Lenovo goes large with phantastic Phab and Phab Plus

By Simon Hill September 2, 2015

The phablet trend continues to gather pace. Phablets are by far the fastest growing device type in the smartphone world, jumping 148 percent in 2014, according to Flurry. Now Lenovo is looking to get in on the action with a daring duo dubbed the Phab and Phab Plus.

Lenovo Phab

The Lenovo Phab has a 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. There’s a 64-bit quad-core processor inside with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, expandable by up to 64GB with a MicroSD card. It will run Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the gate, with Lenovo’s interface on top.

If that all sounds a bit underwhelming, and it does, then perhaps the 4250mAh battery, or the 13-megapixel and 5-megapixel cameras will sweeten the deal. It’s also a dual Micro SIM device, and you’ll find support for Bluetooth 4.0, 4G LTE, and Dolby Atmos sound.

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lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus black hero 07 — Lenovo Phab Image used with permission by copyright holder

lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus black hero 08 — Lenovo Phab Image used with permission by copyright holder

lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus black hero 01 — Lenovo Phab Image used with permission by copyright holder

lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus family 01 — Lenovo Phab Image used with permission by copyright holder

lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus family 02 — Lenovo Phab Image used with permission by copyright holder

Lenovo claims one-handed operation is easy, and the device is optimized for it with some software tweaks. The Phab is only 0.35 inches (8.9mm) thick and weighs 8.8 ounces (250g). Lenovo is claiming 24 hour battery life for talk time, but even with a low res display like this you’re not going to get anywhere near that from general usage.

You’ll be able to pick the Lenovo Phab up in black, red, white, or blue, and it’s going to cost just $179.

Lenovo Phab Plus

The headliner for Lenovo is the Phab Plus, though it confusingly has a smaller 6.8-inch display, thankfully with a full 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution this time. It has the 64-bit, octa-core, Snapdragon 615 processor inside, backed by 2GB of RAM. There’s 32GB of internal storage, once again with an option to expand by another 64GB via the MicroSD card slot.

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lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus silver — Lenovo Phab Plus Image used with permission by copyright holder

lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus gray tour 01 — Lenovo Phab Plus Image used with permission by copyright holder

lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus gray hero 05 1 — Lenovo Phab Plus Image used with permission by copyright holder

lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus gray tour 02 — Lenovo Phab Plus Image used with permission by copyright holder

lenovo goes large with phantastic phab and plus gold details 01 — Lenovo Phab Plus Image used with permission by copyright holder

We find the same combination of 13-megapixel main camera with auto-focus and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with fixed focus. But the battery in the Phab Plus is significantly smaller at 3500mAh. In fact, the whole device is significantly smaller at just 0.3 inches (7.6mm) thick and weighing in at 7.8oz (222g). You’ll find the same support for Bluetooth 4.0, 4G LTE, dual SIM, and Dolby Atmos sound.

The Lenovo Phab Plus will be offered in gunmetal or platinum and it goes on sale at $299.

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Simon Hill is an experienced technology journalist and editor who loves all things tech. He is currently the Associate Mobile…

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