NEC Medias W hands-on

There are still a bunch of smartphone surprises in all shapes and forms coming from the Land of the Rising Sun with every new carrier portfolio. We say shapes and forms, since that's exactly the selling point of the NEC Medias W that is included in NTT DoCoMo's spring launch. Samsung might have a prototype bending phone in the labs with the YOUM flexible screens, but the Japanese are taking the simpler approach.

They just slapped two 4.3" qHD panels, and connected them with a hinge, so when closed the NEC Medias W is not larger than your average smartphone, just a bit thicker. When you open it, though, it reveals a screen that is Note II-sized and more in diagonal, letting you fool around with apps stretching on both screens, or use two apps at the same time.

LTE is onboard, too, and the rest of the specs are a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8 MP camera,  Android Jelly Bean, 16GB of storage and a memory card slot. The unfolding result is akin to carrying a small tablet in your pocket in a phone size, though the chubbiness is definitely there to be felt when the contraption is closed, at 12+ mm. 

The displays have good color representation and decent viewing angles, and the only thing that concerns us is the 2000 mAh battery, as we don't know for how long it will power the two fairly large screens. Still, the NEC Medias W is a very unique handset that is sure to turn some heads after you, provided that you live in one of the Asian markets where it will hit shelves.