Funny how they double the price vs competing China devices for the fancier camera and an extra 16GB of NAND. No idea if they'll price it better in China , 200$ would have been ok there. If that price doesn't include taxes ,this device could compete with some of last year's flaghips soon and that's a tough sell..
This is not a simple smartphone camera lens. This is a full frame camera lens, which means a larger sensor and MUCH better photo quailty. The fact that this is also a smartphone is incredibly remarkable. At $349, this is a steal.
The Snapdragon 615 has two Cortex A53 clusters, not A57.
I don't see how this smartphone approaches a camera anymore than the usual flagships. The camera sensor can't be any larger than the typical 1/3"-1/2.6" because it's close to the corner, and the "manual adjustments" can usually be done through a third-party camera app. There's also no optical zoom, no xenon flash...
The Panasonic DMC-CM1 is in fact a serious smartphone+camera hybrid, but this is not.
That Panasonic is actually a really interesting one! I've been debating getting it (or waiting for prices to drop a bit), but it doesn't seem to have the fastest DSP.
Camera is tops on my list of phone features so this will get some attention, but it goes without saying that no device can simultaneously have "thinness... [that] is remarkable" and a decently large sensor, without rewriting some laws of physics. I also don't think Lenovo's got much experience in the camera UI and image manipulation fields, and as Sony continues to demonstrate, even an imaging powerhouse can fail badly at getting that subtle mix correct.
Still it is great to see another "phone/camera crossover" put into play. Several of the bigs have already tried; someone will get it right sooner rather than later, and I think we'll see a legitimate new category of gadget emerge.
Say, remember when Lenovo was caught red handed putting spyware in their laptops? No thanks Lenovo. You can keep your pathetic business practices to yourself.
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jjj - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Funny how they double the price vs competing China devices for the fancier camera and an extra 16GB of NAND. No idea if they'll price it better in China , 200$ would have been ok there.If that price doesn't include taxes ,this device could compete with some of last year's flaghips soon and that's a tough sell..
quiksilvr - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
This is not a simple smartphone camera lens. This is a full frame camera lens, which means a larger sensor and MUCH better photo quailty. The fact that this is also a smartphone is incredibly remarkable. At $349, this is a steal.quiksilvr - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Or you know, the article lies and this is actually overpriced.DarkSleip - Tuesday, March 3, 2015 - link
I would hardly ever believe that what is shown on that picture is a 35mm format sensor, unless the phone and hand seen in it were gigantic.boredsysadmin - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
This is a very nice smartphone and a great value. I would pick this one over Galaxy s6.But One thing it's does NOT have is full frame sensor
Johnmcl7 - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
I had a chuckle at that as well, sadly the device would have to be a heck of a lot bigger to accommodate a full frame sensor.SirPerro - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Yeah, not having a full frame sensor is surprising and dissapointing :-Omkozakewich - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
I saw that and was looking for mention of that new technology that allows flat lenses, but nope! Probably 1/6" like in most other Androids.Something to mention on reviews! The iPhone has a 1/3" sensor, apparently, which is why it's so much better.
gobaers - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
The Z3 has a 1/2.3", GS5 is at 1/2.6", both larger than iPhone 6's 1/3". However, it's properly tuned at 8MP, so the iPhone6 takes better pictures.olivaw - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
I think "full frame" in this context means that the sensor is 16:9 and not 4:3 cropped to 16:9.ToTTenTranz - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
The Snapdragon 615 has two Cortex A53 clusters, not A57.I don't see how this smartphone approaches a camera anymore than the usual flagships. The camera sensor can't be any larger than the typical 1/3"-1/2.6" because it's close to the corner, and the "manual adjustments" can usually be done through a third-party camera app.
There's also no optical zoom, no xenon flash...
The Panasonic DMC-CM1 is in fact a serious smartphone+camera hybrid, but this is not.
mkozakewich - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
That Panasonic is actually a really interesting one! I've been debating getting it (or waiting for prices to drop a bit), but it doesn't seem to have the fastest DSP.zodiacfml - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Unimpressive as a camera and the CPU too. The flash is intriguing despite I never used the flash for photography in my Nexus5.EddyKilowatt - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
Camera is tops on my list of phone features so this will get some attention, but it goes without saying that no device can simultaneously have "thinness... [that] is remarkable" and a decently large sensor, without rewriting some laws of physics. I also don't think Lenovo's got much experience in the camera UI and image manipulation fields, and as Sony continues to demonstrate, even an imaging powerhouse can fail badly at getting that subtle mix correct.Still it is great to see another "phone/camera crossover" put into play. Several of the bigs have already tried; someone will get it right sooner rather than later, and I think we'll see a legitimate new category of gadget emerge.
aggiechase37 - Thursday, March 5, 2015 - link
Say, remember when Lenovo was caught red handed putting spyware in their laptops? No thanks Lenovo. You can keep your pathetic business practices to yourself.Shahzaib - Monday, March 9, 2015 - link
It has been overpriced though it's a nice smartphone but lack full frame sensor..<a href="http://www.topmediabox.com/">matricom</...