Lenovo PHAB and PHAB PLUS enter the US as budget 4G call-enabled tablets with plenty of extras

Today at Berlin's IFA 2015 conference, Lenovo coined a new mobile device category - the "phab". What's a phab? Well, it's the immediate result of adding Phone + Tab. Because phone + tablet would make for "phablet", which is already taken (and abused to no end), get it? Etymology struggles aside, the Lenovo PHAB series (marketed in uppercase) encompasses two devices, the PHAB and PHAB PLUS. Those who've had the opportunity to mingle with an ASUS FonePad (or have merely heard about it) will immediately decipher Lenovo's direction.

The dual-SIM PHAB features a 7-inch 720x1280 resolution IPS LCD display and is powered by a quad-core 64-bit Qualcomm processor (possibly the Snapdragon 410/412). There are 1GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage memory on-board. Driven by a 4250mAh battery, the phab should be quite a long-lasting one with its frugal chipset, and it's also rather generous in its array of "bonus" features - a 13MP auto-focus rear camera with flash, a 5MP fixed-focus front camera, a 3 x mic array (for noise cancellation and group talking), and Dolby Atmos 3D Surround Sound support. Not exactly stuff that you'd expect to come onto a budget tablet that makes phone calls, but this is Lenovo we're talking about here.

PHABULOUS!

Turning our attention to the Lenovo PHAB Plus, we are faced with a design and hardware upgrade that's bound to turn a few heads at the store! This one gets a metal unibody build, a 6.8-inch IPS LCD 1080p resolution screen, and a more capable Snapdragon 615 SoC running the guns. There are 2GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable internal storage on this bombjack, but curiously enough, the PHAB Plus gets a lower capacity 3500mAh battery unit, and loses the three mic array. The 13MP/5MP camera combo and Dolby Atmos 3D both made it through, however.