Phabulous Phablets!

Cell phone technology has made enormous advances in recent years. It seems like only yesterday that Will Farrell was using the world's smallest flip phone on Saturday Night Live. I remember my boss in Denver around 2008 had one of those new-fangled iPhones, and was bragging about all the great things he could do. It seemed quite big, with its 3.5” screen.


Fast forward to 2011 and Samsung introduced the “enormous” Galaxy Note with a 5” screen. This is generally considered the first “phablet” (a cross between a phone and a tablet). Big-screened smart phones have been becoming more and more popular ever since.


I was largely oblivious to this trend at the time. I think it was in February of 2012 that I upgraded my phone to one with real internet capability. I got a data plan, and bought a SamsungTransform. One review I read said it was “almost a smart phone.” It was old-fashioned enough to have the face slide to the side to expose the keyboard. I could type reasonably well on that one, and it was a big improvement on my previous phone's need to hit a character multiple times to generate particular letters.


I realized I needed something still better. I started quizzing anybody who was willing, asking about their preferred smart phone. Several people, including my coworker Amy, told me they had replaced their iPhones with the Galaxy S series. The feedback on the S series was overwhelmingly positive, and I was due for an upgrade in August of 2013.


A month before that, however, I dropped my Transform, and it never worked properly again. I therefore paid an early upgrade fee and got a Galaxy S4 (along with an Otter Box case to protect it, yay for a Fort Collins business!). I still have the S4, and it's been great. But after almost two years of use, it's starting to wear out.


Since last Fall, I've been reading up on phones and again quizzing people on their likes and dislikes. In that time, the new iPhone 6+ has made large-screened phones fashionable, if they weren't already. The S4 is big, but is really just medium-sized by 2015 standards. I use it more as a “mobile device” for web browsing, email, and texting, than for making calls. I've realized I have no reason not to go for the biggest screen I can get, providing it is attached to a device with good specs. I loved the 6” screen on the LG G Flex(1), but it wasn't a top-of-the-line phone in terms of components.


I've decided that I want a 6” screen and a micro-SD slot (for increased storage) on my next phone. I was eager to see the Flex 2, but now that it is out, it is too small at 5.5”. It isn't too different from the LG G3, which is a lauded device, but, like the also-lauded 5.7” Galaxy Note 4, has a screen that is too narrow in portrait mode. The new Nexus 6 has a suitably large (and wide) 6” screen, but lacks micro-SD capability. Apparently, Google expects users to use clouds to increase storage. That's great until you find yourself in an area without coverage, and can't access the cloud!


New phones will be released throughout the year. I don't think I'm interested in the Galaxy S6, which is already getting good reviews. It is “only” 5.1” and is just a newer version of what I already have. Sony may make an “Ultra” version of their upcoming XperiaZ4, and if so, it might have a 6.44” screen like the original Xperia Z Ultra from 2013. But what's really caught my eye lately is the large phones from Huawei. The Ascend Mate 7 has a 6” screen, and the upcoming Ascend Mate 8 will probably have the same. They've also just announced the Mediapad X2, which is basically a 7” tablet with phone call capability. This seems like exactly what I want, but the early reports are that it won't work with 4G LTE networks in the USA. This would be a deal-breaker. Since the Mediapad X2 isn't officially out yet, I hope that this will change.


What do my readers think about cell phones in 2015? Are you on-board with “bigger is better?” What would you suggest I look into? Is the Mediapad X2 too big, or just right?


I'll update this site with my eventual selection. In the meantime, I'm still awaiting the typesetting for Sunwheels and Siegrunen. Helion hope to have it by the end of March. They continue to crank out books, so work is getting done, and my book will be released eventually. I'll update on that too, when the time comes. Until then, happy surfing, whether via computer, tablet, phone or phablet!