Lenovo Vibe S1 Lite is big on selfies, offers 8MP front cam with flash

Lenovo has just pulled the wraps off the Vibe S1 Lite, a toned-down version of the existing Vibe S1. The focus has remained on selfies but a few key specs have been changed.

For starters, the Vibe S1 Lite has a 5-inch FullHD IPS display, quite like the non-Lite model. The new smartphone, however, is powered by the Mediatek MT6753 chipset, as opposed to the MT6752, promising global LTE coverage, but a lower CPU clock speed (1.3GHz vs. 1.7GHz). There’s 2GB of RAM on board, as well as 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD cards up to 32GB.

It’s the front cam that is the headline feature, using an 8MP Sony sensor with large 1.4 micron photosites. There’s a flash to help in low-light situations – a feature gaining in popularity, but still somewhat rare. The 5-element lens is fixed-focus though. The primary camera looks good on paper too with a 13MP sensor, phase detection autofocus, and a dual-LED flash.

Lenovo Vibe S1 Lite

The Lenovo Vibe S1 Lite measures 145 x 71 x 8.6mm and weighs 129g, so while it’s a bit tall for a 5-incher, it’s certainly on the light side of average. It packs a 2,700mAh battery, which Lenovo promises is good for a day.

As already mentioned, the Vibe S1 Lite supports Cat. 4 LTE over some 10 bands on top of the quad-band 2G/3G. There’s Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS with A-GPS, and an FM radio receiver. The smartphone runs android 5.1 Lollipop.

Lenovo has put a $199 price tag on the Vibe S1 Lite, and it should hit the stores “early this year”.