Which Phablet

On May 27^th I issued the article Welcome to the Bigger Brother of HTC One, where I stated that HTC will soon release a bigger version of the highly popular HTC One. Now we have official news that this phablet has been codenamed T6. According to the rumours, HTC’s first phablet to date will have a 1080 pixel 5.9 inch screen.

The rumours state that the HTC T6 will come with 2.3 GHz quad core Snapdragon 800 processor and 2 GB of RAM. Inside the device one should find 16 GB of internal storage, which should be upgradable by means of a microSD card. One should note that HTC does not normally include microSD slots in its range of smartphones, HTC One included, but HTC is obviously aware that this was putting its products at a disadvantage when compared to the competition. The new phablet is expected to run on Android 5.0 codenamed Key Lime Pie.

The HTC T6 (right) – a bigger version of the HTC One (left)

The front faced camera should be a 2.1 megapixel one, however it is not yet know what resolution will the rear camera support. As in the case of the HTC One, the T6 should have dedicated audio processor.

Coming to battery storage, the android phablet is expected to have a 3300 mAh. However if the rumours are correct, HTC will include a protective cover that will also provide an additional 1250 mAh of battery charge.

The HTC phablet is expected to be a competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Note II and to the Galaxy Note III, which has not been released yet. As a matter of fact, HTC will throw in a stylus pen, just as Samsung did with the Note II. However, according to HTC, the stylus included will be no usual stylus with its ultra-thin tip. This top phablet is also expected to have a finger print reader. The exact release date and the price tag of the HTC T6 are still unknown.

Micromax released the A115 canvas 3D less than a month ago in the Indian market. The A115 comes with a 5 inch screen, 480 x 800 pixels and a pixel density of 187 pixels per inch.

The processor and memory specifications A115 are nothing to write home about. The chipset is MediaTek MT6577, while it runs on a dual core 1 GHz processor. The phablet has 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of internal memory, that can be expanded a further 32 GB by means of a microSD card. The A115 runs on Android version 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

Micromax’s new phablet comes with a 5 megapixel rear camera with a resolution of 2560 x 1920 pixels. The camera supports GEO tagging, autofocus and LED flash. Videos can be recorded at 30 frames per second. The front camera supports resolutions of 0.3 megapixels.

However, what is special about the A115 is the 3D screen, which has the ability to take 3D photos and play 3D games. You might ask: “Is this 3D thing a gimmick?”  Well I would not call it a gimmick. Reviewers suggest that the 3D system does work, but it is not perfect and it does not add a lot to the user experience. Other manufacturers, in particular HTC and LG, have also experimented with 3D technology, but the fact is that the 3D smartphone technology of today still needs to improve in order to appeal to the masses. As a matter of fact, 3D photos taken with the A115 are not particularly impressive.

Apart from the usual accelerometer, gyro, GPS and proximity sensors, the Android phablet includes FM radio, a feature that is omitted in many of today’s smartphones and phablets. Another interesting feature is the dual SIM capability. Having said this, it is important to note that it is not possible to have two SIM cards working on 3G at the same time.

This Micromax phablet comes with a 2000 mAh battery. According to the manufacturer, the battery should provide you with up to 225 hours of stand-by time and to up 4 and a half hours of talk time. The A115 comes in black and white colours. The Micromax A115 may not be a top phablet, but the price tag on it is very cheap. As a matter of fact, it is currently priced at only 9999 Indian Rupees. This is equivalent to US $177, €136 or £117. This fact, together with the fact that the A115 is a well-built phablet, makes it a great buy for anyone looking for a decent smartphone or phablet at a very cheap price.

Asus released the Fonepad phablet in April 2013. The Fonepad is not like most phablets, it is larger and with a 7 inch screen, it is the biggest phablet you could ever find and just on the borderline of being a tablet. The device measures 196.4 x 120.1 x 10.4 mm (7.73 x 4.73 x 0.41 inches) and at 340g (11.99 oz), it is definitely much heavier when compared to other phablets. By comparison the popular Samsung Galaxy Note II weighs 183 g (6.46 oz), but on the other hand the Note II has a 5.5 inch screen.

