Lenovo Vibe S1

The first time we saw the Vibe S1, we mistook it for a Motorola smartphone. This wasn’t just because Lenovo and Motorola (which is owned by Lenovo) were sharing the same demo space at IFA 2015, but also because the Vibe S1 gave us some very distinct Motorola…. vibes. The rounded corners, curved back panel and familiar bulge at the top and bottom are all Moto-inspired design elements, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Combined with its smooth glass rear, lightweight aluminium frame and metal accents, the Vibe S1 looks like a slender, less chunky Motorola smartphone.

The Vibe S1 sports a 5-inch display, just like the Vibe Shot. The screen gets full HD resolution, giving you a packed pixel density of 441ppi. Just like the Vibe Shot, you’ll find a number of colour balance display settings to adjust to your liking. Apart from the default mode, there’s also a Comfort mode that cuts out the blue light for more comfortable viewing over longer periods. The Super Bright mode pumps the brightness up to max, while the Custom mode lets you adjust tone and saturation manually. There’s also a Smart Brightness mode that detects when the display is under harsh lighting, and automatically switches to maximum brightness. For browsing at night, there’s a Brightness Protection option that dims the display for low light reading. You’ll also find a glove mode in settings.

The highlights of the Vibe S1 are undoubtedly its dual cameras. The smartphone features an 8MP front snapper with a BSI sensor and f/2.2 aperture, along with a 2MP depth sensing unit. At the rear, the Vibe S1 gets a 13MP camera with a BSI sensor, f/2.2 aperture and PDAF.

The Vibe S1 runs Lenovo’s custom Vibe UI which is based on Android 5.0 Lollipop. Vibe UI has been covered extensively in our previous Lenovo reviews, and not much has changed. You get the same cluttered interface with a load of bloatware, most of which can be uninstalled. The apps are laid out across the various homescreens since Vibe UI lacks an app drawer. Lenovo’s usual SYNCit and SHAREit apps are present, as is the Theme Center, which features the same six themes.

The Vibe S1 is powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6752 processor paired with 3GB of RAM. While the chipset is a popular choice for affordable smartphones, it’s now outdated by the MT6753 chip that MediaTek outed this year. While we would have preferred a newer processor for the smartphone, the plus side is that performance isn't affected noticeably. The Vibe S1 remained smooth and fast during our testing period, whether it was running multiple apps or using the device for extended periods. We played Dead Trigger 2 and Riptide GP2 to test its gaming abilities, and didn't encounter any noticeable freezes or frame drops. The smartphone does tend to heat up while gaming though, with even short 5-10 minute sessions resulting in the rear panel becoming toasty. For some strange reason, Lenovo has chosen to omit two essential sensors in the Vibe S1 – the gyroscope and magnetometer. The lack of a gyroscope means you won't be able to use most VR apps, and some normal games might also end up being compromised. A magnetometer is essential to use any compass app, but unfortunately Vibe S1 users won't be able to use them. For what it's worth, you'll still be able to use Google Maps, which uses GPS to track location. Considering that even budget smartphones incorporate these sensors, we find it hard to understand why Lenovo would omit them.