If a tablet can make calls, is it a smartphone? If a smartphone is ludicrously large, is it a tablet? These are questions that won’t be clearly answered by the Phab, Lenovo’s latest phablet that focuses primarily on the “tablet” part of that equation.
Starting on the outside, the Phab stays true to its name by packing a 6.98-inch whopper of a display on the front. Unfortunately, we’re dealing with 1,280 x 720 resolution, which, on such a panel, means you’ll be spotting pixels for days. However, the low resolution should be great for battery life, which, with a 4,350mAh battery, should allow the Phab to last for days on a single charge.
Taking a peek under the hood reveals a continuation of the Phab’s mid-range smartphone status, with the phablet powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor and 2GB of RAM. 16GB of native storage is all you’ll get, though the Micro SD card slot allows for up to 64GB of additional storage. A 5-megapixel camera rests above the display, while a 13MP camera capable of 1080p video recording sits around back. You’ll also find your standard array of wireless connections, including 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n.
Finally, and most unfortunately, the aging Android 5.1 Lollipop with Lenovo’s Vide UI overlay runs the show.
Going back to that display, even though there was quite the boom in both expanding smartphone screen sizes, things seem to have slowed down significantly. Case in point, Samsung’s Galaxy Note line of phablets, which started this trend in the first place, hasn’t gone past 5.7-inch displays in more than two iterations. Even so, there is still a market for huge smartphones, particularly for customers whose eyesight isn’t as sharp as it once was.
Unfortunately, the Phab will only be released in India, and for around $185, giving it a fighting chance in the increasingly busy Indian smartphone market. More specifically, the Phab will be available through online retailer Flipkart later this month.
