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Big in size but easy to use

Hewlett-Packard (HP) introduced its first-ever phablet device in the country earlier this year and the company has decided to focus on mid-range market

Hewlett-Packard (HP) introduced its first-ever phablet device in the country earlier this year and the company has decided to focus on mid-range market rather than starting off from the budget segment. Can the company make itself visible in a highly competitive Indian smartphone space with this device? Let us find out.

HP Slate 6 VoiceTab sports a 6-inch HD display and is powered by Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system. The phablet packs a 1.2 GHz quad-core chipset from Marvell and 1 GB RAM. It comes fitted with 5 MP rear and 2 MP front cameras, expandable storage up to 64 GB, dual-SIM support and loaded with 3000 mAh battery.

HP has been typically known for well built devices over the years and Voice Tab feels no different. Built underneath plastic finishing, the display offers good viewing angles but not the brightest in terms of display reproduction mainly due to the HD resolution nature. The rear panel comes with a glossy finish coating with HP branding at the centre. The dual-SIM slot option and microSD card slot are placed underneath the back panel at the top. The device comes in sleek and lightweight form factor and carries a certain ?HP? look and feel to it.

Specifically catering to markets like India, the Slate 6 VoiceTab comes with a good quality body built and a hint of finish that resembles HTC One design atleast on the front. The phablet is easy to carry for its size and weighs less than the printed figure which is always a welcome sign for anyone looking to buy a big-display device. One thing we noticed is the difficulty in opening the rear panel on the Voice Tab, may be HP could have kept it simple.

HP Slate 6 Voice Tab is not only priced in the mid-range segment but also performs like one. We did observe occasional lags on the device while multitasking mostly. The audio output of the phablet is fairly decent but one is always better off using earphones. We tried out few games on the Voice Tab like Subway Surfer and tasking games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, Nova 3 etc. Much to our delight, there was no heating effect on the device and the experience was smooth.

We could not test the calling quality of the device as the review unit we received did not read SIM card on either of the slot. The cameras on the phablet are strictly average which sadly should not be the case for a high-priced device. However, we were impressed with the battery life on Slate 6 which lasted our test (running HD movies on Wi-Fi at full brightness) for more than seven hours which depending on usage translates to more than a day?s life.

All in all, HP has made a decent first attempt with Slate 6 Voice Tab. The display could have been brighter, built-wise the Voice Tab is manageable but cameras leave us wanting more. Battery life and dual-SIM are still the brightest point about the device. There are better options in the market at this price, but if 6 inch form factor is your need then Slate 6 comes at top.

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First published on: 10-04-2014 at 03:23 IST
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