There is no sugar-coating the fact that the Lenovo PHAB Plus is one of the latest phones on the market, but despite it’s size I could see a happy future with it.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been splitting my time between the LeTV Max, Meizu MX5 and OnePlus 2. Well actually to be honest its the Meizu and OnePlus that get most of the use as I’ve come to the opinion the Le Max is just too big (plus its a little buggy and the camera isn’t great).
With this in mind I didn’t think I would appreciate the 6.8-inch Lenovo PHAB Plus. This is a phablet that is so big that Lenovo had to add ‘Plus’ to its name just to indicate how huge it is! But in the hand it feels quite manageable. Between the Lenovo and LeTV the former has the less impressive hardware, but it also has the better weight distribution. I feel I could happily wield in one hand.
I can see the Lenovo PHAB Plus making a great travel companion. That huge screen would look great on the dashboard of my car as Google Maps prevents me from driving off a cliff. The kids could use it for games and movies and the promise of a 24 hour battery life makes it the perfect device for using while away from a power outlet.
A few things do worry me though. Although it is claimed that the PHAB Plus can give you 24 hours of use, I am a little wary of this. The 6.8-incher has a battery of just 3500mAh, that’s only slightly larger than some 5.5-inch phones. Another concern I have is the Snapdragon 615 chipset, I hate this processor with a passion. It is the single reason why I don’t use the Xiamoi Mi4i and part of the reason my Vivo X5 Pro is sitting at the bottom of a draw (or lake, I don’t remember which).
The rest of the hardware reads like any other mid-range phone. The surprisingly lightweight unibody comes in gold, silver or black (grey), the massive screen is a 1920 x 1080 panel, rear camera 13 mega-pixel, front 5 mega-pixel and Android 5.1 comes as standard.
Lenovo reps told me that they plan to launch the Lenovo PHAB Plus in Europe for around 299 Euros. I’d wait to see how the Snapdragon 615 handles the big screen before going out to buy one though.
leave this POS on the side Andi!! The mediapad x2 is the way to go
:p
I was looking at getting the letv max but it sounds like it’s not worth it. Very disappointed to hear that. The Lenovo on the other bend looks nice but with that processor, no thank you.
I wouldn’t but the LeMax, its a bit of a let down really
Thanks Andi, I’m still surprised as I’ve been in lots of forums and no one has had a bad word to say about the max. Looks like I’m without a phone for at least another month now 🙁
What happened to your lenovo? Did you send i back?
Yes I did. The 3g wouldn’t work on my new sim card, 2g worked occasionally and the media player kept going off so sent the thing back before I smashed it! The phone itself was great but the camera want up to much in my opinion.
Too many missing features for France… I’m really deceived and sad 🙁
Is the 615 that bad? Or you mean just because you personally have better phones?
The processor is bad in the phones I have. I have the Xiaomi Mi4i and the Vivo X5Pro and they both use the 615 and it is junk. The LeTV Le 1 with Mediatek is better, in fact any MT6752 phone is better than a SD615
thanks andi I was going to say that! Anyway for 300 euros they could have gone with the X10 or something like that with 3gb ram and a way bigger battery…
This is a joke seriously
Thanks. So I will avoid it. Shame the 620 doesn’t use custom cores like the 820.
Well , Huawei p8 has the same 6.8 inch display plus it’s more compact , has bigger battery , better camera , better cpu …but of course double the price
… Mediapad x2??
If you wanna go bigger , then yeah , go for the x2
By the way , I’m a mediapad x1 owner
what’s the difference between 7″ and 6.8″ lol
Well, the x2 is
8 mm taller
10 mm wider
4 mm thicker
And trust me , in real life these figures make a difference
Ok but I have Yeti’s hand hence my name so I don’t mind those smalls differences XD XD. Also the mediapad is head and shoulder above this seriously it’s not even funny. Between 8mm here, 10mm 4mm there and a1 extra gig of ram, a way bigger battery, a way better processor I don’t know who would hesitate do you??
