Lenovo may have announced it two months ago at MWC 2015, but it has largely remained silent on the Vibe Shot smartphone since then. Ahead of Lenovo Tech World 2015, the company has finally shed more light on important details regarding the device.
Back at MWC 2015, the Vibe Shot proved to be an interesting device from Lenovo. Its back was deliberately designed to look very similar to a point-and-shoot digital camera. The message was clear: the Vibe Shot is meant to be a very capable smartphone camera.
However, instead of an all-powerful flagship smartphone, the Vibe Shot is actually a mid-range device. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 1.7GHz octa-core processor with a generous 3GB of RAM, the Vibe Shot also packs 32GB of onboard storage with a microSD card slot for up to 128GB additional storage.
On the front, the Vibe Shot features a sharp 5-inch Full HD IPS display, with Gorilla Glass 3 protection at the front and back. The device, which is made with an aluminium frame, also supports dual micro-SIM card slots with both FDD-LTE and TDD-LTE. Powering the smartphone is a 2,900mAh non-removable battery.
The focus, however, is on the rear camera. It’s a 16MP BSI sensor with 6P lens and optical image stabilization paired an infra-red (IR) autofocus system with the world’s first tri-colour flash. There’s even a physical shutter button as well. On the software front, Lenovo’s also tweaked the SNAPit camera UI for a more unique look. Users can still switch between Pro Mode and Auto Mode – there’s even a physical toggle on the side of the phone. On Auto Mode, the Smart feature is capable of identifying landscape, food and people photos, before offering the perfect framing for any given image.
Lenovo has announced that the Vibe Shot will be entering the Malaysian market beginning in August 2015, with an expected retail price of $349 (around RM1,275) – though the final retail price may be different once GST is taken into account. Lenovo will also be introducing three accessories to accompany the Vibe Shot, which is the Transparent Protective Back Cover, Camera Strap and the Selfie Flash. All three accessories do not yet have a confirmed pricing and availability information for Malaysia.
