Lenovo Vibe X2 review: Rainbow of colors

Generous retail package

Lenovo is absolutely keen on making a great first impression and it all starts with the packaging. We were very pleasantly surprised not only from the looks of the retail box but also with its contents. The Vibe X2 comes bundled with the usual microUSB cable and charges as well as a pair of headphones.

Lenovo has provided a rich retail package

However, there's more to it, as Lenovo has gone an extra step to charm the customer and has thrown in a screen protector as well as a transparent plastic back cover. A SIM ejector is provided as well. While not much, it's certainly more than the majority of manufacturers bundle with their phones.

Design and build quality

The looks of the Lenovo Vibe X2 are easily described as flamboyant, but we'll be careless to leave it at this. The phone's design is separated into four distant layers with a bunch of color schemes available. Each layer has its own hue that complements the adjacent ones. It works quite well and, while you'd think that four-layer design would add to the waistline of the phone, it doesn't.

The Lenovo Vibe X2 measures 140.2 x 68.6 x 7.3mm and weighs just 120 grams. It's ever so slightly larger than an iPhone 6, but lighter and with a 5" display instead of a 4.7", but more on that later on.

The Lenovo Vibe X2 really stands out from the crowd

The lightness of the Vibe X2 is due to its magnesium-alloy unibody. It also makes it quite durable, although we hope any potential drop tests are all the phone's drops stay in Lenovo's testing labs. But if you do drop it, you can be fairly confident the unibody build will stay in one piece.

To make sure this doesn't happen on a regular basis, the Vibe X2's sides are totally flat providing excellent grip. The sides on the back, however, are a tad sharp and can be a bit uncomfortable for some, as they don't rest quite naturally in the hand. That's strictly personal though, as many would certainly like the rugged feel of the non-chamfered edge.

Blue, gray and red color options are also available

In fact, all of the sides of the Vibe X2 are totally flat. The colorful look nicely counters the otherwise boxy design of the phone. The rounded top and bottom edges also work positively for offsetting the flat sides.

Overall, the Vibe X2 feels nice to the touch and the build quality is impeccable. That's to be expected, since the phone sports a unibody chassis. But there's more to it than that. Lenovo has done a great job of touching up every detail, making the phone's build and materials feel as premium as possible.

The Lenovo Vibe X2 in the hand

Controls

Let's start with the front of the Vibe X2. It houses the 5" IPS LCD 1080p display with the usual for the company three capacitive keys below it: Menu, Home and Back. Above the display, there's the earpiece and a 5MP camera to its right. An array of proximity and ambient light sensors is present, too.

The capacitive keys • The 5MP camera sits above the 5" IPS LCD display

On the left side we find the SIM card tray, which in India only houses two microSIM card slots. It requires a tray pin to eject, but Lenovo supplies one in the box. Sadly, there's no microSD card slot for storage expansion.

The left side of the Vibe X2 houses the SIM card tray

The right side is a home for the volume rocker and Power/Lock buttons, which are done in a fancy looking metal. The 3.5mm headphone jack is at the top left, while at the bottom, there's the microUSB charging port and microphone hole.

The right side is home to the volume rocker and Power/Lock button • The top hosts only the 3.5mm headphone jack

Vibe X2's back is quite stylish and clean looking - the 13MP camera is on the top left joined by a single LED flash. The secondary microphone for noise cancellation is on its right. Below them is the Lenovo logo and the cutouts for the loudspeaker.

Lenovo Vibe X2's back is also stylish

An interesting addition to the back are the three pogo pins, which are used for snapping on Lenovo's custom made Xtension accessories. The currently announced Xtensions include a JBL-made external speaker, which also doubles as a kickstand. There's also an external battery pack case for the Vibe X2, which also snaps to the back and uses the pogo pins for the battery juices to flow.

The snap-on accessories for the Vibe X2

There's no information on the pricing of the Vibe X2 JBL speaker Xtension yet, but the battery pack one is retailing in India for $32 (INR 1,999).