IT168 Review On December 20, Lenovo ZUK released its new mobile phone ZUK Edge in the form of an online live broadcast. Before the release, ZUK’s high-profile marketing and multiple comparisons to the Xiaomi MIX with a full-screen design made people full of expectations for this phone. Although it is neither borderless nor a curved screen, Lenovo ZUK Edge has achieved a high screen-to-body ratio of 86.4 by optimizing the spatial structure inside the fuselage and narrowing the borders. There is nothing wrong with naming it "Edge".

In addition, ZUK’s iconic U-Touch button has also been evolved again on the ZUK Edge product. It adopts a design embedded in the screen glass to simplify the front elements of the fuselage. The integrity of the fuselage is further improved. At first sight, you may be a little disappointed, but in fact this phone still has a lot to offer. Let’s take a closer look at the Lenovo ZUK Edge product through the review.

In addition to the two points mentioned above in terms of appearance, as a flagship product, Lenovo ZUK Edge is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, and is equipped with up to 6GB of running memory and 64GB of body storage. In terms of hardware, In terms of performance, it is currently in the first echelon. Let’s first take a look at the basic hardware parameters of Lenovo ZUK Edge to have a general understanding.

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Basic parameters of Lenovo ZUK Edge

Screen characteristics

5.5-inch 1902*1080 pixels, TDDI screen

Body size

142.9x74.5x7.68mm

Body weight

160g

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 821

Network mode

7-mode 23-band 4G full Netcom, dual SIM card dual standby

Body memory

64GB

Running memory

4/6GB

Camera features

Rear 13 million pixels/front 8 million pixels

Features

Embedded invisible U-Touch, 86.4 high screen-to-body ratio

Battery capacity

3100mAh

Operating System

Will be upgraded to ZUI 2.5 with Android 7.0 kernel

Body Color

Ceramic White/Titanium Black

Sales Price

Flagship version 2,299 yuan/Exclusive version 2,499 yuan/L version 2,499 yuan

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Lenovo ZUK Edge uses a 5.5-inch screen. It is the standard Android flagship size. However, ZUK officially defines this product as "the continuation of the small-screen super flagship product strategy." By optimizing the design and increasing the screen-to-body ratio, the overall size of the Lenovo ZUK Edge is only 142.9*74.5*7.68mm. . Here, I want to unkindly post the product size of iPhone 7: 138.3*67.1*7.1. It may be an exaggeration to say that a 5.5-inch screen is packed into a 4.7-inch mobile phone, but it is basically the same as most on the market. 5-inch screen mobile phones are roughly equivalent, which is quite commendable.

Basically looking at the hardware parameters, Lenovo ZUK Edge is relatively comprehensive in terms of hardware performance and functional configuration: Snapdragon 821, 13-megapixel camera. , fingerprint recognition, dual-SIM full network access, etc. Especially at the price of 2,299 yuan, Lenovo ZUK Edge continues its previous high cost performance gene and is very competitive among mobile phones in the same price range.

Hardware performance. I won’t spend too much time talking about it here, because everyone basically knows that Snapdragon 821 is one of the most powerful mobile processors on the planet, but some users may not. I am torn between the Snapdragon 820 and Snapdragon 821 processor models.

To put it simply, the Snapdragon 820 has a large core clocked at 2.2GHz, a small core clocked at 1.6GHz, and a GPU clocked at 624GHz; the Snapdragon 821 has a big core clocked at 2.4GHz, a small core clocked at 2GHz, and a GPU clocked at 650MHz. Overall, the CPU performance of Snapdragon 821 is improved by about 10% and the GPU performance is improved by about 5% compared to Snapdragon 820. AnTuTu test data shows that the highest total score of the Snapdragon 821 mobile phone can reach 163546, and the highest total score of the Snapdragon 820 mobile phone can reach 142114. It can be said that Snapdragon 821 is improved compared to Snapdragon 820, but for ordinary users' daily use, there will be no obvious difference in experience.

The following is still using AnTuTu to conduct the benchmark test to give everyone a measure and reference.

After testing, the final AnTuTu score of Lenovo ZUK Edge was 159319. It is second only to the iPhone 7, 7 Plus and Le Pro3 in AnTuTu's performance rankings, which is a pretty good result. Such hardware performance not only ensures smooth use in daily use, but also runs large-scale games with ease. So much about hardware performance, let’s focus on the design of Lenovo ZUK Edge.

In terms of appearance, Lenovo ZUK Edge uses a double-sided 2.5D glass design as a whole, which is smooth and textured. The biggest attraction of this phone is not its appearance. Lenovo ZUK Edge uses a "full screen" design and hides the U-Touch button in the front glass panel, ensuring that the front panel has good integration.

