A phone with Snapdragon 820 Processor and 3/4GB RAM under Rs 20,000 is definitely should be in your favourite list. Apart from that, Lenovo Z2 Plus also offers 32/64 GB internal memory, expandable storage slot, 4G with VoLTE, 13 MP rear camera, 5 inches full HD display, Bluetooth 4.1 and a big 3500 mAh battery.
With such high-end specs, it is one of the prominent phones in the sub-Rs 20,000 segment. But not all was well with the Z2 Plus which is currently retailing at Rs 17,999 for 3 GB model and Rs 19,999 for 4 GB model. Read on to find out more.
Design
The Lenovo Z2 Plus is trendy in the sense that it comes with a glass back panel. I haven’t seen its white model but like me, you will certainly be bewitched by the black colour model of Z2 Plus. Everything was in black in the model except the brand name which is engraved in shiny silver colour metal on its back panel and it looks just superb. The rear flashlight and the front camera also are not totally in black. The outer line of the home button is in brown.
The back or front panels did not get any scratches during our review either. The phone has thick side panels which have rubberized finish and that’s why gripping it was not much of a problem.
The volume rocker, power button and a hybrid SIM slot are to its right while the 3.5 mm jack, Micro USB port and the speaker grill is at its bottom. A mic for noise cancellation is also there in the bottom panel.
Overall, I liked the look and feel of the Lenovo Z2 Plus and certainly it is one of the stylish phones in the market today. If you are worried about its glass panel, then a good news is that Lenovo is offering it with a back cover which will also protect its back panel.
Display
The Lenovo Z2 Plus has a 5 inch full HD display and it certainly managed to reproduce crisp and colourful images. However, even at this price range, there are phones with Quad HD Resolution but in my view, the full HD resolution seemed more than adequate.
Brightness levels are just enough for bright outdoors – where you have to push the brightness to the maximum to operate the phone.
However, I was at my wit’s end when I found the display not responding to my commands during games. I encountered issues with touch response several times during my review and I hope it is an issue with the review unit only.
Camera
The Lenovo Z2 Plus has a 13-megapixel rear camera that comes with 1.34µm Pixel and hybrid Autofocus – phase detection autofocus and contrast associated focus. This camera can record slow motion videos and 4K videos. It has Live filters and Auto HDR as well. For selfies, the phone has an 8-megapixel front camera with 1.4µm pixel.
The camera is quite good during day time but in low and artificial light, I found it just average. Pictures clicked were very pixelated and were far from being termed as good.
Performance
With Snapdragon 820 and 4 GB RAM (note the Rs 17999 model has 3 GB RAM), the Z2 Plus was obviously one of the most powerful phones, irrespective of price range and in sub-Rs 20,000 segments, it is of course the best you can get right now.
It comfortably, thus, managed to run high-end games as well as various tasks at a time.
In terms of storage and OS, you can’t expect any better either. The 4 GB version has 64 GB of internal storage which you can top up using a micro SD card (ofcourse you have to discard the SIM2 in that case). And with Android 6.1.1 Marshmallow, the Z2 Plus boasts the current best (as Android Nougat is still a newborn) and considering the specs of the phone, it might get the Android Nougat as well.
The user interface is simple but has an unnecessary change. In this, you have to swipe from the bottom to access the quick settings which you might feel very odd to use initially and it needs some practice to master.
It has a decent health App – called U Health – which is icing on the cake.
The Lenovo Z2 Plus offers 4G, but it has no VoLTE support. It also offers the best WiFi versions – WiFi (b/g/n/ac) as well as the advanced Bluetooth 4.1 version. Besides, it has a fingerprint scanner, an acceleration sensor, light sensor, distance sensor, gyro sensor and compass – all what is required for an advanced smartphone these days.
The 3500 mAh battery of the Lenovo smartphone offers decent back up and even on intensive use, expect it to last about 5-6 hours while on light to moderate usage, it can last up to 10-12 hours.
The speakers also offer decent sound output.