Lenovo ZUK Z2 Pro VS. LG G5, HTC 10, and Samsung Galaxy S7 | New Flagship Contender At A Very Low Price
As we end our last working day of the week, let’s take a look at the latest Lenovo flagship smartphone in 2016 that was just recently announced.
The Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro packs various high-end features and the lower price compared to other flagships will surprise you. If you like the Lenovo Zuk Z1 Pro that was released last year, you will definitely like this more.
Device Type: Smartphone
Display: 5.2 inches (1080 x 1920 pixels)
Camera: 13MP (2160p)
Hardware: Snapdragon 820, Dual-core 2.15 GHz + Dual-core 1.6 GHz, 6GB RAM
Battery: 3100 mAh
Price: US$ 415 (128 GB)
Metallic Build And Still The Slimmest and Lightest
Like the rest of the flagship smartphones of other brands, the Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro’s main body is made of metal and the display is protected by a slightly curved edge 2.5D glass. This slight curve adds style and comfort to your grip.
Note that this is not the same curved edge in the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.
The Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro has a 7.5 mm thin profile. It is thinner compared to the 8.9 mm Lenovo Zuk Z1 Pro released last August 2015. It is also slimmer than the other flagships such as HTC 10, LG G5, and Samsung Galaxy S7.
It only weighs 145 g. For a 5.2-inch smartphone with a metal build, that is very light. It is even lighter than the 5.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S7.
Like most smartphones, the fingerprint sensor is located at the home key located at the bottom. I really do hope that they add more color variants, but as of now, you can choose between Titanium Black and Ceramic White.
Super AMOLED – The Best Smartphone Display Technology
What amazes me is that it has Super AMOLED display technology which is just normally found in high-end Samsung smartphones. Even the display of the LG G5, HTC 10, and iPhone 6s Plus will not match the more vivid and realistic colors of a Super AMOLED display.
The display resolution is at Full HD which for me is very acceptable for a 5.2-inch display. At a pixel density of 424 ppi, it is already very sharp. The Lenovo Zuk Z1 Pro also comes in Full HD but with a 5.5-inch display, so the pixel density is slightly lower at 401 ppi.
Compared to other flagship smartphones, the sharpness is below the Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5, and HTC 10. It is close in sharpness with the iPhone 6s Plus which has a 401 ppi pixel density.
Most Powerful Chipset Combined with 6GB RAM
The Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro comes with the latest and most powerful Android chipset, the Snapdragon 820, with Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) OS.
This chipset is also used by the latest flagship smartphones of other brands such as Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5, and HTC 10. So expect almost the same speed and processing power.
But there’s one rare feature that other flagships phones don’t have – a 6GB RAM.
The 6GB RAM only comes with the 128 GB variant. There are two internal storage variants to choose from: 64 GB and 128 GB. The 64GB variant only comes with a 4GB RAM, which is the RAM size of other flagship smartphones.
Unfortunately, there is no slot for a microSD card. I think this is fine since the available internal storage capacities are already huge. Moreover, if you are used to smartphones with microSD card, you will notice that accessing the contents of your internal storage is faster than accessing the content of your microSD card. So it also has some advantages.
If you like playing games, the graphics processor of the Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro is Andreno 530 which is currently the best for 3D gaming. This is the same GPU in Samsung Galaxy S7, LG G5, and HTC 10.
Camera, A Closer Look
The rear camera has a 13MP resolution which is close to the 12MP camera resolution of HTC 10 and Samsung Galaxy S7. LG G5 is still the highest at 16MP. But camera resolutions alone does not determine the overall image quality.
Aperture size, OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), and Pixel Size also play a vital role in providing high-quality images.
The Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro has a large aperture size of f/1.8. Aperture size is the camera feature that adds dimensions to an image by blurring the background while focusing on the subject. The larger the value, the more dimensional effect. It has the same aperture size with the LG G5 and HTC 10 while Samsung Galaxy S7 is slightly larger.
The pixel size is 1.34 µm (µm = micrometer). The larger the pixel size value, the more light information are captured, and the better the quality of the image even in a low-light environment. The pixel size is larger compared to LG G5 and slightly lower compared to Samsung Galaxy S7. HTC 10 still has the largest at 1.55 µm.
There is no mention of an OIS feature for the Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro. OIS is the feature that heps reduce blurring when the subject of the image is in motion during image capture.
The rear camera is also capable of recording 4K (2160p) videos like the other high-end smartphones. The front camera has an 8MP resolution and can record Full HD videos.
Longer Battery Life, What We All Need
Lenovo smartphones have a good reputation when it comes to longer battery life. The Zuk Z2 Pro has a non-removable 3100 mAh battery capacity.
Although the life in hours is not disclosed, I would expect the battery life to be close to Samsung Galaxy S7 which can last up to 22 hours of Talk Time (3G).
They both have the same Super AMOLED display technology, OS, chipset, and display size (almost). These features have a big influence on the battery life.
The Zuk Z2 Pro along with LG G5 are the fastest when it comes to battery charging time. In just 30 minutes, you can charge up to 83% of the battery. The HTC 10 and Samsung Galaxy S7 are only up to 50% and 60%, respectively, with the same 30 minutes duration.
Other Cool and Unique Features
Aside from the fingerprint sensor, the Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro has other sensors such as Acceleration, Gyroscope, Proximity, Compass, Heart Rate, and Altimeter. The last two sensors here are not normally found in other flagship smartphones.
The Heart Rate sensor is definitely useful and may be partnered with various Health Apps in Google Play.
Altimeter, on the other hand, measures the altitude of the smartphone above a fixed level and may be useful during hiking and climbing activities.
For those who need the NFC feature, sadly, there is no NFC support.
It is LTE-capable but take note of the LTE bands of this smartphone to ensure that you can connect to an LTE network in your location. The LTE bands are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20, 38, 39, 40 and 41.
It also has Wi-Fi connectivity and can be used as a hotspot. It is also capable of GPS with Assisted GPS technology. If you like to use accessories such as wireless speakers and headsets, you can use the Bluetooth (4.1) feature to connect to these devices.
Conclusion
The Lenovo Zuk Z2 Pro comes with high-end features at an amazingly lower price compared to the other flagship phones such as LG G5, Samsung Galaxy S7, and HTC 10. The design is the slimmest and lightest around despite the metallic build.
It packs the fastest chipset and graphics processor for a super fast performance. The display technology is similar to the Samsung Galaxy S7 so expect realistic and more vivid colors. It also stands out with its excellent camera, battery capacity, fingerprint, and heart rate sensors.
What do you think of this new smartphone from Lenovo? I would love to hear from you.