The concept of full screen was first proposed by Xiaomi at the Xiaomi MIX launch conference a few months ago. Lenovo also used the concept of "full screen" in the promotion of the machine. But unlike Xiaomi’s radical design of canceling the top of the fuselage, Lenovo ZUK Edge still uses a traditional design layout (retaining the top of the fuselage). But what is commendable is that the upper and lower borders of Lenovo ZUK Edge are very narrow, and the screen-to-body ratio of the whole machine reaches 86.4, which is a quite high figure. In addition, this phone has a 2.5D arc treatment on the edge of the screen protection glass. Although the whole phone has a square shape, the addition of 2.5D glass optimizes the edge grip to a certain extent.

Although it is not as bold and radical as Xiaomi MIX on the whole, making the upper and lower borders so narrow requires a lot of structural optimization work in the internal design of the fuselage. Xiaomi MIX actually made a lot of functional compromises for the full-screen design, such as moving the camera to the bottom. Lenovo ZUK Edge’s solution seems to be a compromise, but it is more practical. It retains the three conventional top components of the front camera, light distance sensor and earpiece, and will not challenge the user's original usage habits. But if you think it would be cooler to turn your phone around so you can use the front-facing camera, that's another story.

At the bottom of the front is ZUK’s multi-function U-Touch button. At first glance, it looks like nothing, but in fact it has a lot going for it. It places the fingerprint recognition chip completely under the glass panel without making holes, which makes the integration higher. In order to ensure the recognition rate of the fingerprint recognition chip, it is said that Lenovo ZUK Edge uses a humm-level (one micron = 0.1 humm) process to process the glass panel. On the glass panel that was originally only 0.7mm thick, the most advanced The CNC process digs blind holes with a thickness of only 0.44mm without damaging the complete glass surface.

For higher integration, Lenovo ZUK Edge’s U-Touch has made some sacrifices in functionality. Because it is completely placed inside the glass panel, this button cannot be pressed, so operations such as "press" and "double-click" are missing. In the system setting options about U-Touch, currently only the "left and right sliding" operation can be customized. The UI designers also considered that the number of customizable operations would be reduced, so they provided an in-screen virtual key function that can be turned on or off by yourself.

On the back of the fuselage, Lenovo ZUK Edge uses a whole piece of 2.5D glass, and the black version has a very high level of integration overall. The design on the back of the fuselage is relatively simple, with some basic information such as the ZUK logo and product model printed on the bottom. The arrangement of camera and flash components also adopts a symmetrical design.

As for the camera, Lenovo ZUK Edge uses a 13-megapixel camera from Samsung with 1.34μm large pixels and f/2.2 aperture. The camera is designed with a CD pattern around it, which enhances the detail and texture. And officials said that the machine uses a high color rendering index flash, which can achieve better color reproduction effects. Below the flash is a blood oxygen and heart rate sensor that monitors heart rate and blood oxygen saturation, providing professional and accurate guidance data for exercise.

On the side of the fuselage, the volume button and power button are made of metal. Among them, the surface of the power button has been textured, which can effectively distinguish it from the volume button when operated blindly, reducing the chance of misoperation. It is a more considerate design. The two sides of the middle frame of the fuselage are bevelled for decoration.

Summary: It may be because ZUK Edge is marketed as a “full screen”, but after seeing that the real machine still has a conventional design, it is a bit disappointing. However, through some structural optimization, Lenovo ZUK Edge has achieved a high screen-to-body ratio of 86.4, which is really rare. The hidden U-Touch button embedded in the front of the fuselage further improves the integration of the whole machine. The handling of some details is exquisite, but overall it is quite satisfactory and does not have much highlights.

Since last year, when it comes to taking pictures, everyone has no longer blindly increased the pixels, but instead pursued a single pixel size. This has the most direct effect on improving imaging quality. We have also seen that various mobile phone manufacturers have made very obvious progress in mobile phone imaging quality this year. Lenovo ZUK Edge uses a 13-megapixel CMOS from Samsung, a customized 1.34μm large pixel sensor, and an aperture of f/2.2. Other parameters of the camera are as follows.

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Lenovo ZUK Edge main camera parameters

Pixels

13 million

Aperture

f/2.2

Single pixel size

1.34μm

Functions

4K video recording, 960 frames slow motion, manual Mode

Focus mode

PDAF CAF dual mode focus

Anti-shake

EIS electronic anti-shake

From In terms of the main parameters of the camera, in addition to large pixels, the main camera used by Lenovo ZUK Edge also uses PDAF (phase focusing) CAF (continuous autofocus) dual-mode focusing, and adds EIS electronic anti-shake.

