Lenovo phonetablet is official, called the LePad S2005
Just a few days ago, we got an early peek at a 5-inch Lenovo device that was looking pretty great. Today, Lenovo went ahead and got rid of the speculation by announcing the device, at least in China. Along with some other tablets that will together form the LePad brand, Lenovo detailed the 5-inch version that they have dubbed the LePad S2005.
Among the headline features of the phone are the dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 5MP and 1.3MP cameras, WiFi, and 1680mAh battery. All this is packed into a shell a mere 9.95mm thick and that, as we saw last time, looks really nice. In China, the device will also have HSPA+ connectivity, but no US carrier support was announced.
The only really disappointing spec is the screen resolution, which is a low 800 x 480. For a device where the main attraction is the huge display, it is really disappointing that we did not see at least qHD, much less the 1280 x 800 of the Galaxy Note.
Powering the device on the software side is a customized version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread, an unfortunate choice in the face of Ice Cream Sandwich. Of course, the Galaxy Note, the S2005's main competitor, only has Gingerbread as well. However, Samsung has already promised to update the device to Ice Cream Sandwich soon, so hopefully Lenovo will do the same.
When we first heard about it, the Lenovo phoneblet looked really great. The industrial design and most of the specs are still impressive, but the low-resolution screen could be a big turn off for some. Still, if the Galaxy Note is going to remain as expensive as it is now, then price could be a big factor. As long as Lenovo keeps the LePad S2005 cheap, I think it could be a success.
[The Verge]
