Lenovo has officially announced not one but three Project Tango smartphones.
Called the Phab2 Pro, Phab2 Plus, and Phab2, the phones are made with Google's Project Tango technology, now just called "Tango", and touted as the world’s first to feature Google's AR tech. They will be available at different price points, but they're all designed to enable augmented-reality experiences.
The Phab2 Pro is the most high-end model. It of course comes with sensors and software that work together to sense and map the phone's surroundings as well as a power AR experiences. Lenovo said students using it with AR apps can, for instance, "place true-to-scale virtual dinosaurs in their classrooms and enhance their learning through AR data overlays".
Levono Phab2: You've been Tangoed!
Other AR experiences highlighted include the ability to play virtual dominos on a table, raise a digital pet in a bedroom, and fight an alien invasion. The Phab2 Pro can also map indoor spaces, which opens up the door to experiences like AR museum tours via the GuidiGO app or visualised home furnishings in living rooms and kitchens via the new Tango-enabled Lowe's Vision app.
The metal-unibody phone can measure spaces in your house and use AR apps to place products like appliances and decor in a room. With its positional tracking capabilities and more, it has the power to change how you interact with your surroundings. And with motion tracking, depth perception, and area learning, the premium Phab2 Pro is able to analyse the shape of your world and detect surfaces and obstacles.
The 6.4-inch Phab 2 Pro features a QHD display with 2,560x1,440 resolution. It also has an eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor with an integrated suite of key modules including a DSP, ISP, and integrated sensor hub. All that means the phone can capture more than 250,000 measurements a second. Other specs include 64GB of built-in storage (expandable via microSD), 4GB of RAM, and 4G LTE connectivity.
Lenovo Phab2: All-new cameras
There's also a 16-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front camera, depth camera, and a motion camera (the latter two are also on the back). Lenovo said the phone further packs a 4,050mAh battery with 2.4x fast-charging, a gyro, accelerometer, three mics, and support for Dolby Audio Capture 5.1 with Dolby Atmos. That last feature lets you record 5.1-channel surround sound with spatial capture and noise reduction.
As for the Phab2 Plus, it's the dual-camera model. It has two 13-megapixel rear cameras with F2.0 lenses and a Futjitsu Milbeaut image signal processor that powers the Leica camera. Lenovo claimed this model can grab crisp low-light shots with high contrast, high detail, and accurate colours. The camera software on board also provides a manual mode for shutterbugs along with handy special effects options.
And finally, the full-sized Phab2 smartphone is the budget model in the line. It's all about offering an affordable AR experience. It has an AR mode, for instance, that allows you to create photos and videos with superimposed effects like virtual backgrounds or cartoons. It also offers a 6.4-inch HD display, 13-megapixel rear camera, and 32GB onboard storage expandable via microSD.
Lenovo Phab2: Price
Lenovo said pricing for the line starts at $199 for the Phab 2, and it goes up to $299 for the Phab2 Plus and $499 for the Phab2 Pro. They will be globally available in September, though in the US, the Phab 2 Pro will be sold in the colours champagne gold and gunmetal grey at select Lowe’s stores and online toward the end of the year.
Each phone will arrive with Android 6.0 Marshmallow pre-loaded. They also all have 4,050mAh batteries and Dolby Atmos audio capabilities.