Lenovo Zuk Z1 Review
Today we will review Lenovo Zuk Z1. Although, globally this phone has been launched as Zuk Z1, but with the intention of maintaining its parent name, Lenovo launched it in India as Lenovo Zuk Z1. It is worth noting that Zuk Z1 was first launched in China in September last year. Therefore, reviewing this phone today is a bit outdated. Today in our investigation we will know the advantages and disadvantages of Lenovo Zuk Z1.
Look and Design
It was only a few years ago when a phone with a 5.5-inch screen was considered oversized. Along with this, the discussion started when you saw a big phone in your hand. But today, with high media consumption in smartphones, size is a sine qua non. The Lenovo Zuk Z1 comes with the same size although it definitely feels a little heavier.
The two main reasons for this smartphone being heavy are the metal frame and the 4100 mAh battery, due to which the weight of the phone becomes 175 grams. However, the phone does not have a unibody case and the rear panel is plastic. The battery cannot be accessed by the user. There is a dual SIM tray on the left side along with the frame. The phone does not support expandable storage, so microSD card slot is not provided.
Lenovo Zuk Z1 is available in White and Space Gray color variants in India. Our review unit was gray which we liked a little better than white. The rear of the phone is of dull, metallic finish. There is no Lenovo branding of any kind on the phone but there is only the Zuke logo at the bottom on the rear. Camera and flash are provided in the middle at the top of the rear. Overall, we liked the look, design and style of the phone very much.
The Lenovo Zuk Z1 has a microphone, speaker, and a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer at the bottom. Users will get a 13-watt power adapter and a USB 3.0 cable (with a Type-A plug on one side and Type-C on the other) in the box with the phone. There is a power and volume button on the right side of the phone while there is a 3.5 mm headphone socket on the top. About 70 percent of the front part of the phone is occupied by the screen, while above it is the camera, earpiece and proximity sensor. At the bottom, there is a physical home button with an integrated fingerprint sensor. There is a capacitive Android navigation button below the display.
We have seen many smartphones in which the fingerprint sensor comes built into the home button itself. Many phones, including the Samsung Galaxy A8 and HTC One A9 (Review), unlock the phone with just a touch (even in standby mode), but this is not the case with the Zuk Z1. This phone has to be activated by pressing the home button and the button has to be kept pressed until the fingerprint is recognized.
This in itself is not a problem but it takes a little more effort to press the button. The sensor works quite quickly and properly to unlock the phone. But this process is not as easy as other devices. Earlier the sensor also worked as a capacitive back button but now it has been disabled through a software update.
Lenovo Zuk Z1 has a screen of 1080×1920 pixel resolution whose density is 401 ppi. The screen is fantastic and meets almost all needs. The IPS-LCD screen of the phone is not as bright as we expected and even at the highest brightness level, it does not provide as much brightness as it should. However, the polarized coating given on the screen helps in using the phone easily in sunlight, hence there is no need for too much brightness in the phone.
Apart from this, the phone also has a LiveDisplay, with the help of this setting the color tone of the screen can be optimized according to the time of the day.
Specifications
While today’s smartphones priced under Rs 15,000 run on the latest MediaTek Helio or Snapdragon 600 series processors, the Lenovo Zuk Z1 features a premium but older 32-bit quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5 GHz. Snapdragon 801 smartphones were first introduced in the market about two years ago, so the choice of Lenovo’s processor is questionable. Especially 32-bit processors, whereas now practically all hardware is on 63-bit processors.
The ZUK Z1 has 3GB RAM and the phone supports 4G connectivity (with Indian band support), Wi-Fi ac connectivity on both SIMs. To make the smartphone powerful, a 4100 mAh battery has been provided. The phone has an inbuilt storage of 64 GB but the phone does not support expandable storage, so you have to work with a limited storage only.
software
Lenovo Zuk Z1 smartphone runs on Cyanogen OS 12.1 which is based on Android 5.1.1. Although the phone is said to be upgraded to Cyanogen OS 13 based on Android 6.0, this update is not currently available in the phone’s OTA software update system. Cyanogen OS definitely gives the option to customize the phone as per your convenience.
