Hybrid smartphone and tablet: TOP-5 phablets 2016-2017

 

A performant platform, a display with natural colour reproduction, a fast fingerprint scanner, an IR port, long-term battery life, price.

 

 

Difficult one-handed operation, poor video quality.

 

The design of a tablet-like smartphone with a screen size of 6.44" shows the common features of the modern line of Xiaomi mobile phones. This is especially noticeable when looking at the back of the gadget, divided into a metal middle, as well as plastic inserts on top and bottom.

The phablet is available in a variety of configurations: from the simplest with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory on board to the top-end with 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB drive. The golden mean between these varieties is the 32-gigabyte version of the smartphone, which operates on an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 chip and has 3 GB of RAM. The AnTuTu synthetic test gives a result of 77K for such a bundle . "points", which means that it is possible to perform any everyday tasks and run heavy applications without any problems.

The gigantic screen of the gadget is covered with 2.5D glass, and on its sides there are very rather big frames. However, against the background of the overall size of the model, they do not seem like that. With an impressive diagonal, it is comfortable to control the gadget with one hand, except for owners of large palms and long fingers.

The quality of the images on the main camera of the smartphone deserves an "above average" rating: in daylight, a 16-megapixel module with an f/2.0 aperture gives an excellent result, and when the lighting level drops, the image can be spoiled by noise. Using manual settings increases the chance of getting acceptable pictures. Video shooting is given to the camera with difficulty — although it can record videos in 4K format (3840x2160 pixels), the video sequence does not shine with high quality. In addition, the absence of a stabilization system makes itself felt. The front camera has a resolution of 5 MP and can write video in FullHD format.

One of the "chips" of Xiaomi smartphones is the presence of an IR port for controlling equipment, which was no exception for Xiaomi Mi Maximum The level of battery life of the gadget deserves great respect — the 4850 mAh battery provides 2 full days of active operation of the smartphone. And although support for Qualcomm Quick Charge technology has not been officially announced by the manufacturer, actually fast charging (see the article "Brief educational programme on fast and wireless charging technologies") of the battery is present. Finally, another factor "for" is the attractive price tag of the model, making it one of the most affordable phablets on the market.

The first phablet in the model range of the Chinese company Meizu was released to compete with Xiaomi Mi Max 32 GB / 3 GB . This is clearly indicated by the similarity of the names of both models, as well as their direct comparison within the framework of the premiere of the Meizu M3 Max to the public, held at the dawn of autumn 2016.

Unlike its rival, the Meizu smartphone has a screen size that is more convenient to control with one hand (6" versus 6.44" for Xiaomi). The dimensions of the gadget at the same time practically do not exceed the similar dimensions of the 5.5-inch Apple iPhone 7 Plus 32 GB . Thin frames around the display further enhance the convenience of using a smartphone. By the way, the screen is based on an IPS matrix with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and good viewing angles. There are no complaints about the quality of its colour rendering from the owners of the device.

The multifunctional Home key is implemented in an interesting way: when you touch its surface, you return one position back, and when you press it, you are redirected to the start screen. In addition, it has a built-in fast and accurate fingerprint scanner that works completely without mistakes.

The hardware of the smartphone is based on the hardware of the super-popular model Meizu M3 Note 16 GB / 2 GB . It is represented by an 8-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor, 3 GB of RAM and a Mali T-860 graphics accelerator. This hardware cannot be called high-performance, but it can run any modern games on average graphics parameters. But the volume of the phablet's built—in data storage starts at 64 GB — nevertheless, the gadget is positioned as a multimedia device, so Chinese engineers considered the release of 16 or 32 GB versions to be a low priority. The memory can also be expanded using a microSD flash drive with a capacity of up to 128 GB.

In terms of photo and video capabilities, both smartphone cameras (the main 13-megapixel with an aperture of f/2.2 and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with an aperture of f/2.0) do not stand out in any way, being quite mediocre. The more advantageous against their background looks a capacious battery of 4100 mAh with support for fast charging technology — battery cells are filled up to 45% in just 30 minutes. And the friendly Flyme shell is also being revealed on the smartphone with might and main (see the article "Why is the Flyme account important, or what is the threat of buying a grey Meizu") with all kinds of gestures and scrolling that make the process of managing a large diagonal much more comfortable.

The second version of the phablet with the Plus prefix has acquired more similarities with the family of smartphones than the tablet firstborn of the line Lenovo Phab Plus 770M 32 GB . It's all the fault of reducing the diagonal of the model's screen from a huge 6.8" to a slightly more comfortable 6.4.

Tablet roots in the device are issued by the MediaTek MT8783 chip, because the eight-thousandth series of processors is designed specifically for installation in tablets. The overall performance of the gadget and the speed of its operation are not the highest, but there are no special inconveniences at the household level of use.

