Lenovo Vibe Shot compared with 4 other camera mobiles
The Lenovo Vibe shot is the newest addition in Lenovo India’s product line up. It is a camera centric mobile with a feature list that may not be found even on cameras. It was just announced in India and it will be available soon. The Vibe Shot comes with a 16 MP camera assisted by a tricolor flash. It has a backlit sensor and an IR assisted hybrid focus mechanism. The lens is made of 6 elements and the entire assembly has image stabilization. The front camera is an 8 MP sensor. The Lenovo Vibe shot is powered by a Snapdragon 615 Octa-core processor. It has Adreno 405 GPU and 3GB RAM. Vibe Shot comes with 32 GB of internal memory. It supports 4G LTE in India and it is powered by a 3000 mAh battery. The device has a 5 inch full HD display with a pixel density of 440 ppi.
It is priced at Rs 25499. Many would say that it is slightly overpriced. But actually the Lenovo Vibe Shot has a fantastic camera. It is more of a camera than a mobile. If you are comparing it with the likes of Moto X or OnePlus, it may not be the right thing to do. If you need a great smartphone with a good camera, there many mobiles in the price range of 25k. But if you need a great camera which is also a decent smartphone, then there is practically nothing to compare the Vibe Shot with, on this price range. I still reserve my final thoughts on the mobile and the justification for the pricing for the post where I review it. But until then, here is a sneak peak of the camera capabilities of the Vibe Shot.
I got a chance to play with it briefly and here are the shots from the Lenovo Vibe Shot compared with Lumia 1020, OnePlus 2 and LG G4. All these 3 mobiles have great camera modules.
- All shots were shot in Auto mode. The Pro modes has much more capabilities. Will try it out and post the results on a different post, later.
- All the shots were taken under the same light conditions
- The shots were quickly composed, as this would be close to 90% of your real life situation.
Shot 1: The Wall Piece
The shot from the Vibe Shot, is more natural and is sharp as well. OnePlus 2, gives the best in terms of sharpness and details, but it is slightly saturated. Vibe Shot image has the right white balance and is more close the reality. Surprisingly, the LG G4 shot here seems washed out and the Lumia 1020 image has a warmer white balance.
Shot 2: The Grill
This shot was taken under direct sunlight at around 12 in the noon. You can see that LG G4 has exposed the iron grills perfectly and reduced the highlights effectively. Lumia 1020 fails to expose the shot correctly. But what surprises me is that the Vibe Shot parallels the performance of the LG G4 when it comes to exposure and contrast levels.
Shot 3: By the Table
Depth of field is something that almost all mobile cameras these days have mastered. OnePlus 2 has the best depth of focus among all these shots. The background bokeh is smooth and buttery. Lenovo Vibe Shot has caught the details of foreground, but the background is not completely smooth. In terms of color reproduction and detailing, this image from the Lenovo Vibe Shot is on par with Lumia 1020 and LG G4.
Shot 4: The Flower Bunch
I just love the vivid colors from the OnePlus 2 shot. OnePlus 2 is a clear winner here. The shot from Vibe Shot is a bit faded similar to G4. Also the depth of focus has not come out well with the Lenovo Vibe shot. Again in terms of details, the Vibe Shot’s shot is close to OnePlus 2. On 100% zoom, there is no pixelation and the details are preserved at corners.
Shot 5: By the Pool
The Vibe Shot is equipped with Infra red focusing system. The OnePlus 2 and LG G4 employs the laser focus system, while the Lumia 1020 relies on contrast based focus detection. When it comes to focusing a subject with water or glass, I have found that the Laser focus system is not very effective. Contrast works best for any kind of surface. In this case here, the focusing has gone completely wrong with the Vibe Shot and I never realized it while taking that shot. With a shiny object on the foreground and a transparent background, the IR has totally missed to calculate the right focusing measure.
Here are a few more shots from the Lenovo Vibe Shot
I can say with confidence that the Lenovo Vibe Shots has a camera module that can compete and at time exceed the performance of a high end camera mobile. It can also give a tough competition to some of the leading point and shoot cameras out there. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try out the camera in multiple light conditions. Hopefully, Ill get a chance to play more with the mobile, so I can share my thoughts with you. But personally, this mobile is really interesting, especially if you want to take mobile photography to the next level.
