IFA 2014 Various brands: Acer, Lenovo, Prestigio, Alcatel & more hands-on

Lenovo Vibe Z2 hands-on

The Lenovo Vibe Z2 is a 5.5" phablet and Lenovo's first 64-bit handset. This comes courtesy of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset with four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.2GHz and 2GB of RAM. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat.

The Vibe Z2 has a 5.5" 720p screen (267ppi) boasting 600nits of brightness. The image quality (in terms of colors and viewing angles) is similar to that of the Vibe X2 but it's not as sharp as we would have liked.

Custom UI once more, but resolution could have been higher

The camera department on the Z2 is even more interesting than that of the X2. It has a 13MP Sony Exmor RS sensor with optical stabilization and dual-LED flash and an 8MP front-facing camera. The rear camera lens has a red trim, which we found quite attractive.

The metal back and 13MP OIS camera with dual-LED flash

The phablet has a brushed metal unibody, the front of the device fits snugly into its metal cage. This leaves some edges exposed, which weren't a problem but could be a love it or hate it thing. The body measures 7.8mm thick and weighs 158g (not much for something this size) and that's with a 3,000mAh Li-Po battery. The body comes in White, Titanium and Gold.

The Snapdragon 410 chipset enables 4G LTE connectivity and will be a dual-SIM device for all markets it will be available in.

A close-up on the metal side of the Vibe Z2

The Lenovo Vibe Z2 will launch in October at $430 and follow in the footsteps of the Vibe X2, starting in China and expanding to Eastern Europe, the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

Lenovo Tab S8 hands-on

The Lenovo Tab S8 is an 8" tablet of slim bezels, standing at 209.8 x 123.8 x 7.9mm. The back finish isn't glossy but it wasn't as good as the material used on the Vibe X2.

On the upside, the tablet is available in several bright, attractive colors. Color options include Ebony, Blue, Canary Yellow and White (which for some reason is subject to regional availability).

Two of the bright colors for the Tab S8

The screen is fairly sharp at 1,920 x 1,200px (that's 283ppi) and, better yet, has great viewing angles thanks to its IPS matrix. Colors were good but the screen was a touch dim.

The screen is sharp and with good colors, but it's a bit dim

The bezels may be thin but they are big enough to fit two front-facing stereo speakers. Lenovo has partnered with Dolby to provide an equalizer for extensive audio tuning.

Also on the front is a 1.6MP camera, while the back camera is an 8MP shooter with autofocus, f/2.2 aperture and LED flash.

An 8MP autofocus camera with f/2.2 aperture and LED flash

The Lenovo Tab S8 is powered by an Intel Atom Z3745 chipset with four CPU cores at 1.3GHz (Burst to 1.86GHz) and 2GB of RAM. It's running Android 4.4 KitKat, which Lenovo has barely touched. The chipset is 64-bit capable but proper support won't arrive until Android L.

The tablet features a microUSB 3.0 port.

microSD and optional SIM slot • microUSB 3.0 on the bottom • 3.5mm audio jack

The Lenovo Tab S8 will cost $200 for the Wi-Fi only model, but there will be a 4G LTE version too. Both have 16GB of built-in storage (with microSD card slot for more) and a 4,290mAh battery.