HP Phablet for the Indian market. What is in it for you?

In Jan 2014, HP unveiled two Voice Tablets, the HP Slate6 VoiceTab (with a 6-inch screen) and HP Slate7 VoiceTab (with a 7-inch screen), targeted primarily for the Indian market. HP prefers to call them VoiceTab instead of Smartphone. This should not be confused with the standard HP tablet which is also named as Slate7 Tablet.

Considering the growing demand for tablets and smart phones amongst the discerning Indian youth and business men on the move, there could not have been a better product than this combo/hybrid unit. Why carry two separate devices when one can serve the purpose of both? With this launch, HP has created an entirely new category in the sphere of mobile devices. HP has a significant presence in the Indian PC market, and with this new product, the company intends to take advantage of its already established brand image to grab a substantial share of the fast growing mobile market in India.

Powered by a 1.2 GHz Marvell PXA1088 ARM Cortex-A7 Quad Core processor, with a 1 GB RAM, and running on Android 4.2 (jelly bean) operating system, these voice tabs enable you to multi-task. Listen to music while you are working on a business presentation. Access emails, files and other apps with no lags as you jump from one app to another. There is in-built storage of 16GB with additional 32 GB capability via external MicroSD card.

Both versions are lightweight (weighing around 160g) and less than 10mm thick (Slate6 is 8.98 mm, Slate7 is 9.5 mm). Housed in a premium quality pixilated and scratch-resistant carbon fiber case, the stylish & compact design is slim enough to fit nicely in your pocket and easy to hold in your hand.

Along with, HP offers Connected Music with free unlimited download of songs for 3 months. You can listen to over 1.5 million songs from various genres such as Bollywood, regional and international music, in the CD quality stereo music system equipped with two front-facing speakers. Thus your voice tab will also become your personal music player. It also includes a video player and an FM radio.

Phone features

The devices come equipped with dual 3G SIM (both GSM) along with dual standby, and operating frequency in the band GSM - 850, 900, 1800, 1900, UMTS � 2100. Features include voice connectivity, call memory, SMS memory & phone book memory.

Display & touch capability

Slate6 provides 1280 x 700 pixel capacitive touch screen LCD display, while slate7 has a 1280 x 800 pixel display. The IPS (In-plane switching) display panel renders 16.7 million colors and provides a better viewing angle.

Camera

Both devices come equipped with HD front and rear cameras. The front-facing camera is 2-megapixel and the rear camera is 5-megapixel auto-focus. There is also an LED Flash on the rear camera.

Other features

Sensors: Proximity Sensor, Gyroscope, eCompass, Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor

Battery: Li-ion Polymer, 3000 mAh

WiFi, Bluetooth support, micro USB port, 3.5 mm Audio Jack

4 Pole Support, Box.net (25 GB free cloud storage)

Pre-installed Software & Apps

Document Viewer, Kingsoft Office, Android browser, A-GPS navigation with Google Maps.

Apps: Google Mobility Apps, HP ePrint, HP Connected Photo, HP File Manager, Skype, WeChat, etc.

The Cons

• Display resolution is low.
• 5 MP camera is too basic for today's smart phone. Also, camera performance is not good in low light.
• 1 GB RAM is too less for a quad core processor.
• Battery life is just OK.
• The voice tabs are priced in the range of ? 22,000 - 25,000. It is a bit pricey considering that some of the features such as camera and display are quite basic. Perhaps a price of around ? 15,000 would be more reasonable.