Now that we are talking about anti-shake, I would like to say a few words here. The main anti-shake technologies used in mobile phone cameras are optical anti-shake (OIS) and electronic anti-shake (EIS). Relying on the structure of the special lens or sensor to minimize image instability caused by jitter during use, the built-in gyroscope detects small movements and transmits the signal to the processor to calculate the displacement that needs to be compensated. The amount is compensated according to the shake direction and displacement of the lens, and the effect is obvious. Electronic anti-shake only analyzes the collected image information and uses edge images to compensate. If the algorithm is immature, it will have a certain impact on the image quality. degree of damage. The difference between the two is like optical zoom and digital zoom. Electronic image stabilization treats the symptoms but not the root cause.

In my opinion, EIS electronic image stabilization mostly appears on mobile phones as a marketing selling point. The parameters in the parameter information table are just a little better than nothing in terms of improving imaging performance. Judging from the parameter information alone, the main camera of Lenovo ZUK Edge should be enough to meet the shooting needs in daily scenes, but The performance in low-light environments may not be very good. Let’s take a look at the sample photos.

▲Outdoor building sample during daytime

The sample was taken around 16:30 in the afternoon. At that time, Beijing’s PM2.5 levels were off the charts, the outdoor light intensity was low, and the weather was gloomy. Under such circumstances, the overall picture brightness of the building sample taken by Lenovo ZUK Edge is acceptable, but the resolution is insufficient. If you zoom in on some details in the picture, you can see that the edges of the fonts and objects are blurry.

▲Outdoor building proofs in the evening

Under relatively sufficient light conditions, the proofs taken by Lenovo ZUK Edge perform relatively well in terms of brightness and contrast, and are clear and sharp. But it’s quite satisfying to zoom in on some of the details.

▲A sample photo of an outdoor building in the evening

The time when this photo was taken was roughly around 17:00 in the afternoon, when it was getting dark. The brightness and look and feel of the pictures shot by Lenovo ZUK Edge are acceptable, but some details are terrible. Through the photo parameters, we can find that the ISO value soared to 1025 at that time, and there was too much noise.

Through the above three sets of sample photos, we can see that the overall performance of the Lenovo ZUK Edge camera is basically satisfactory, but it exposes the weakness of insufficient resolution. In low light situations, in order to improve the brightness of the picture, the ISO is so high that it brings unbearable noise and the loss of picture details. Although the single pixel size of the 13-megapixel camera equipped with ZUK Edge is not small, the lack of optical image stabilization makes it difficult to use in low-light environments. Although it is equipped with EIS electronic image stabilization, it does not seem to have any effect.

Let’s take a look at a few more samples.

▲Proofs taken with sufficient indoor light

With sufficient lighting indoors, the exposure control of the samples taken by ZUK Edge is more accurate, and the hair color tends to be cooler.

▲Proofs under outdoor lighting conditions

Under outdoor lighting conditions, the ISO value of the above proofs reached 833, which affected the overall look and feel of the picture and resulted in low contrast.

In terms of taking pictures, the camera of Lenovo ZUK Edge is acceptable for general shooting scenarios, and the large 1.34μm pixels ensure sufficient light intake. However, in low-light environments, in order to achieve a certain picture brightness, the ISO is greatly increased, resulting in too much noise, affecting the look and feel of the picture and image details. For average users, the camera on this phone is adequate. However, in terms of usage scenarios in dark light environments, the imaging quality of ZUK Edge can hardly be called mainstream.

As for the system, Lenovo ZUK Edge is currently running ZUI 2.3 version based on Android 6.0. This is my first time to experience ZUI. My first impression of it is that it is simple and refreshing, but it does not seem to be particularly rich in functions. In this part, I will talk about the usage experience based on my short-term experience.

First of all, let’s look at the interface. ZUI’s interface design is simple, and the interactive animations are basically straight up and down, without any delay. But from a certain perspective, I feel that ZUI is like a rough room that has been simply renovated in terms of interface design and interaction. If you have used Smartisan OS, you will have a deep understanding of it. The animation of unlocking the screen will bring joy to the user. To give a simple example, ZUI's screen unlocking animation and unlocking sound have no aesthetic value at all, and it jumps abruptly from the lock screen interface to the main interface. So I always wanted to turn off the unlocking sound, but I never found the corresponding option in the system settings. Moreover, the system settings do not provide a search box. When you start using it for the first time, you have to pay a certain learning cost.

