Budget smartphones have been closing the power gap with premium handsets, so the high end of the market has placed the focus on luxuries like wrap-around displays and plastic-free bodies. Lenovo took the wraps off the Lenovo A7000 and and the Vibe Shot at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The $169 A7000 boasts a 5.5-inch screen with a display resolution of 1280x720. It sports a 5-MP chat cam on its face and an 8-MP shooter on its back.
The budget smartphone is powered by a MediaTek True8Core processor, clocked at 1.5 GHz for reliable multitasking and efficient battery consumption. The 140g handset is fitted with 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage space.
The A7000's display and processor may keep the handset well out of premium territory, but its sound processing technology gets the handset a leg up on rivals. Lenovo says the A7000 is the first smartphone to leverage Dolby Atmos.
"Dolby Atmos was pioneered and perfected in cinema and has generated tremendous excitement in home theaters," says John Couling, senior vice president of E-Media Business Group at Dolby Laboratories. "Now we are thrilled to extend the powerfully moving Dolby Atmos entertainment experience to mobile phone users with the Lenovo A7000."
Along with announcing the A6000 significantly more powerful predecessor, Lenovo introduced the Vibe Shot. The latest entry into the Vibe series falls in the mid-tier of the smartphone market and focuses on a premium element to move handsets out of stores, into hands.
The $349 Vibe Shot boasts a camera that sees through a six-piece modular lens. It uses infrared auto-focus to speed up the time it takes to acquire its subject and pro shooting mode for professional features.
The 16 MP camera is complimented by a tri-color flash, meant to help the shooter adjust to various types of low-light settings, and optical image stabilization to limit camera shaking. On the other side of the Vibe Shot, there's an 8 MP selfie camera.
The Vibe Shot and its full HD, 5-inch screen are powered by an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 that's clocked at 1.7GHz. It is stuffed with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage space.
Both the Vibe Shot and A7000 are expected to ship this month to all regions that carry Lenovo products.
"Our latest Lenovo smartphones demonstrate the tremendous opportunity for innovation both within the devices themselves and with the accessories that provide important functionality for our users," says Shao Tao, vice president of Lenovo's Mobile Business Group.