The display on the Fonepad supports resolutions of 1280 x 800 pixels with a 216 pixels-per-inch screen. It has a front camera of 1.2 megapixels, but surprisingly, there is no camera at the back. Given the size of the device, I would have expected Asus to include a camera at the back for taking photos and recording videos, but Asus said that this was done purposely to keep the cost of the Fonepad down. Truth to be told, Asus did release a Fonepad version with a rear 3.15 megapixel camera, a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels and video recording of 720 pixels. However this version was only released in a few markets and this particular version is not readily available from many retailers.

Also surprising is the fact that the Fonepad only comes with a single core Intel Atom Z2420 1.2 GHz processor and 1 GB of RAM. Having said this, the new phablet from Asus fared fairly well in benchmark tests. While the Fonepad is no powerhouse, it is more than suitable device for the average user who does not mind a little bit of lag and is not interested in running the most graphic intensive games. The graphics processing on the Asus phablet is a PowerVR SGX540.

On the plus side is the fact that the battery is that 4,720mAh battery very long lasting, which according to Asus, will provide up to 9 hours of talk time. Apart from that there is power-saving utility which helps increase the battery life even further. However the battery is non-user replaceable.

The Fonepad’s operating system is Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. There are two Fonepad versions: one comes with 8 GB of internal memory storage and the other which comes with 16 GB of internal memory storage. Bother versions have a memory card slot for inserting a microSD card of up to 32 GB. Apart from a GPS sensor, the phablet includes a proximity sensor, an accelerometer and a compass.

Given the size of the Fonepad, it is not possible for most people to use it with one hand. It is probably also too big to fit into most pockets. Is the Fonepad too big to be used for making calls? Maybe yes, but given that it is nowadays common to see people taking photos with their tablets, there is indeed nothing wrong with using such a big device for making phone cheap replica watches calls. Having said this, some might feel stupid with holding such a massive device to the ear. But after all, everybody should mind his or her own business, so why bother with what people may think after all.

Still, the fact remains that anyone who has small hands will probably find it difficult to use this mega phablet for making phone calls. However, making calls should not be the primary reason for buying a Fonepad. Anyone buying the Fonepad is probably more interested in using the phablet for browsing the internet, social networking and sending emails.

The phablet is available in gray and gold colours and its backside is made from aluminum, which makes it a fairly robust device. Even so, the Asus Fonepad is surprisingly cheap: Amazon.co.uk is selling the 8 GB version (no rear camera included) for £179.97 (approximately $270 or €209). It seems that Asus will not be selling the Fonepad in the US, but that does not stop US customers from buying the Fonepad from some online retailer.

According to the latest HTC news, a bigger version of the highly popular HTC One will be launched soon. It is not yet clear what the size of the new smartphone will be – according to the rumours it will be a phablet between 5 and 6 inches.

The way I see it, the 4.7 inch HTC One is already a competing product to the Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and few other 5 inch screen phablets. After all, about 5 million HTC One phones were sold in about two months. No wonder why so many reviewers voted the HTC One as the best smartphone around (see Is the HTC One the Best Smartphone Ever Made?). This shop replica watches fact, together with the fact that HTC is unlikely to release a new flagship phone before the end of this year, would probably indicate that HTC will not release a 5 inch screen phablet.

However, due to the fact that HTC does not have any competing products to bigger sized phablets, like the Galaxy Note, will probably mean that the new device would have at least a 5.5 inches screen. But at this point I am only assuming and only time will tell whether HTC’s method of thinking is on the same line as mine.

No other details, like the processor, RAM, internal memory and battery are available as yet. It is to be assumed that most of the specifications will remain the same, but it would obviously make sense to include a bigger battery given that a larger screen would consume more power. The exact release date and the cost of the new phablet are also unknown as yet.

