The Zuk Z1 is the first smartphone in India to bear the Zuk branding. The device offers top-of-the line hardware and enhanced software experience to smartphone enthusiasts and geeks.
Design
The ZUK Z1 features simplistic design language having a neatly made metal frame. The metal frame is made from aviation aluminum and is crafted using 16 CNC manufacturing procedures and 209 machining operations in total. Because of this metal frame, chamfered edges and slightly curved back the device feels sturdy in hand. But the device feels a bit heavy, the primary reason for this increase in weight is because the Z1 packs an impressively massive 4100mAH battery inside it. At front we have a 5.5 inch FHD display and below we have a home button that also doubles as a fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication. The right side of the phone features volume controllers and power button with the left reserved for the SIM cards. Also the unpleasant antenna lines don’t run across the rear of the device and are instead marked on the top of the phone.
Hardware Specifications
5.5-inch Full HD IPS LCD (1080×1920 pixels ~401 ppi) display | Quad-core 2.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 processor | 3GB RAM | 64GB (eMMC 5.0) internal memory (not expandable) | 13MP rear camera (Sony IMX214 Exmor RS sensor) + 8MP front camera | 4100 mAh battery | USB 3.0 Type-C | Cyanogen OS 12.1
Performance
ZUK Z1 is powered by a dated quad-core 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. But it’s still flagship-class and thus shouldn’t be an issue for most users. The UI is fast and responsive. I didn’t notice any lags or stutters and overall the performance from a user’s point of view is excellent. The CPU is supported by 3GB RAM, which makes sure that you multitask without any performance issues. Right from the app drawer to switching between apps and more, the whole experience is smooth as butter. The battery performance is another aspect that makes me recommend the Lenovo Zuk Z1. The 4,100mAh battery unit can easily last for over a day for extreme users like me. The ZUK Z1 also supports fast charging feature and the bundled 2.5A charger takes the 4,100mAh battery from 0-100 percent is about two hours.
Fingerprint Scanner
The ZUK Z1 features a fingerprint reader at the front that doubles up as a home button. The fingerprint scanner is fast and accurate. To unlock the phone you need to press and hold the home button. The device will wake, read your fingerprint and unlock in less than a second. You can store Multiple fingerprints at a time, and the process of setting it up is simple and takes only a couple of minutes involving just repeated presses of the home button. If you are familiar with fingerprint readers on devices like the Note 5 or Galaxy S7 Edge, then you won’t be disappointed with the reader on the Z1.
Fun Fact: On ZUK Z1 if you press the home button it takes you directly to the home screen. If you touch the button (without pressing it) it behaves exactly like the back button.
CyanogenOS
The USP of the ZUK Z1 is that it runs on Android 5.1.1-based CyanogenOS. While it doesn’t let you tweak as much as CyanogenMod, you still get a lot of customization options. Cyanogen is fully Google-certified, which means it comes with all of Google’s services and apps including the Play Store. There is the built-in theme store from where you can download plenty of free and paid themes to instantly change the appearance and interface of your smartphone. CyanogenOS also gets TrueCaller integration built within the OS. So, every time you get a call from unknown numbers, it will pickup from the database and let you know who’s calling.
Camera
The device comes with a f/2.2 13MP camera which uses a Sony Exmor RS stack sensor with dual LED flash and optical image stabilization along with an 8MP selfie shooter. As far as the camera application is concerned, it is the standard Cyanogen Camera app. By default the pictures are in 4:3 format, but if you want 16:9 then you can change it in the settings, but the number of megapixels will drop to 9.7 MP. Overall camera is fast and captured some decent shots during our testing. However, low light images didn’t turn out to be that good.
What’s Good?
- Great battery life
- Reliable fingerprint scanner
- 64GB of storage
- CyanogenMod OS
- Decent Camera
What’s Bad?
- Non removable battery
- No expandable Storage (Not Needed though as there is 64GB internal storage)
- Blunt design
- Average speaker
- No NFC
Should You Buy It? Our Verdict
At INR 13,499, the Lenovo ZUK Z1 is a steal at the given price. With the power of Cyanogen to it, the phone scores A+ in almost all aspects. Lenovo ZUK Z1 delivers on all fronts, and can be considered as a cheaper alternative for OnePlus One. The company is backed by Lenovo, the handset runs Cyanogen, and the 4100 mAh battery is excellent along with the 64GB of on-board storage. The ZUK Z1 tends to check all boxes, the only downside being lack of NFC and expandable storage. However if those aren’t a problem to you then the ZUK Z1 could be a good choice.
