Lenovo Phab 2 Pro review
Our Early VerdicT
The first Tango phone impresses with its design, display and AR capabilities. A heavy reliance on apps and large body are its biggest missteps, but this phone could start a revolution.
For
- Gorgeous display
- Feels great
- Powerful and promising Tango tech
Against
- It's big
- Heavily reliant on apps
- Limited availability
Update: We've spent even more time with the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. Check out our updated impressions below!
The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is a phone of firsts, starting with the fact that it's the first consumer Tango phone.
It's capable of rendering augmented reality (AR) in real time thanks to a team of rear cameras and a host of specialized tech on the inside.
If you're having trouble wrapping your head around that measurement, let me put it like this: the Phab 2 Pro is big. It's bigger than the 5.5-inch iPhone 6S Plus, 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and 5.96-inch Nexus 6. It's not quite as outrageous as the 6.8-inch Huawei P8 Max, but it pushes the limits of comfort when you're holding it with one hand.
The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro isn't big just because it wants to be, however. All the Tango tech has to live somewhere, and it's actually impressive Lenovo managed to shrink the same sensors found in the powerful Tango tablet into something that passes for a viable handset.
The Phab 2 Pro relies on three things to create an AR experience: motion tracking, depth perception and area learning. It's imperative that the phone knows where it is in relation to physical objects to accurately integrate your surroundings into whatever Tango application you're using.
This makes sense when you're, say, using the Phab 2 Pro to measure a cabinet in a home improvement store to see whether it will fit in your kitchen, but it's also evident when you're playing an AR game that has you walking around a room. You feel more in the game thanks to the Phab 2 Pro's positional awareness. The effect may be subtle in some cases, but it makes a noticeable difference.
The 16MP camera isn't alone on the rear. There's also depth and motion sensing cameras, creating a trio of lenses that are integral to the whole Tango system.
That system relies on something Lenovo representatives referred to as the "Tango core." This is the software that stitches everything together, laying the AR experience on top of the information the phone is gathering from the real world. A Snapdragon 652 processor made for Tango helps everything dance together smoothly.
The result of this mingling of the virtual and real comes to life on the Phab 2 Pro's display. It's gorgeous. Curved around the edges to give it a bezel-less look, the Quad-HD (2560 x 1440) 2K IPS screen sparkles whether you're looking at the home screen, applications, games, or photos. It's so silky - playing a game or watching a movie on the Phab 2 Pro for hours promises to be a visual treat.
When you strip away the Phab 2 Pro's Tango flare and display, you're still left with a good device that rivals some of the industry's top dogs. You can't scoff at these credentials: 4GB RAM, 64GB of onboard storage that can be boosted up to 128GB with the microSD slot, Dolby Atmos speakers, Dolby 5.1 audio capture, and a hulking 4,050mAh battery.
Yet, despite being a first-of-its-kind phone with commendable specs to boot, the Phab 2 Pro isn't a runaway smash. A lot of questions remain, largely because the phone - and all Tango devices - will rely heavily on apps to make them worthwhile
The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is a phone of firsts, starting with the fact that it's the first consumer Tango phone.
It's capable of rendering augmented reality (AR) in real time thanks to a team of rear cameras and a host of specialized tech on the inside.
If you're having trouble wrapping your head around that measurement, let me put it like this: the Phab 2 Pro is big. It's bigger than the 5.5-inch iPhone 6S Plus, 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and 5.96-inch Nexus 6. It's not quite as outrageous as the 6.8-inch Huawei P8 Max, but it pushes the limits of comfort when you're holding it with one hand.
The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro isn't big just because it wants to be, however. All the Tango tech has to live somewhere, and it's actually impressive Lenovo managed to shrink the same sensors found in the powerful Tango tablet into something that passes for a viable handset.
The Phab 2 Pro relies on three things to create an AR experience: motion tracking, depth perception and area learning. It's imperative that the phone knows where it is in relation to physical objects to accurately integrate your surroundings into whatever Tango application you're using.
This makes sense when you're, say, using the Phab 2 Pro to measure a cabinet in a home improvement store to see whether it will fit in your kitchen, but it's also evident when you're playing an AR game that has you walking around a room. You feel more in the game thanks to the Phab 2 Pro's positional awareness. The effect may be subtle in some cases, but it makes a noticeable difference.
The 16MP camera isn't alone on the rear. There's also depth and motion sensing cameras, creating a trio of lenses that are integral to the whole Tango system.
That system relies on something Lenovo representatives referred to as the "Tango core." This is the software that stitches everything together, laying the AR experience on top of the information the phone is gathering from the real world. A Snapdragon 652 processor made for Tango helps everything dance together smoothly.
The result of this mingling of the virtual and real comes to life on the Phab 2 Pro's display. It's gorgeous. Curved around the edges to give it a bezel-less look, the Quad-HD (2560 x 1440) 2K IPS screen sparkles whether you're looking at the home screen, applications, games, or photos. It's so silky - playing a game or watching a movie on the Phab 2 Pro for hours promises to be a visual treat.
When you strip away the Phab 2 Pro's Tango flare and display, you're still left with a good device that rivals some of the industry's top dogs. You can't scoff at these credentials: 4GB RAM, 64GB of onboard storage that can be boosted up to 128GB with the microSD slot, Dolby Atmos speakers, Dolby 5.1 audio capture, and a hulking 4,050mAh battery.
Yet, despite being a first-of-its-kind phone with commendable specs to boot, the Phab 2 Pro isn't a runaway smash. A lot of questions remain, largely because the phone - and all Tango devices - will rely heavily on apps to make them worthwhile
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