HP Slate 6 VoiceTab hands-on and first impressions Better known for its PCs and printers, HP today re-entered the smartphone market with the global launch of the Slate 6 VoiceTab phablet in India for Rs 22,990. in the recent past, we have noticed smartphone players inching towards the mid-range phablet segment, and with the Slate 6 VoiceTab, HP too is targeting the same segment. And to make some space for itself in this market, HP has tried to offer a decent set of features on the phablet. We have been using the Slate 6 VoiceTab for a few days and here are our first impressions. HP-Slate-6--VoiceTab-1 Better known for its PCs and printers, HP today re-entered the smartphone market with the global launch of the Slate 6 VoiceTab phablet in India for Rs 22,990. in the recent past, we have noticed smartphone players inching towards the mid-range phablet segment, and with the Slate 6 VoiceTab, HP too is targeting the same segment. And to make some space for itself in this market, HP has tried to offer a decent set of features on the phablet. We have been using the Slate 6 VoiceTab for a few days and here are our first impressions. View the full HP Slate 6 VoiceTab Hands-On Photos gallery HP Slate 6 VoiceTab Hands-On Photos - Image 1 of 4 HP Slate 6 VoiceTab Hands-On Photos - Image 2 of 4 HP Slate 6 VoiceTab Hands-On Photos - Image 3 of 4 HP Slate 6 VoiceTab Hands-On Photos - Image 4 of 4 Starting with the design, the Slate 6 VoiceTab is mainly made of plastic. HP has tried its best to trim the thickness of the device, and the Slate 6 VoiceTab is really sleek. The front of the phone comes without any hard buttons, and has an edge-to-edge display coupled with two front firing speakers defining the top and bottom of the front. The speaker grill has a metallic finish, which doesn’t look as polished as what we have seen on devices like the HTC One. HP-Slate-6-VoiceTab-15 Turning to the rear of the device, the company has used a patterned-texture on the plastic back panel, which comes with a hint of gold on the edges. HP has actually tried to give it a metallic look that gives a crystal ball like effect in light. The pattern is nothing like anything we have ever seen before and makes the device stand out. However, it is not something everyone can carry off. The rim running across the sides has a light golden hue, which looks subtle. The 6-inch HD (720p) display on the phablet looks fine and reflects colors well, but does not leave a great impression. It can partially be due to its screen size, which offers more space for pixels to sit and reduces pixel density of the 720p display. We surely have seen better displays with similar resolution in this or lower price range. HP-Slate-6--VoiceTab-5 Also, the touch interface on the phablet leave a scope of improvement, and you can notice the lags, which is a bit sad considering that the company has not really made much changes in the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean running on the phablet. The lag could probably be attributed to the Marvell 1.2GHz quad-core processor, coupled with 1GB of RAM. The Slate 6 VoiceTab comes with 16GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot for expanding the memory. It sports a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, which result in very average shots but we don’t really expect a great performance from cameras at this price segment. At Rs 22,990, the Slate 6 VoiceTab is surely not the first 6-inch device we have seen in this price range. And considering that its competitors too have massive-display phablet offerings like the Intex Aqua Octa and Samsung Mega 5.8 at similar or lower price points, the HP Slate 6 VoiceTab will get a tough competition in the market. Stay tuned for our review next week.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 16:19:17 +0000