Guess I agree 🙂
Man, Qualcomm may be offering a free Snapdragon 615 for every courageous brand that buy Snapdragon 810…
Same thing I was thinking before I read your post
good one!
leave this POS on the side Andi!! The mediapad x2 is the way to go
:p
I was looking at getting the letv max but it sounds like it’s not worth it. Very disappointed to hear that. The Lenovo on the other bend looks nice but with that processor, no thank you.
I wouldn’t but the LeMax, its a bit of a let down really
Thanks Andi, I’m still surprised as I’ve been in lots of forums and no one has had a bad word to say about the max. Looks like I’m without a phone for at least another month now 🙁
What happened to your lenovo? Did you send i back?
Yes I did. The 3g wouldn’t work on my new sim card, 2g worked occasionally and the media player kept going off so sent the thing back before I smashed it! The phone itself was great but the camera want up to much in my opinion.
Yes I did. The 3g wouldn’t work on my new sim card, 2g worked occasionally and the media player kept going off so sent the thing back before I smashed it! The phone itself was great but the camera want up to much in my opinion.
Too many missing features for France… I’m really deceived and sad 🙁
Too many missing features for France… I’m really deceived and sad 🙁
Everybooty luves zhe “Xiamoi Mi4i ” lol typo in the article
Is the 615 that bad? Or you mean just because you personally have better phones?
The processor is bad in the phones I have. I have the Xiaomi Mi4i and the Vivo X5Pro and they both use the 615 and it is junk. The LeTV Le 1 with Mediatek is better, in fact any MT6752 phone is better than a SD615
thanks andi I was going to say that! Anyway for 300 euros they could have gone with the X10 or something like that with 3gb ram and a way bigger battery…
This is a joke seriously
Thanks. So I will avoid it. Shame the 620 doesn’t use custom cores like the 820.
Well , Huawei p8 has the same 6.8 inch display plus it’s more compact , has bigger battery , better camera , better cpu …but of course double the price
… Mediapad x2??
If you wanna go bigger , then yeah , go for the x2
By the way , I’m a mediapad x1 owner
what’s the difference between 7″ and 6.8″ lol
Well, the x2 is
8 mm taller
10 mm wider
4 mm thicker
And trust me , in real life these figures make a difference
Ok but I have Yeti’s hand hence my name so I don’t mind those smalls differences XD XD. Also the mediapad is head and shoulder above this seriously it’s not even funny. Between 8mm here, 10mm 4mm there and a1 extra gig of ram, a way bigger battery, a way better processor I don’t know who would hesitate do you??
Guess I agree 🙂
I wouldn’t but the LeMax, its a bit of a let down really
I wouldn’t but the LeMax, its a bit of a let down really
Wow 6.8… It’s just to much… I already struggle with a 5.5 in my pocket. I really hope they just stop the madness and make decent 5.0’s and 5.5’s.
Man, Qualcomm may be offering a free Snapdragon 615 for every courageous brand that buy Snapdragon 810…
Same thing I was thinking before I read your post
good one!
Everybooty luves zhe “Xiamoi Mi4i ” lol typo in the article
Wow 6.8… It’s just to much… I already struggle with a 5.5 in my pocket. I really hope they just stop the madness and make decent 5.0’s and 5.5’s.
too expensive !
i would love a 64 bit phone with FHD at 7 inches (for games mostly!)
but this has crazy price written all over !
too expensive !
i would love a 64 bit phone with FHD at 7 inches (for games mostly!)
but this has crazy price written all over !
Woot! Oversized! but, hey, looks fine anyway 🙂 nice toy to have, indeed :p
Woot! Oversized! but, hey, looks fine anyway 🙂 nice toy to have, indeed :p
Looking for a replacement to my Hike 868 Z1 whose sealed battery gave up. What’s your advice on an = or 6+ incher? Meanwhile, I could dispose off your Vivo X5 Pro if you sent it my way!
Looking for a replacement to my Hike 868 Z1 whose sealed battery gave up. What’s your advice on an = or 6+ incher? Meanwhile, I could dispose off your Vivo X5 Pro if you sent it my way!