Hands-on with the Lenovo Vibe P1 and Vibe P1m

Launched recently, the Lenovo Vibe P1 and Vibe P1m are designed to last as long as you can with its enormous battery capacities of 5,000 mAh and 4,000 mAh respectively. These smartphones from Lenovo can also, in a pinch, double as powerbanks and charge your other devices via USB OTG (On-The-Go). As you can tell by the battery capacities, the Vibe P1 is designed to be the flag bearer of the “Power Player” line, while the Vibe P1m comes in as the runner-up.

Build

On paper that is very much the case as the Vibe P1 sports a 5.5″ full-HD IPS display and a brushed aluminium frame. The device’s unibody construction gives it a premium feel with a gentle curve at the back allowing the phone to fit nicely in the hand. In front you will find the front camera at the top and two capacitive buttons at the bottom, flanking the rectangular physical home button. Underneath the clicky, well-built button lies the Vibe P1’s fingerprint scanner which is a first for Lenovo.

Around the back, the smartphone looks a lot like the flagships from HTC’s One series. The main camera can be found at the top of the phone with the dual-LED flash right below it. The power button and volume keys are placed on the right side of the phone while the Vibe P1’s dedicated power saver toggle is located on the left. To differentiate the buttons, the power saver toggle has rough texture versus the smooth power and volume buttons. Either way, all the keys have a satisfying click without much wobble.

The speaker grille and micro-USB port is located at the bottom opposite the phone’s headphone jack at the top. The top comes off revealing a tray that holds two nano-SIM cards and a microSD slot. As a whole, the device feels good in the hand. Even with that massive battery, the weight isn’t unbearable although it is rather thick and that adds to the bulk. The brushed aluminium helps the phone stay in the hand while staving off fingerprints.

Much of the Vibe P1’s physical features are identical on its little brother, with the exception of the micro-USB port being on the top and the absence of a physical home button and fingerprint scanner on the Vibe P1m. Around the back, the primary camera is in the same place as the Vibe P1 but there is a brushed metal finish around the lens LED flash. The front is occupied by the Vibe P1m’s 5-inch 720p display, three capacitive buttons and the 5-megapixel camera at the top. The device is coated with a splash-proof nano coating.

While the P1m does not have a brushed aluminium back, the textured removable rear cover feels very nice and sturdy, giving the phone even more grip. The smaller size also fits better in the hand, making up for its rather thick profile.

Hardware

Within the Vibe P1 beats the heart of an octa-core Snapdragon 615 clocked at 1.5GHz, 2GB of RAM and, 32GB of internal storage (expandable up to 128GB via microSD). On the other hand, the lower end Vibe P1m is powered by a 1.0GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735P processor and 2GB of RAM. Internal storage is rated at 16GB but it is also expandable via microSD up to 32GB.

Performance is good as both devices run smoothly on Android 5.1 Lollipop with almost no stuttering or noticeable lag when launching, exiting or switching between applications. It looks like Lenovo spent some time making sure that the software and hardware for both devices were well optimised. Then again, the Vibe P1m’s smooth performance can also be credited to the fact that it has less pixels to push on that smaller 720p display.

Primary imaging on the Vibe P1 is taken care of by its 13-megapixel PDAF rear shooter while selfies can be delegated to the 5-megapixel fixed focus front camera. Our limited time with the Vibe P1’s camera reveals that it is snappy to launch and take pictures, but the venue’s poor lighting made it difficult to give a solid verdict on the camera’s performance. The same can also be said for the Vibe P1m’s 8-megapixel rear/5-megapixel front camera combo.

Battery

Sitting under the back plate, powering all those hardware bits, lies the devices’ defining feature: their massive batteries. The Vibe P1 sports a 5,000 mAh battery that Lenovo claims gives the device 30 days of standby time and 45 hours of talk time. The phone also comes with Quick Charge 2.0 for when it eventually runs out of juice. Lenovo said that it would take 2 hours to charge up the P1 from empty using the device’s bundled charger.

The Vibe P1m features a smaller, but still massive by conventional standards, 4,000 mAh battery. Besides the massive batteries, Lenovo took power saving to the next level with their included power saver toggle, available on both devices.

With the power saver toggle flicked on, the phone enters power saver mode where the usual home screen is replaced by a simple black and white interface, showing you the clock, the battery level, a choice of six apps and how much time you have left before the phone runs out of juice. Very Jack Bauer. The six apps can be set by the user but by default three of the app slots are taken up by phone, contacts, and messaging.

Pricing

The Lenovo Vibe P1 which retails for RM1,199, will come in Platinum and Graphite Grey colour options. This device will be available in authorised retail stores and online at Lazada starting 19 November. On the other hand, the Vibe P1m, costing RM649, will sold exclusively at Lazada from 19 November onwards, only hitting the shelves at authorised local retail outlets in December. As a bonus though, if you do choose to purchase the Vibe P1m from Lazada, they’re currently offering an RM50 discount and are throwing in a Lenovo Limited Edition Jersey and an 8GB SanDisk microSD card for free.

Lenovo Vibe P1

Lenovo Vibe P1m