Lenovo Vibe X2 hands-on: meet the catwalk star

The Chinese phone makers started giving the big players in the industry a run for their money last year, and this one the trend continued with such a pace, that we've had an influx of great handsets from the likes of Huawei, Lenovo, Xiaomi and others, for half the price of the big brands, making the already difficult smartphone choice truly impossible. The Lenovo X2 that we handled today is a prime example, so let's recap our impressions from the showflloor at the IFA expo.

This is where the X2 shines. Its extremely thin rectangular aluminum chassis is actually made of metal layers placed on top of each other, so the red version transforms into darker red on the side, and then black towards the screen part. It looks mighty cool, and feels premium at the same time, a real headturner. The trim waistline means that Lenovo has to make a compromise with the battery capacity, fitting just a 2200 mAh unit there, but threat not, as hire come the VIBE Xtension cases. These are a clever way to add another thin "layer" to the already layered handset, and snap on the back for added functionality. The 5.1mm Vibe Battery one can almost double your battery life, plus it serves as protection for the precious X2. As we mentioned, the phone is very slim, and pretty comfortable to hold and operate with one hand, which is a breath of fresh air around all gigantic phones released at the IFA Expo.

With a 5" 1080p display, the X2 won't leave you longing for more when it comes to pixel density, and the screen also exhibits other qualities, like a fine color representation, and very good viewing angles. Lenovo didn't tout 600 nits brightness here, like it did with the Z2, so we'd assume outdoor visibility would be just average, since on the showfloor everything looks bright enough already.

Lenovo's renowned Vibe interface has received an Android KitKat makeover under the hood, but exhibits largely the same look and feel we are used to from the company's Android handsets of late. This interface is not as feature-rich as, say, Xiaomi's MIUI, or Huawei's Emotion UI, but its power is in its simplicity and ease of use.

As the first handset maker to announce the use of the new MediaTEK MT6595 4G LTE True8Core processor, Lenovo didn't mince words to describe the VIBE X2 performance as "impressive". We can attest to that claim, as we barely witnessed any lag or stuttering within the interface, and the fact that this MediaTek chipset sports power-saving features that help improve battery life, instead of only focusing on performance, makes us happy. The X2 sports 2 GB of RAM, which is more than adequate for most any need, and the very generous 32 GB of storage, which ease the pain that the lack of a memory card slot brings.

The Vibe X2 sports two cameras that are managed by its homebrew Smart Camera app that features numerous shooting modes, effects, and beautification features. It is very fast to take a photo, with almost seamless shot-to-shot times. The13 MP auto-focus, rear-facing camera comes with a back-illuminated sensor and LED flash. Users can take quality selfies with the Vibe X2’s 5 MP wide-angle front camera, two, which flaunts an auto-shutter gesture controls that activate the lens with the blink of an eye, or even a smile.

What can we say, we almost fell in love with the X2 while handling it here at the IFA expo. Its unorthodox, classy styling is a head-turner, while its specs place it firmly in the upper midrange category, encroaching on the flagship status. The best part is that the X2 beauty can be had for $399 without any subsidies, and will have a dual SIM version, too, for those who are wondering.