The Lenovo Phab 2 Plus audio component includes a loud speaker and JBL headphones, which are carefully placed in the box with the device. About 25 GB of internal memory (out of 32 GB of total volume) is allocated for storing music and other content, and it is also possible to replace the second SIM card with a microSD drive with a maximum capacity of up to 128 GB.

The image quality on the gadget screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels does not upset. With a 6.4-inch diagonal, the pixel density is 344ppi, which affects the comfort of image perception and minimal CPU load during image output. Accordingly, the model is characterized by moderate power consumption — the 4050 mAh battery loses its charge only after 5-6 hours of screen activity.

The most interesting feature of the phablet is the dual main camera. And if in Huawei P9 32 GB / 3 GB the second module performs the function of monochrome shooting, and in the Apple iPhone 7 Plus acts as a longer focus, then in the brainchild of Lenovo, the second peephole is designed for post-focus images. In other words, the user can change the focus area to sharpness after the photo has been taken. Otherwise, the 13-megapixel main camera and the 8-megapixel front camera are unremarkable and the quality of shooting in poor lighting conditions leaves much to be desired.

The phablet is suitable for fans of this class of devices that do not put forward serious performance requirements. The element of the gadget lies in providing the comfort of content consumption — whether it's movies, music or web surfing.

The minimal side frames around the screen of a Sony smartphone do not immediately give out huge dimensions in it. With a 6-inch diagonal display, the width of the device differs only by a millimetre in a big way from Apple's flagship phones with a 5.5-inch screen (iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 7 Plus). Frameless design greatly simplifies the control of the gadget with one hand.

Games and applications are launched with a phablet "with a bang", although the MediaTek Helio P10 processor does not always pull heavy programs at maximum graphics parameters. There is nothing surprising in this, because the gadget is more focused on playing multimedia files (watching movies, TV series, online videos, etc.).

The high-quality FullHD screen of the phablet has a wide range of brightness adjustment, which is more than enough for comfortable reading in a dark room before going to bed, and for the possibility of using a smartphone in bright sunlight. The colour gamut of the display traditionally gives off a little blue for Sony phones.

The front panel of the gadget attracts attention because of the huge "eye" of the front camera, next to which there is a flash. The pleasant features of the selfie module do not end there, because all the most interesting things are hidden inside — a large sensor (1/2.6"), high aperture (f/2.0), advanced autofocus and an optical image stabilization system are strong confirmation of this. The stub helps not only to protect the pictures from possible smudging, but also helps in video shooting, which will undoubtedly please video bloggers.

For some reason, the main camera turned out to be less luminous (f/2.2) and devoid of optical stabilization. But she is proud of her matrix with an impressive resolution of 21.5 MP. Photos and videos can be stored either in the phone's internal memory (about 10 GB of the total 16 GB is available to the user) or on a memory card for which a separate slot is provided.

Given the orientation of the smartphone to the multimedia segment, its battery capacity of 2700 mAh looks rather strange. With active gaming, the battery will go to zero in just 3 hours, and when reading it, it will last for 12 hours. Phablet owners are invited to use efficient energy-saving algorithms or purchase an external battery.

The largest smartphone in the line of the South Korean brand Samsung has one of the highest indicators in the phablet segment in terms of the "screen—body" ratio (76%), which makes the device convenient to operate with one hand.

The 6-inch FullHD-resolution display is built using SuperAMOLED technology, which is famous for good colour reproduction, wide viewing angles and low response time. And such screens also provide a deep display of black colour, practically without consuming energy for its output. A durable Gorilla Glass of the 4th generation is installed on top of the display, reliably protecting the screen from scratches.

Inside the stylish metal case hides the hardware of the middle class: Qualcomm Snapdragon 562 processor, which has 8 cores with a clock speed of 1.8 GHz, 3 GB of RAM and a built-in 32 GB drive.Although the hardware is not the most top-end, but it handles with the tossing of heavy applications and the launch of modern games at high graphics settings, which is also the merit of the Adreno 510 graphics accelerator.

Flattering words deserve both smartphone camera modules — Samsung knows a lot about the production of matrices, which are often used in their design by third-party manufacturers of mobile gadgets. So, the main camera boasts a 13-megapixel resolution, the presence of a fast autofocus and optical image stabilization system, as well as excellent operation of HDR and panoramic shooting modes. The front module also spits out most of the competitors' solutions, standing out against their background with an 8-megapixel resolution. Both cameras can record video in FullHD format, but shooting in the increasingly popular 4K resolution, unfortunately, is not supported by them.

The only point that causes complaints in the design of the model is due to the lack of a notification indicator. But they did not forget about the fingerprint scanner built into the Home key. In general, Samsung Galaxy A9 2016 is designed to be an excellent solution for mobile gamers and adherents of watching video content on a large smartphone screen, providing them with all the features to fulfill these goals.