Realizing Lenovo Phabs are niche and wouldn't attract a lot of Androidians based on size and less than favorable reviews elswhere, I decided to check into the large phone models anyway.
I had been looking for a small LTE capable tablet that might fit into my wants/needs.
Most devices dedicated as tablets I find are painful and uncomfortable to hold.
I thought one handing a device under the 7-8 inch range would fit the bill much better for me.
This device is proving to be the answer.
Keeping 2 things in mind:
The Phab 2 is very large for a phone (screen@ 6.4 inches).
I paid $169.00 for it on sale from B&H Photo.
Also I'm unsure yet I don't believe the PB2 or it's counterparts will ever see Nougat from Lenovo.
With a Mediatek MT8735 processor@ 1.3 ghz and 3GB of LPDDR3 ram this device doesn't seem like it should be lighting any fires on screen obviously.
As far as backup device function the PB2 is attractive for my use with it's dual SIMs and 32GB of internal storage.
In addition for me it wins as a connected media consumption device also.
The size does make for ungainly handling in certain instances such as using as a camera in any form.
Humans the size of the Hulk may enjoy this as a pocket friendly phone.
For most a 7 inch tall phone could be a real chore to have with you all day.
Using this as a phone is a no go for this user as this looks like the phone King Kong would use for calls.
Huge isn't all bad however.
The PB2 is very good as an armchair device or while laying back to catch up before dozing off.
The low res screen at 720p to me is still sharp enough for reading or just about anything that renders well while browsing.
YouTube's, HD video and streaming content are all pleasing from what I've seen.
Audio is fine especially with Dolby Atmos built in.
Watching Netflix or any other content using the speaker I find to be pleasing since the sound from the single speaker is full without much distortion.
The display does fall short in certain areas such as HD icons or some digital elements on screen that demand a high pixel count.
The Phab 2 is performing very well for me on T-Mobile data and Wi-Fi.
Stays connected and usually shows good signal strength in a few areas I've had problems with using other phones.
I don't use this as a phone yet I find call quality acceptable the few times I've talked on it.
The front camera on this thing can go from unusable to not bad.
Low light of course is the enemy of any smartphone camera.
Using the rear camera is a crap shoot.
Pics are anything from dismal to surprisingly good.
Again available light is probably the culprit.
I've abandoned the Lenovo camera for Snap Camera (paid)
So far Snap has proven the camera is capable of a moderately improved pic taking experience.
When it comes to features or performance of this thing which of course are crucial, I would say it's not so much the affordability or acceptable hardware that centers this phone correctly for users like myself...it's the size.
Left to right;
Lumia 925
ZTE Axon 7
Lenovo Phab 2
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