Lenovo ZUK Z1 Pro Reviews

Over the past few months we had a chance to review dozens of phones from small Chinese brands and some global players like Asus, Lenovo and Huawei. The ZUK is a different beast. The new Lenovo brand has global aspirations, and it’s not in the business of making cheap, commoditised phones. ZUK Z1 is not a bargain bin device, but it doesn’t perform like one, either. Prices at GearBest start at $299 shipped from China, while European consumers should expect to pay about $349 from EU stock (faster shipping, no customs issues). It might not be a “flagship killer” but it’s not far behind. Depending on what you need and look for in a phone, the ZUK Z1 can be an excellent daily driver, thanks to its snappy hardware and excellent OS, not to mention the two-day battery. Can we recommend it? Yes. It’s halfway between the OnePlus Two and OnePlus X in terms of pricing, yet it’s much closer to the OnePlus Two in everything else (save for choice of CPU).

The Z1 is a good first attempt from ZUK. It's not a super-cheap budget phone, but we think the price is about right given the hardware inside. Standout features include the 5.5in full-HD screen, large battery, 64GB of built-in storage and USB-C port. Although there's no removable battery or microSD card support, you could argue that you need neither.