Regarding the interface, in addition to the default theme, ZUI also provides four sets of themes: boys version, girls version and gold version. There is no theme store for users to customize more. But in the final analysis, this is not a problem. If you want to mess around, there are countless third-party theme applications that can definitely meet your needs.

Before I used ZUK, I had heard of its U-Touch button.

This time, ZUK Edge uses hidden fingerprint recognition technology, placing the fingerprint recognition chip completely under the glass panel, integrating the mirror on the front of the phone, and also has the functions of resisting sweat and preventing dust from entering. But this design also affects the original functional interaction logic of U-Touch. Because it can no longer be pressed, U-Touch has many fewer customizable operations. The operation logic of ZUK Edge's U-Touch button is: tap to return, long press to return to the desktop (previously, press to return to the desktop), slide left and right to enter the multi-tasking interface (previously, the operation could be performed by pressing twice). Currently, the only customizable operation left is left and right sliding options.

To be honest, I am not used to or like sliding left and right. Because it adds horizontality to the spatial dimension of the operation, it obviously complicates the operation logic. Of course, if you don’t like this method of operation, you can also turn on virtual buttons. But in this way, the U-Touch that ZUK has always been proud of becomes useless. On the other hand, ZUK Edge has a high screen-to-body ratio of 86.4 as its biggest selling point. I wonder what the screen-to-body ratio will be after turning on virtual buttons. There is often an irreconcilable contradiction between design and practicality. I don’t think ZUK Edge’s invisible U-Touch is an improvement compared to before.

In terms of system functions, let’s first look at basic functions such as phone calls and text messages. Taking the phone as an example, ZUI's phone interface has pinyin quick search and yellow pages functions. Contact persons and various service numbers can be found quickly. In addition, the dial also supports left and right swapping for easy one-handed operation. But in terms of functionality, ZUI is not rich, such as the more popular application clones, camera scanning, etc. Although ZUI provides cloud services, it only supports contacts, pictures, and text messages. Also, the system setting options mentioned above do not have a search function. Although the basic functions are available, the experience is not perfect. This is my general impression of ZUI.

It has not been long since the first version of ZUI was released, and it still does not have its own music player (it comes with QQ Music). This makes me worry that the system does not have its own music player. Security Center, after all, I still feel uneasy leaving security to a third party. In fact, the ZUI system has a built-in security center with a full range of functions such as acceleration, cleaning, traffic monitoring, and harassment interception. This is quite reliable.

The following is a special feature of ZUI. ZUK Edge has 10 built-in professional sensors, including three-axis accelerometer, three-axis gyroscope, three-axis electronic compass, heart rate sensor, etc. It can monitor sports data from more dimensions to guide users' fitness more accurately.

To summarize briefly, although the basic functions are available, the experience is not perfect. This is my general impression of the current ZUI. In addition, ZUK Edge ships with ZUI 2.3, but officials say it is expected to push ZUI 2.5 with Android 7.0 kernel before the Spring Festival. We look forward to further optimization of the system experience by then.

"Evaluation summary: Lenovo ZUK Edge has optimized the internal space structure and narrowed the frame to achieve an extremely high screen-to-body ratio of 86.4, bringing a more shocking frontal look and feel. The invisible U-Touch button The design makes the front of the fuselage look more concise and improves the integration. This is an improvement in the appearance design of ZUK mobile phones. Moreover, the ZUK Edge also has top-notch flagship configurations. Needless to say, the cost-effectiveness is natural.

However, in order to pursue the design of invisible U-Touch buttons, the degree of customization of U-Touch buttons is reduced, and I prefer to think of it as a trade-off between design and practicality. This is a step back. In addition, after a year of update iterations, although the current ZUI 2.3 is sufficient for most users, it still looks like an affordable house with only simple decoration in terms of interaction and rich functions. There is still too much room for optimization in terms of performance, practicality, etc. In addition, the imaging performance of this machine does not fully match its powerful performance, and there is a certain gap between it and mainstream flagships.

"Purchasing advice: As far as products are concerned, Lenovo ZUK Edge has strong performance and good looks. Compared with competing products at the same price, it shows strong competitiveness. For cost-effective For Weiwang users, it is worth buying. But on the other hand, many Snapdragon 820 mobile phones have seen significant price cuts, even approaching a thousand yuan. In terms of performance, the gap between Snapdragon 820 and Snapdragon 821 is not particularly big. , if you are looking for affordable prices, the Snapdragon 820 phone will be more suitable.