We’ve featured Lenovo’s Phab 2 Pro back in our July 2016 issue, but now the Tango-enabled phablet has finally made it to our shores and for fans of augmented reality technology, this might be a device worth coveting.
Google wanted to place AR technology into some of the most powerful devices we have today—our smartphones and tablets. And they were developing this idea with the initiative they called Tango. And at this year’s CES, Google announced that they were working with Lenovo to unveil a consumer smartphone that ran Tango’s technology. Roughly six months after that, we see the fruit of that partnership in the Phab 2 Pro.
This phablet, with its 6.4-inch Quad HD display, is dubbed by the company the world’s first AR-enabled device. It packs in some serious specs with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor Tango Edition, making it optimized for Tango apps; 4GB of RAM; 64GB internal storage; Dolby Atmos audio with 5.1 audio capture, three mics with 360-degree voice and noise-canceling technology; fingerprint scanner; aluminum unibody; and a 4,050mAh battery with turbo charging capability.
But what makes this phone standout is the Tango technology, which adds a wide-angle camera and special depth-sensing and motion tracking sensors to the 16-megapixel rear shooter. It brings three cameras to the back and a single fixed-focus 8-megapixel front camera; giving the Phab 2 Pro four cameras all in all.
There are currently 25 Tango-enabled apps on the Play Store, which you can check out by installing this app. And if you want to read our full feature on the Phab 2 Pro, you can read that here.
The Phab 2 Pro retails for P24,999 and is expected to arrive by mid December.
But wait there’s more
The Phab 2 Pro is joined by two more devices: the Phab 2 Plus and Phab 2.
The Phab 2 Plus also has a 6.4-inch screen but with a Full HD resolution. It’s powered by an octa-core MediaTek MT8783 processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB internal storage with microSD expansion. It has a dual 13-megapixel rear camera with laser and phase detection autofocus and an 8-megapixel front camera with f/2.2 aperture. Battery size is the same as the Phab 2 Pro. And this goes for P14,999.
Meanwhile, the Phab 2 has the same 6.4-inch display but with a HD resolution. It runs on MediaTek MT8735 quad-core processor and the same RAM and internal storage capacity with microSD expansion as the Phab 2 Plus. It has a 13-megapixel rear shooter with phase detection autofocus and a 5-megapixel front camera. Battery is the same as the other two at 4,050mAh but should last a bit more than the others with its lower resolution screen. You need to shell out P9,999 to get one of these.
The JaDine factor
Aside from introducing the new devices, Lenovo officially welcomed its newest endorsers: Nadine Lustre and James Reid. You’ve seen James on our cover representing Motorola (a Lenovo-owned brand) but expect to see more of them and hear more about them from us in the coming months. According to Lenovo Philippines Country General Manager Michael Ngan, “For us, JaDine embodies the brand values which they celebrate: forward looking individuals who are always progressing, unstoppable in their conviction and ambition to forge their own path. Their attitude resonates with Lenovo’s brand that challenges conventional thinking.”
