Lenovo PHAB Plus Review

posted by John V.
Sep 15, 2015, 9:28 AM

Introduction
When we sat down with Lenovo way back during MWC 2015 earlier in the year, they managed to pique our attention when they teased to us an early prototype of this phablet-esque device they were developing. Despite it being non-functional, the chassis alone got us intrigued because of its premium construction and svelte footprint. That prototype, nevertheless, turned out to be the Lenovo PHAB Plus – a 6.8-inch phablet monster that’s priced inexpensively. Now that it’s here in the flesh, can it still deliver the same level of intrigue?
The package contains:
- Lenovo PHAB Plus
- microUSB cable
- Wall charger
Design
You’d think it’s an iPhone 6 Plus clone based on its uncanny resemblance.
Using it as a daily driver, its size is what draws the most attention when we’re using it deliberately or inconspicuously in public. It certainly doesn’t have any issue commanding attention, primarily because of its sturdy metal chassis, skinny profile, and relatively substantial build quality. For a phone with a 6.8-inch screen, Lenovo does reasonably to trim off as much of the fat as they can – though, it’s still wide in the hand.
Another thing worth pointing out is just its uncanny resemblance to the iPhone 6 Plus. From the two screws flanking the microUSB port, to the positioning of the antenna bands on the back, and just the overall resemblance of the phone, there’s no denying it’s almost a clone! Regardless of that, it’s just incredible how much attention it’s able to stir up with its design. Undoubtedly, it’s the kind of thing that’s always a conversation starter when you’re with a group of friends and decide to whip it out.
Looking around the PHAB Plus, the power and volume controls are placed on the right edge of the phone, offering good feedback when they’re pressed. Their positioning is standard, but we feel it might have been smarter if Lenovo moved them a bit lower down the edge, making it easier to reach them on such a large phone. The 3.5mm headphone jack is positioned on the top left corner, while the microUSB port and microphone are found on the bottom. As for the speaker, it occupies a good chunk of space along the top section of the back.

Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2
Dimensions
6.32 x 3.21 x 0.31 inches
160.5 x 81.6 x 7.9 mm
Weight
6.17 oz (175 g)

Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2
Dimensions
6.32 x 3.21 x 0.31 inches
160.5 x 81.6 x 7.9 mm
Weight
6.17 oz (175 g)
See the full Lenovo PHAB Plus vs Google Nexus 6 vs Huawei Ascend Mate7 vs Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2 in real size or compare them to other phones using our Size Comparison tool.

Display
The punchy color tones of the display make it striking, but it’s the vast size that normally accrues more of the attention.
In true phablet fashion, the Lenovo PHAB Plus draws a lot of attention for its 6.8-inch 1080 x 1920 IPS-LCD display. While its 324 ppi pixel density isn’t ground breaking, it’s more than enough to comfortably visualize sharp details on the screen from a normal distance. Without question, though, its vast size lends its usefulness for multimedia consumption.
Visually speaking, our eyes fancy the punchy colors it produces; it just has that polarizing glow to catch our attention. And even though it doesn’t necessarily hit all the target values in the sRGB color spectrum chart, its color reproduction is well within the threshold of making it perceived as accurate. Its ~7200K color temperature gives the panel a slight cold tone, but it's not such a big deviation from the standard. The biggest challenge for the display is its weak peak luminance of 255 nits, which makes it unusable outdoors.
Quickly glancing on the specs, there’s nothing that really jumps out, but at the end of the day, it’s the generous 6.8-inches of real estate that gives it more precedence over the typical phablet.
Display measurements and quality
Maximum brightness Higher is better | Minimum brightness (nits) Lower is better | Contrast Higher is better | Color temperature (Kelvins) | Gamma | Delta E rgbcmy Lower is better | Delta E grayscale Lower is better | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lenovo PHAB Plus |
257 (Poor) |
5 (Excellent) |
1:1354 (Excellent) |
7215 (Good) |
2.52 |
2.38 (Good) |
3.97 (Good) |
Google Nexus 6 |
270 (Poor) |
1 (Excellent) |
unmeasurable (Excellent) |
6551 (Excellent) |
1.94 |
5.61 (Average) |
2.32 (Good) |
Huawei Ascend Mate7 |
484 (Good) |
11 (Average) |
1:1560 (Excellent) |
7111 (Good) |
2.25 |
2.89 (Good) |
5.16 (Average) |
Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2 |
481 (Good) |
17 (Poor) |
1:1579 (Excellent) |
7135 (Good) |
2.06 |
2.08 (Good) |
5.31 (Average) |
The numbers below represent the amount of deviation in the respective property, observed when a display is viewed from a 45-degree angle as opposed to direct viewing.
Maximum brightness Lower is better | Minimum brightness Lower is better | Contrast Lower is better | Color temperature Lower is better | Gamma Lower is better | Delta E rgbcmy Lower is better | Delta E grayscale Lower is better | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Nexus 6 |
45.2% |
0% |
unmeasurable |
13.7% |
1.5% |
24.2% |
151.7% |
Lenovo PHAB Plus |
69.3% |
60% |
69% |
5.9% |
0.4% |
23.9% |
15.6% |
Huawei Ascend Mate7 |
77.9% |
81.8% |
80.7% |
14% |
11.1% |
22.8% |
15.3% |
Alcatel OneTouch Hero 2 |
84.2% |
88.2% |
78.6% |
2.2% |
7.3% |
20.7% |
34.3% |
The CIE 1931 xy color gamut chart represents the set (area) of colors that a display can reproduce, with the sRGB colorspace (the highlighted triangle) serving as reference. The chart also provides a visual representation of a display's color accuracy. The small squares across the boundaries of the triangle are the reference points for the various colors, while the small dots are the actual measurements. Ideally, each dot should be positioned on top of its respective square. The 'x: CIE31' and 'y: CIE31' values in the table below the chart indicate the position of each measurement on the chart. 'Y' shows the luminance (in nits) of each measured color, while 'Target Y' is the desired luminance level for that color. Finally, 'ΔE 2000' is the Delta E value of the measured color. Delta E values of below 2 are ideal.
These measurements are made using Portrait Displays' CalMAN calibration software.
The Color accuracy chart gives an idea of how close a display's measured colors are to their referential values. The first line holds the measured (actual) colors, while the second line holds the reference (target) colors. The closer the actual colors are to the target ones, the better.
These measurements are made using Portrait Displays' CalMAN calibration software.
The Grayscale accuracy chart shows whether a display has a correct white balance (balance between red, green and blue) across different levels of grey (from dark to bright). The closer the Actual colors are to the Target ones, the better.
These measurements are made using Portrait Displays' CalMAN calibration software.
FEATURED VIDEO

PhoneArena Score:
6.0
- Display 6.8 inches 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Camera 13 MP (Single camera) 5 MP front
- Hardware Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 2GB RAM
- Storage 32GB, microSDXC
- Battery 3500 mAh
- OS Android 5.0 Lollipop
Recent articles