TECH BREAK: Lenovo’s new slider is everything you want

The new Lenovo phone. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • To make it silky and smooth, it will come with 8GB of RAM that should be more than ample for the tasks it is supposed to perform.
  • It is the cameras that define the phone, or rather their placement.

When you watch videos of the upcoming Lenovo Z5 Pro, you can’t help but feel like they are fake. The videos make the phone feel unreal, yet, it is the genuine article.

The simplicity of this phone just seems impossible, but it’s very possible, though we shall get to why in a minute.

Lenovo has, by all appearances, tapped Qualcomm for their Snapdragon 845 married to an octacore processor and and Adreno 630 GPU.

To make it silky and smooth, it will come with 8GB of RAM that should be more than ample for the tasks it is supposed to perform. For storage, the phone will come with 128GB that is not expandable.

The 6.45-inch display comes with 1080 x 2340 pixels resolution, making it a brilliant media consumption phone. It is the cameras that define the phone, or rather their placement.

The rear has a dual array consisting of a 16MP and 20MP sensors with LED flash, and will record 4K video, while at the front is a 25MP camera that comes with full HD video recording, as well as HDR.

The catch; they are both hidden in a slider on the phone. Yes, it’s real, the phone comes with a slider at the back that hides the cameras, as well as the fingerprint sensor.

It is a cool feature as it gives the phone a couple of advantages other phones don’t have.

One, the bezels are nearly invisible, which will give users a lot of screen real-estate. Beyond that, there is no notch, no bulges, nothing, giving the phone a very attractive look.

IMPRESSIVE

It is an LTE phone with dual-SIM cards, will support 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi, as well as Bluetooth 5.0 for peripherals. So what makes this phone the one to wait for? The obvious is the sliding feature which adds many advantages.

The cleaner look works for this unit. With the bells and whistles hidden and easily accessible, the phone will definitely stand out of the crowd. Then there is the display -- 6.45 inches is plenty to work with, and the 19.5:9 ratio will definitely make this a video consumption device.

The 4K recording cameras are another brilliant thing. Videos come out sharper and images are not left behind. The phone’s earpiece is also on the slider and will pop out when it opens, but, it does not need to be opened to make and receive calls.

Hiding the fingerprint sensor underneath the display is also a nice touch. However, not all is gold.

Without storage expansion, the phone will feel hobbled.

While manufacturers want to aim for more internal storage and less expansion options, it rarely works, except in places where storage is affordable and accessing it over the air is easy.

The phone will come running on Android 8.1 Oreo, and updates should follow eventually. Battery life has not been indicated yet, but it should have more than plenty to work with.

Lenovo is yet to give clear indicators of when this phone ships and its cost, but just knowing that it is out there should make potential users consider this as a purchase for the upcoming holidays.