In many ways, Cyanogen OS works like stock Android and you can even change the theme to look like stock Android. The hallmark of the system is its customization in every way and we also saw this in the Lenovo Zuk Z1. The home screen and app drawer can be changed to different layouts. Apart from this, grid size, scroll effect and icon labels can also be changed and toggled. There’s a lot more to do with the phone. Apart from this, you can also control the user interface to a great extent at the basic level.
Apart from this, when you go to the Settings app, you get many different options through which you can control the device in a better way. Many options are also available like turning on or off the light when the phone is charged, color of the notification light for battery alert, custom action for the home and recent buttons, different elements for the status bar and notification drawer. Cyanogen OS is a great system for advanced users who want more control over their phone. We enjoyed using this phone.
camera
Lenovo Zuk Z1 has a 13-megapixel rear camera which runs on Sony’s IMX 214 sensor. The camera has optical image stabilization and dual-LED flash. The phone has an 8 megapixel front camera. Videos up to 1080 pixels can be recorded with both cameras. Apart from this, 60fps video recording is also done from the rear camera.
The camera app is Cyanogen’s own Camera Next, which comes with a lot of great features in terms of ease of use and functionality. Most commonly used toggles, including flash, camera and timer settings, are easily accessible from the viewfinder screen. Video can be recorded with just one touch. Panorama mode can also be toggled easily. Apart from this, resolution setting, manual control and codec selection can be done by going to the settings menu. With these options, you also get the option to make photos and videos better.
The camera of the phone is very good and the pictures come with sharp and detail. The color tone in the pictures also appears correct. Images are good in good light, while even in low light we managed to capture good images with little noise and scattering. Compared to natural light, indoor photos are not as good but in terms of detail and color, they can be called decent.
In good light the video is of much better quality but in low light the quality deteriorates.
performance
Despite the processor being two years old, the performance of the Lenovo Zuk Z1 is quite good. However, you will get much better performance from the new Qualcomm 650 and 652 processors that are available in other devices at the same price. Apart from this, it is also worth remembering that Adreno 330 GPU is also quite old and it does not support OpenGL ES 3.1 and 3.2, due to which some new graphics intensive games cannot be played on the phone.
The general performance of the phone was excellent. Along with this, we did not see any heating or shutter problem in the phone. The credit for this definitely goes to the Cyanogen OS which ensures that the ZUK Z1 runs smoothly and without any glitches.
We got excellent figures in the phone’s benchmarking tests, especially in the graphics benchmark.
In the video loop test of Zuk Z1, its battery supported us for 13 hours 40 minutes, which is a big feature of the phone. Whereas during normal use, we could use the Zuk Z1 for more than a day on a single charge. Wi-Fi, cellular connectivity and call quality are also very good. But the speaker of the phone (which gives very poor sound) is disappointing. However, the headphones provide decent sound for music players and watching videos.
our decision
Lenovo has introduced a great device in the form of ZUK Z1. The design and build of the phone is excellent, the software works well, the display is good and the storage is also ample. Connectivity and battery life are also excellent. Apart from this, the screen is also sharp and the phone can be customized as per your choice. Above all, the company has kept the price of the phone such that customers will definitely be attracted towards this phone. Especially those advanced users who know a little bit about Cyanogen OS.
But, the phone also has some attention-grabbing shortcomings. However, we did not see any decrease in its performance while using the phone. The phone runs on an older 32-bit processor and GPU which may cause problems with some new games and apps. Apart from this, Cyanogen OS and Android are old versions and no information has been received about new software updates. Apart from all this, buying Z1 will also not be easy because this phone will be sold through flash sale.
Considering the price, the Lenovo ZUK Z1 is a great option that comes with great features. If hardware aging is not an issue for you and you want to use it as a secondary phone, then ZUK Z1 is definitely better than other smartphones in this price range.
