone. The Lenovo Vibe X3 is priced at Rs 19999 and at this price it offers a good value for money.

Design

The Vibe X3 has a stylish design. It has metal rims running along the sides and the back is made of high quality plastic. The back has a matte finish. It has a unibody design and the battery is sealed within. The 21 MP camera at the back is assisted by a dual tone dual LED flash. The noise cancelling mic can be found near the camera. The finger print sensor is just below the camera module. The USB port is at the base the 3.5 mm audio jack is at the top along with IR port.

The power and the volume buttons are at the right side. The location of the power button is a bit low on the body. Reaching the button with the thumb is a bit inconvenient. But the buttons had good mechanical feedback. The hybrid SIM tray is on the left. It can either be a dual sim mobile or a mobile with expandable memory.

The Vibe X3 is currently available only in the white color and I wish a black variant was available as well. The Vibe X3 definitely looks stylish and premium on the white, but a black variant would have been really cool. The 5.5 inch device is very convenient to hold in the hand as the mobile has very thin bezels. Overall, the Vibe X3 has an impressive design

Display

The Vibe X3 sports a 5.5 inch IPS LCD panel. It used a proprietary technology named Perfect view. With perfect view, the display can show more range of colors and has a high contrast ratio. The screen supports full HD 1080p resolution and has a pixel density of 441 ppi. The display is charming and pleasant to use. The ambient light sensor is quick to react to changing light conditions and adjust the display brightness and contrast. The display shows vivid colors. The brightness and contrast levels are pleasant on the eyes. Direct sunlight visibility is good and the screen has good viewing angles. True to its name, the Perfect view technology gives you a perfect viewing experience.

Hardware

Lenovo Vibe X3 is a flagship device. It does not have the top of the line hardware specifications. But it strives to deliver the best experience with optimal hardware. It is powered by a hexacore snapdragon 808 processor clocked at 1.8 Ghz. It has 3GB of RAm and 32 GB of internal storage. Benchmark scores are impressive.

The hardware handles the UI with ease. But I did notice a bit of lag in the UI, esp for a few minutes after you have unlocked the screen. Graphically intensive games are smooth on the X3. On prolonged usage, the X3 gets a bit warm, but it does not overheat. The games took a while to load, but once loaded, it is a smooth experience. The graphic rendering is impressive. Apart from all the usual connectivity, X3 supports NFC. It is good to see a budget friendly flagship device with NFC.

The fingerprint sensor on the X3 is fast and accurate. Yet, it is not as fast at the Coolpad Note 3. The finger print scanner in the X3 unlocks the mobile instantly, even from the sleep screen. But if the screen is not locked and it is just asleep, the fingerprint scanner does not wake up the screen. This is a very small issue, but if the finger print scanner is programmed to unlock and wake up the screen, from any state, it would be a better experience.

The X3 would appeal to any audiophile. Even if you are not an audiophile, you would appreciate the quality of audio from the X3. X3 has dual front facing 1.5 watt speakers. The speakers are Dolby Atmos compatible and they produce impressive audio quality. The audio quality on the X3 can be enjoyed at its best with a high quality headset or a speaker system. The quality of audio from the X3 matches and compliments the quality of your sound system. It has a low power dedicated chip for telephonic calls. It has a Sabre 9018k2M Digital to analog converter chip with 3 On point audio (OPA) chips from Texas instruments. This setup is for turbo HiFi audio mode, which can be enabled from the shortcut in the notification tray. When this mode is disabled, the Wolfson DAC takes over the audio experience and delivers decent quality in normal mode.

Lenovo has partnered with ANTVR, a startup who make Virtual reality headset. AntVR has designed a phoneglass VR, specifically for Lenovo. This is nothing but refined and better quality Google Cardboard. When TheatreMax mode is enabled, the mobile UI adjusts to the VR projection mode. Then the mobile can be inserted on the AntVR headset and worn over your eyes. This simulates a 60-70 inch display in front of your eyes.

Combined with a superior audio quality from the X3, the TheaterMax delivers a great media experience. Be it Game or TV or Video, the TheatreMax is designed to give you the best of Audio and Video user experience.

Camera

With its 6 element lens, 21 MP sensor and f/2.0 aperture, the Vibe X3 can take impressive shots. It uses phase detection auto focus system which is fast to focus. It lacks optical image stabilization, but X3 tries to compensate with digital image stabilization and it is not much effective. The X3 can shoot impressive shots under the right light conditions. It tends to oversaturate the primary RGB colors. This oversaturation adds a bit of drama and masala to the shots. Those who prefer natural colors, may not appreciate the image processing algorithm on the X3. The f/2.0 lens give impressive depth of focus but the contrast levels and black levels falls a bit on the lower side of the algorithm.

Check out the camera samples below (Video and Still images)

The primary camera can shoot 4k videos but lack of optimal image stabilization is clearly noticeable. The shots from front facing 8MP camera are rich in details only under ample light conditions. Under low light conditions, the selfies are not impressive. Having said all that, I would add that this is the best camera from Lenovo mobiles so far. It is also one of the best cameras on among mobiles priced below the Rs 20k mark. The OnePlus 2 camera takes better shots than the X3, but the camera UI is boring. The camera UI on the X3 is rich with features and easy to use.

Software

Since K4 Note, Lenovo Vibe UI has gone through major changes. The experience is now closer to pure vanilla android. The app drawer is back. The notification UI has been retained from the older Vibe UI versions. I love the Notification log, but never really used it. The mobile has very less number of pre-installed applications. Peel Smart Remote is a cool app to control the TV and Set top box via the IR port on the X3. The app also has in inbuilt intelligent channel guide. Step Counter app keep track of your steps, but I prefer the fitness functionality on a band rather than the mobile. Lenovo Vibe UI has a theme center with few themes, but the online repository for wallpapers is huge. Other features like the one hand operation, smart scene, permission control, secure zone, etc have been retained from the older versions.

The UI is nimble and snappy. I like where Lenovo is going with the new Vibe UI, but the UI is still running on top of Android 5.1.1. It is high time we see Lenovo and other manufacturers adopt the latest Android version, Marshmallow.

Battery

With the Vibe X3, I get about 2 days of battery life. I have been using the mobile for over a week now and I remember charging it only a couple of times. The 1080p display, Snapdragon 808, Lenovo Vibe UI together with a 3500 mAh battery gives the Vibe X3 a great battery life. Stress testing the mobile gave me 31 hours of intensive usage. On a continuous video loop test the device lasted for 8.5 hours.

Verdict

The Vibe X3 is priced at Rs 19999. For the price you pay, you get good performance, brilliant display, dramatic shots with the camera, great audio-visual experience and a fantastic battery life. Basically, you get a complete package. The Vibe X3 would be my clear choice over the likes of Moto X Play or the OnePlus 2. Infact I would say that the Vibe X3 offers better value for money, when compared to the expensive flagship models like the Samsung S6 or the LG G4. The Vibe X3 is a serious contender for Mobile of the year title and we at GadgetDetail would highly recommend it.

You can buy the Vibe X3 here.