Lenovo Zuk Z1

We’re not going to lie, the design of the Lenovo ZUK Z1 won’t turn any heads. It’s not ugly or chunky, but it’s boring. Our unit sported the same old black façade, with a plastic back panel that takes away from the solid metal rim and chamfered edges. We can’t complain about the ergonomics though – the slightly curved rear panel and rounded sides make it fit comfortably in the hand. Plus, with a waistline of 8.9mm and weight of 175g, it’s hard to believe the ZUK Z1 packs a 4,100mAh battery inside. This also makes the smartphone fairly easy to operate with one hand, despite its phablet-grade display.

The Lenovo ZUK Z1 falls into phablet category with its 5.5-inch display. With full HD resolution and a pixel density of 401ppi, you won’t find any reason to complain about the display’s sharpness or clarity. The viewing angles are good, and brightness and sunlight legibility, while not the best in class, are decent. The colours on the screen are rich but not oversaturated.

Lenovo's smartphones have traditionally featured its custom user interface, Vibe UI. We've always found Vibe UI to be tacky and lacking in useful features, which is why having Cyanogen OS on the ZUK Z1 is a real treat. For those unaware, Cyanogen OS is a custom Android-based ROM that we first saw on the OnePlus One, and on various YU smartphones thereafter. Cyanogen has been embroiled in various ‘exclusive’ partnerships over the past couple of years, but now that it isn’t tied to any particular brand, we’re likely to see it on more devices going forward. 

The ZUK Z1 features a 13MP rear camera with a Sony IMX 214 sensor, OIS and dual-LED flash. The front-facing snapper is an 8MP unit with an f/2.2 aperture. The camera app is standard Cyanogen OS fare, with various shooting modes and filters you can switch between by swiping down on the viewfinder. The interface is simple, with a large shutter button, video button and panorama button on one side. You’ll also find shortcuts to switch to the front camera and toggle flash options on the viewfinder. The only manual controls you can access are for the white balance, exposure and ISO.

One of the main moot points potential customers have voiced about the ZUK Z1 is the fact that it uses a Snapdragon 801 processor. The two-year old chipset might not be the newest kid on the block, but it doesn’t have the overheating issues that plagued some of its successors, like the Snapdragon 810. If you can ignore the age (and the fact that it isn’t 64-bit), there’s no real reason the Snapdragon 801 is a problem.