According to recent news, Huawei will be introducing a new smartphone by the name of Ascend P6 at an event organized by Huawei on 18^th June. However the Huawei Ascend P6 should be unlike any other phone currently on the market – with a thickness of 6.2 mm is will be the thinnest smartphone in the world. If the information available is exact, this will make the Ascend P6 1.4 mm thinner than the already thin Apple iPhone 5. However, with a 4.7 inch screen, it will definitely be larger than the iPhone 5, which has a 4 inch screen.

The P6 is expected to have a 720 x 1280 pixel display with a pixel density of 312 pixels per inch. The mini-phablet will run on Huawei’s K3V2 chipset and it will have a Quad-core 1.5 GHz CPU and 2 GB of RAM. Inside the P6 one will find 32 GB of internal memory that can be expanded by another 64 GB by means of a microSD card.

The primary 13 megapixel camera can take photos at a resolution of 4032 x 3224 pixels. Camera features will include face detection, geo-tagging, LED flash and autofocus. Video recording at 30 frames per second and 1080 pixels will be supported. No information is available with regards to the resolution of the front camera. Other phone features should include FM radio, dolby sound as well as compass, proximity, gyro and accelerometer. Another very nice feature is the dual SIM capability. No details on the price of the Ascend P6 are available at the time of writing.

The operating system will be Android version 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. The battery is expected to be non-removable (not surprising given the thickness of the smartphone), however the battery size is not yet known at this time. According to the rumours, the Ascend P6 will be available in black, white and pink colours. No pricing details are available at the time of writing.

LG will be releasing the LG Optimus GJ, a water resistant smartphone with IP 57 certification (can stay in water at a depth of 1 meter at up to 30 minutes). The exact specifications of the Optimus GJ are not yet known, however as the name suggests, the specifications are expected to very be similar to those of the LG Optimus G.

The smartphone will have a screen size of 4.7 inches and an HD resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels. It will have dimensions of 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.5 mm (5.19 x 2.71 x 0.33 inches), which makes it marginally larger than the LG Optimus G, having dimensions of 136.9 x 68.9 x 9.9 mm (5.39 x 2.71 x 0.39 inches). The Optimus GJ is expected to weigh 141 g (4.97 oz).

LG’s new device will run of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. It will have a 1.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor and 2 GB of RAM. The internal memory will be 16 GB, which can be expanded by means of a microSD card of up to 64 GB in size.

The rear camera will support resolutions of up to 13 megapixels while at the front one will find a 1.3 megapixel camera. The mini-phablet will have a 2280 mAh battery that will be user replaceable. It will be available in two colours: black and red. According the rumours, the LG Optimus GJ will be available in June in Taiwan at the price of around $600 and it is expected to be released in other countries soon after.

Oppo as a brand is not normally associated with smartphones, as it is more known for selling high quality Blu-Ray disc players. However diversification is a strategy used by a lot of companies and Oppo does not want to be inferior to any of its competitors.

Oppo released the Find 5 in February 2013. The Oppo Find 5 is a five inch screen phablet, having dimensions of 141.8 x 68.8 x 8.9 mm (5.58 x 2.71 x 0.35 inches). At 165 g (5.82 oz), it is somewhat heavier than most of the competing products (the Xperia Z weighs 146 g or 5.15 oz while the Samsung Galaxy S4 weighs 130 g or 4.59 oz). However, this should not really be a problem with most users, given the fact that the build quality of the Find 5 is actually very good.

The display on the Find 5 supports 1920 x 1080 pixels and 441 pixels per inch in full HD. The colour depth is 16 million colours and the contrast ratio is 1000:1. The chipset is Qualcomm APQ8064 Snapdragon and it runs on Qualcomm’s APQ 8064 quad-core 1.5GHz processor. The phablet comes with 2 GB of RAM and an Adreno 320 graphics processing unit. Oppo is selling the find 5 in two different flavours: one with 16 GB of internal memory and one with 32 GB of internal memory. Unfortunately, the internal memory cannot be expanded any further, so one has to keep this in mind before forking out money for the 16 GB version.

