Disclaimer: A unit of the Lenovo Phab Plus was given to MemerangTech for review purposes.
Big or small, a phone gives you a window into the wide world of the internet. In fact, many countries sees mobile phones and tablets being the first devices used by majority of their citizens to access the internet. No PC here, no siree. But the trouble is, one needs to choose between a tablet or a smartphone as their first purchase – and having two devices is not the most economical thing to do, right? Hence why Lenovo is trying to kill two birds with one stone with their Phab plus, a 6.8 inch 4G LTE phablet (yes, it is the official nomenclature that Lenovo is using for the device).
Design
If you are looking for a smart-looking tablet, this may be the one for you. At just a hair under 7 inches, the screen is a gorgeous 1080p panel with IPS technology for colours that look sweet from any angle. The design of the Phab Plus reminds you of something that came out from Cupertino, rather than Beijing. But thanks to that design, the tablet is comfortable to hold – by both small and large hands.
The aluminium body is also smooth to the touch, and gives good grip when you need it as you hold it for your day to day use. Have to warn you guys – this is definitely not a one-handed use device. You CAN use it one hand but mostly just to hold it to your ear – yes it has a small screen mode, but still, it needs two hands to be used properly.
Rounding up the features on the outside are the power and volume buttons – located on the right hand side of the device, an audio jack on the top and the USB port on the bottom. The power button is located within reach of your thumb so it is very convenient.
Performance
Lenovo has opted to install the Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor in the Phab Plus. So you get an eight-hour processor running things in the background, paired with 2 GBs of RAM that equals…just enough processing power to have the Phab Plus run along without any major lags. When paired to the combo of 32GB on board storage and a micro SD expansion slot that accepts up to 128GB of extra file space, this can be your next portable media device.
Lenovo’s skin for Android is bearable, with most apps and interfaces keeping to the stock Android 5.0 looks and feel. There are some built-in apps, but they are all easily removed by the end user.
Thanks to the Snapdragon 615, the Phab Plus can do most of the stuff relegated to smartphones without any problems – just don’t expect them to be as swift as you get on a faster and higher model processor. Still, the processor is more than enough to drive the 1080p screen, and subsequently playback 1080p content.
Imaging
The camera on the Phab Plus is a 13 megapixel model, with a dual-LED flash and all the jazz that one expect when using a camera. The front meanwhile houses a 5 megapixel sensor for high resolution video conferencing.
I have to say though, that the camera is not the best in the market – the images may look over processed, and it is not the best companion for low light situations. Still, it is more than sufficient for capturing that social media moment with your friends and family.
Check out the image samples down below:
100% Crop of image:
(Image taken with auto mode)
100% Crop of image:
(Image taken with night mode turned on)
100% crop of image:
In the end, the Lenovo Phab Plus may seem to be a solution for a market segment that does not exist – however contrary to belief, the small tablet market is booming, and the Phab Plus with its 4G connectivity option may be the best first device for any users who wants to go online right now.
Retail price: RM 1,119
More info: Lenovo Malaysia
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