Lenovo Vibe Shot review: Shoot to thrill

Performance

The Lenovo Vibe Shot is based on the Snapdragon 615, the mid-range chipset that boasts an octa-core processor though its Adreno 405 GPU is not the ideal choice for 3D gaming on a 1080p screen. Still, the chipset is one of Qualcomm's more popular, especially in the sub-flagship range. The phone does come with 3GB of RAM, though, which is rare in this segment.

Basemark OS II 2.0 shows the Vibe Shot performs on the upper scale of the S615 stable, though MediaTek's popular Helio X10 pulls ahead.

Basemark OS 2.0

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  1252
• HTC One A9
  944
• Oppo R7s
  930
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  883
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  859
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  813
• Motorola Moto X Play
  809
• vivo X5Pro
  738
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  296
• Huawei G8
  291

The single-core performance is similarly strong, showing that the Cortex-A53 is no slouch despite its low-power nature. Clock speed helps, though, allowing the Meizu MX5 (Helio X10) to pull ahead though the difference isn't as big as the difference in clock speed between 2.2GHz and 1.7GHz suggests.

Multi-core speed surprisingly isn't that great, according to Basemark OS II 2.0. Even Geekbench 3.0 shows a middle of the road performance, here Helio's superior clock speed makes an impact.

Basemark OS 2.0 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  3262
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  3008
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  2976
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  2777
• vivo X5Pro
  2767
• HTC One A9
  2753
• Huawei G8
  2721
• Motorola Moto X Play
  2687
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  2480
• Oppo R7s
  2418

Basemark OS 2.0 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  22976
• HTC One A9
  19160
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  18615
• Huawei G8
  17285
• Motorola Moto X Play
  17226
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  16640
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  15126
• Oppo R7s
  13882
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  13521
• vivo X5Pro
  8733

GeekBench 3

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  5110
• HTC One A9
  3209
• Oppo R7s
  3206
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  2880
• Huawei G8
  2835
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  2827
• Motorola Moto X Play
  2608
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  2582
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  2336
• vivo X5Pro
  2241

The Adreno 405 GPU supports OpenGL ES 3.0, so it can run most recent games, though, bleeding-edge games that use ES 3.1 are a no-go. The GPU itself doesn't have enough muscle for high-end gaming at full 1080p resolution, though. You shouldn't experience difficulties with casual games, but if you're the type to put all game settings on "Max" the chipset isn't up to the task.

The Lenovo Vibe Shot does about as well as can be expected from the S615 herd, HTC has managed to squeeze out slightly more out of this hardware on the A9. Perhaps the relatively clean Android 6.0 Marshmallow has helped in this respect.

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  10
• HTC One A9
  6.4
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  6.2
• Oppo R7s
  5.9
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  5.8
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  5.8
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5.8
• vivo X5Pro
  5.8
• Huawei G8
  5.6
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  5.3

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  9.5
• HTC One A9
  6.7
• Oppo R7s
  6.2
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  6.2
• Motorola Moto X Play
  6.1
• Huawei G8
  6
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  5.8
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  5.8
• vivo X5Pro
  5.8
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  5.3

Basemark X

Higher is better

• Meizu MX5
  10403
• HTC One A9
  6617
• Oppo R7s
  5302
• Lenovo Vibe Shot
  5215
• Huawei G8
  5147
• vivo X5Pro
  5091
• Motorola Moto X Play
  5032
• Asus Zenfone Selfie ZD551KL
  4915
• Xiaomi Mi 4i
  4875
• Samsung Galaxy A7 (S615)
  4802

The Lenovo Vibe Shot performs well within the capabilities of its chosen hardware though it would have benefited from a leaner, cleaner Android.

Multitasking is breezy with 3GB of RAM, we didn't encounter issues with apps or browser tabs reloading. Most S615-based competitors tie up the 3GB of RAM option (if they have it at all) with the purchase of their pricier 32GB version, so it's nice we have it on a 16 gig model as well.