Oppo Find 5 comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The battery can provide a charge of 2500mAh and it is not user replaceable. The rear camera can take 13 megapixel photos and it supports LED flash, autofocus, touch focus, panorama, face detection and geo-tagging. Photos are sharp and clear and the colour saturation is very good. Video recording is carried out at 30 frames per second, though reviews suggest that the frame rate can drop rather unexpectedly. The front facing camera supports 1.9 million pixels. The Dolby sound on the Oppo Find 5 makes for a very enjoyable music experience.

On the negative side, the custom Oppo widgets are not very attractive. Basically the widgets are large and placing a border around every app icon makes is unpleasing to the eye. Having said this, there is very little bloatware and after all, one can easily to download widgets from Google Play. The Oppo Find 5 comes in black or white and the 16 GB version is selling at £339.00 on Amazon.co.uk and $493.50 at Amazon.com.

Oppo to Open a European Online Store on May 27

Oppo has announced yesterday that on 27^th May it will be opening an online web store for its European customers. According to the news available, the 16 GB version of the Find 5 will be sold online for €399 (about £339.00 or $515).

HTC has just announced that in June it will be releasing the Desire 600. This new smartphone has a 4.5 inch screen, a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels and a pixel density of 245 pixels per inch. The 600 has dimensions of 134.8 x 67 x 9.3 mm (5.31 x 2.64 x 0.37 inches) and weighs 130 g (4.59 oz).

Inside the phone, one will find 8 GB of internal storage and 1 GB RAM. On the negative side, it is not possible to upgrade the internal memory and the smartphone does not support a microSD card. However, on the positive side, is the fact that it is a dual SIM phone. The Desire 600 runs on a quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A5. The graphics processing unit is Adreno 203 while the chipset is Qualcomm MSM8625Q Snapdragon 200. The operating system is Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

The 8 megapixel primary camera can take 3264 x 2448 pixel photos and it includes LED flash, autofocus, face and smile detection and geo-tagging. The resolution of the front facing camera is 1.6 megapixels. Video recording is supported at 720 pixels and 30 frames per second. The Desire 600 also includes proximity and accelerometer sensors.

The battery on the HTC Desire 600 has a capacity of 1860 mAh. HTC states that this provides up to 11 hours and 20 min of talking time on 2G networks and up to 11 hours of talking time on 3G networks. The manufactures states that Desire 600 offers up to 539 hours of standby time on 2G networks and up to 577 hours of standby time on 3G networks. The smartphone will be available in black or white. No pricing details are available at the time of writing. Unfortunately HTC said that it will only be releasing the smartphone in Ukraine, Russia and the Middle-East for the time being.

A few months ago, LG announced that it should be releasing the LG Optimus F7 sometime after June 2013. The Optimus F7 will be a less powerful version of the LG Optimus G and it is expected to compete with other mid-range smartphones. As a matter of fact, it will have a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 2 GB of RAM.

The screen size will be 4.7 inches; it will have a high density resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels and a pixel density of 312 pixels per inch. The Optimus F7 will have 8 GB of internal memory, which could be expanded by means of a microSD card of up to 32 GB in size. The size of the mini-phablet will be 131.7 x 68.2 x 9.6 mm or 5.19 x 2.69 x 0.38 inches. The battery size will be 2,540mAh.

The 8 megapixel main camera will support resolutions of up to 3264 x 2448 pixels while the front facing camera will take photos of up to 1.3 megapixels in size. The F7 will have a compass as well as an accelerometer and proximity sensor. The operating system it will run when released will be Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. No official pricing details are available; however it is expected to sell at about $550, which is equivalent to €426 or £362.