Hawlett-Packard commonly known as HP which we all know for its computer peripherals and even laptops jumped into the smartphone market yet again in February this year. After approximately two years since they killed the WebOS, HP is now back in the market this time with Android.
HP has always been known for their premium products which was witnessed with the HP TouchPad as well. In February 2014, HP launched two new products in India namely, HP Slate 6 VoiceTab and HP Slate 7. We finally have got the HP Slate 6 VoiceTab in our office and have been reviewing it for two weeks now. HP Slate 6 is a phablet device which is now pretty common with every smartphone manufacturer but what makes this phablet stand out? Read below to know more.
Build:
HP has got this right. As said before, HP is known for its premium products giving them a perfect build even at affordable prices and HP has done it again. The Slate 6 VoiceTab has one of the best design on a phablet. The effort put in the design clearly reflects on the device because it is exactly how a phablet should be build. It will neither suit a smartphone nor a tablet, perfect fit for this category.
With thickness of 9mm and 160grams weight, we think that HP handled the dimensions pretty well. It is easy to hold despite of its big 6-inch screen. Operability is not talked about because phablet are never easy to operate isn’t it?
The Slate 6 has rectangular slab design with rounded corners and just the impressive thickness to make it look appealing. It has a plastic body with gold edge finishing and back panel with glass-weave texture matte finish. The buttons are properly placed and feel firm rather than shaky in a flimsy body.
Display:
The HP Slate 6 VoiceTab features a 6-inch HD display with 1280×720 pixels resolution with 245ppi pixel density. The color reproduction, and brightness look at to the par but we have seen better. The outdoor legibility have issues with bright sunlight which is very hard to achieve so not much complaints here.
Hardware:
The HP Slate 6 VoiceTab is powered by a Marvell PXA1088 chipset having 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM and 16GB internal memory. It features an external microSD card slot which can support memory up to 64GB. It features two front-dual speakers and runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It comes with 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, and Bluetooth v3.0 along with a 3000mAh battery.
Software:
HP Slate 6 VoiceTab runs on Android 4.2.2 JellyBean with the stock Android UI. It looks like HP didn’t tweaked even a little except for some pre-loaded applications which include HP’s inhouse built Bag it today, Connected, File manager etc and some third party apps like WeChat.
Camera:
The camera on the phablet just like tablets is not good. The 5MP camera on the Slate 6 clicks okayish pictures in daylight while the low-light goes real bad, too noisy and grainy. It can record up to 720p videos with a 2MP front-facing camera suitable for all video conversations.
The photo gallery has been uploaded on this link.
Performance
The HP Slate 6 VoiceTab is a well designed Android phablet which lacks at performance. HP has put in their best effort crafting this build which is not flimsy or shaky but instead is very solid. The weavy matte finish back gives it a very appealing look and the cornered edges makes it comfortable in hands.
The user experience of the device also includes the overall performance of the device which kinda lags in this device. For a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1GB RAM we expected this device to run smoothly for all the basic needs like web browsing, social media, apps but instead we observed some lags even while scrolling the app grid. Looks like the operating system was not made compatible with the device. The benchmark results lied somewhere between Nexus 4 and Samsung Galaxy S2.
Slate 6 VoiceTab gaming performance was quite decent. We tried playing EPOCH 2 and Need for Speed Most Wanted which adapting to the GPU and display renders a pleasant gaming experience.
It has dual SIM standby with supporting both microSIM card slot with 3G+ 2G and mini SIM card supporting only 2G connectivity. Connectivity features overall worked good, though could be faster. The 3000mAh battery could easily run for 12 to 16 hours of heavy usage with 3-4 hours screentime and WiFi or 3G connected throughout the day.
Verdict:
HP reentering the smartphone market with Android was a wise decision after their WebOS loss but they have to do something different to survive. HP having a brand image counts as a huge incentive but they themselves have to proof with their products.
HP Slate VoiceTab 6 as mentioned above have great design and build but somehow not reaches our expectation with the performance. It probably our some software glitches which can be fixed later in updates which I hope HP will be coming up with other than that great hardware.
Priced at ₹22599 it might not be the best option out there but a considerate one when we apply the filter for large screen androids with calling. It is a good option when you want a tablet with dual SIM card support definitely not the cheapest but good.
Pros:
- Display
- Solid Build
- Great Design
Cons:
- Software performance
- Camera
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