Lenovo told Gadgets 360 that it plans to bring all its sub-brands in India under the Lenovo family. The Lenovo Z2 Plus is an attempt in that direction. Despite being a Zuk branded product, it is being sold under the Lenovo name in India. The company has marketed the device as an affordable handset powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and priced it at under Rs 20,000. Does the Z2 Plus have what it takes to take on more expensive flagships? Let’s find out in our review.
Lenovo Z2 Plus Look and Design
Lenovo used a 5.5-inch display in the Z2 Plus, while the company has given a 5-inch screen in the Z2 Plus. It will appeal to those who want power and quality, but are uncomfortable with the screen of a phablet.
The Z2 Plus is a slim profile handset and weighs just 150 grams. The design of the phone is such that it looks similar to the iPhone SE (Review). The phone uses a fibreglass frame instead of the usual metal body to keep the weight down. There is a magnesium alloy roll cage for added strength. The back of the phone is completely glass, it looks good and feels great in the hand. Unfortunately, it picks up fingerprints very quickly.
The Lenovo Z2 Plus smartphone is available in white and black colours. Our review unit was in black colour and it looks better than the white one. You will not see any Zuk branding, only the Lenovo logo on the back. As we said earlier, you will have to clean the glass back panel frequently.
There are power and volume buttons on the right side of the phone. Along with this, space is also provided for the SIM tray. The phone has dual SIM slots in which you will be able to use two nano SIMs. Storage cannot be increased. Speaker grill, 3.5 mm jack and USB Type-C port are present at the bottom of the phone. The 3500 mAh battery cannot be removed by the user. A home button is provided on the front panel for many functions, which also works as a fingerprint sensor. The screen is present in 70 percent of the front panel of the phone.
The fingerprint sensor on the Zuk Z1 has been improved over the other. It’s faster and more accurate. It works even when the phone is in standby mode. You can store up to 5 fingerprints. Unlocking the phone is easy. However, it’s still not as fast as the OnePlus 3 (Review). Lenovo says that its fingerprint recognition capability will get more accurate over time. It’s a physical button that can recognize touch and gestures.
Lenovo has completely changed the way you interact with the user interface by utilizing the power of this button. A tap on the button means back and pressing down will take you to the home screen. Swiping left and right, double clicking and long pressing the button are all possible to perform different actions. This can be changed through the Settings app. We liked the changes that the company has made. If you don’t like it, you can activate the old on-screen button by going into the Settings.
Lenovo Z2 Plus has a 5-inch full-HD LTPS LCD screen. Its pixel density is 441 ppi. It is a sharp, clean and bright screen. At maximum brightness, there is no problem in reading the screen even in sunlight. However, we found that the adaptive brightness settings of the phone did not work at times. We had to go to the settings again and again and adjust the brightness manually. We felt that the quality of the screen was not coming out due to the matte screen guard provided by the company.
Overall, the screen of the phone is good. But it is not as great as the screens of many other flagship Android smartphones.
Lenovo Z2 Plus Specifications
Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 820 chipset has been used in several flagship phones this year, including the Xiaomi Mi 5 (Review), OnePlus 3 (Review) and LeEco Le Max 2 (Review). The Snapdragon 821 is now the company’s flagship processor, but the 820 is still a very powerful and capable processor. The Lenovo Z2 Plus benefits from this.
Lenovo Z2 Plus is available in two variants in India. The affordable variant is priced at Rs 17,999 and comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. The 4GB RAM and 64GB storage version is available for Rs 19,999. However, we would suggest you to buy the 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant. Since the phone does not have support for microSD card, you may feel the lack of storage at any time.
The phone will support Wi-Fi A/B/G/N/AC connectivity, Bluetooth 4.1 and USB 2.0 Type-C connector. The company has provided a 10 watt charger with the phone which disappoints us. However, the charging of the phone is not very slow. But, there is no question of quick charging.
Lenovo Z2 Plus Software
The Zuk Z1 used CyanogenOS. The Z2 Plus, on the other hand, comes with a custom-built ZUI that is very similar to the Google Now Launcher. Aspects like the home screen, widgets, and app drawer feel like stock Google.
In terms of interface and software, you won’t find as many customization options as you find in Cyanogen OS. Customization can be handled through the Settings app. However, the interface lacks a bit of polish. We encountered some grammatical and spelling mistakes at some places. Surprisingly, we also found the camera settings in the regular Settings app. However, this can also be accessed through the Camera app.
Z2 Plus runs on Android 6.0.1. It is expected that the company will continue to release security patches for this device. Currently, there is no information about this handset getting the update of Android 7.0 Nougat.
Lenovo Z2 Plus Camera
Lenovo Z2 Plus has a 13 megapixel primary camera. It has a single-tone LED flash. The front camera of the handset is 8 megapixels. You will be able to record videos of 4K resolution with the rear camera. At the same time, the front camera is capable of recording videos of 1080 pixel resolution.
All the common modes are present in the camera app, including panorama, time lapse and slow motion video. Apart from this, you will get basic filters in the settings app. Shortcut icons are given for video mode, camera switcher, flash, HDR and gallery. You will be able to control the resolution from the settings menu. It is worth noting that there are three options in slow motion frame rate. This also includes 960 frames per second mode.
After researching about the 960fps mode, we found that it is a processing game. The framerate is actually 120fps and the resolution is 720p. The phone automatically slows down the playback to give the impression of a higher framerate. Videos shot at 960fps or 240fps are not true slowmotion. The drop between frames is quite noticeable. It is better to shoot at 120fps. The Z2 Plus is not much ahead of other phones in this department.
You will get the option to shoot normal videos in 2160 pixels. In this mode, you will get more sharp and detailed clips. However, shooting in this resolution heats up the phone a bit and the battery drains very quickly. Videos are also fine at 1080 pixels.
Photography with Lenovo Z2 Plus was a bit disappointing. The photos are not bad at all, but they do not live up to the expectations of a flagship handset. The camera performance is like that of a normal mid-range device. The colors are a bit dull. You will see grains in dark areas. It is not easy to take pictures in the absence of proper lighting. The camera of the Z2 Plus smartphone is fine for taking occasional pictures. If you like to take a lot of pictures then this phone is not for you.
Lenovo Z2 Plus performance
Performance on the Lenovo Z2 Plus is as expected and all thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. Our review unit had 4GB of RAM which is more than enough at this point. The other variant with 3GB of RAM is also quite capable. Playing games and switching between apps was hassle free and thanks to the efficient software. However, we did notice the phone heating up a bit when playing games with more powerful graphics. This resulted in faster battery consumption. The benchmark results of this handset were good. Considering the Snapdragon 820 processor, we expected similar results.
The battery of Lenovo Zude 2 Plus lasted for 16 hours and 40 minutes in our video loop test. In normal use, it will last for a day which is excellent considering the hardware specifications of the handset. Wi-Fi, cellular connectivity and voice call quality were good. However, the speakers of the phone are not very good. You cannot expect loud sound from it.
Our verdict
With the flood of mobile phones in the budget and mid-range segment, companies are trying to launch phones with high-end specifications at mid-range prices. In terms of performance, Lenovo Z2 Plus is capable of challenging any flagship device.
The Lenovo Z2 Plus may not be the most tempting flagship phone, but its most important feature is the price. At Rs 17,999, this phone promises to give you great quality at an affordable price. The Rs 19,999 variant is also cheaper than other flagship devices with similar specifications. This makes it easy for us to recommend this phone to you.
Lenovo Z2 Plus offers flagship performance and quality at a mid-range price. If camera quality is not a top priority for you, then this is the phone for you.
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