Foldable tablet. Lenovo Folio introduced a foldable tablet and smartphone. Impressions from the appearance of the device

Last week at Tech World 2016 in San Francisco, Lenovo launched two major products: Lenovo Folio, Lenovo Cplus, Lenovo PHAB2 Pro and Lenovo Moto Z. Although the PHAB2 Pro is the first phone built with Google GOOGL + 0.14%. The Moto Z is the first device to have replaceable modules on the outside, called Moto Mods.

During the press conference announcing both devices, Lenovo Folio was also teased with several next-gen prototypes based on flexible display technology. Obviously a lot of people were very excited about this badass, but little was known about these devices. Luckily, we had the opportunity to sit down with Lenovo and ask some questions about their CPLUS and Folio prototype phones and tablets. It’s not given that they announced a new smartphone from.

In fact, during this session, conducted by Lenovo Cplus Peter Hortensius. He responded to a question about when we can expect these devices to hit the market, and so far he hasn't given any specific answers. He also said that such devices can be expected within 5 years. Augmented Reality by Peter Jackson, .

The two prototype devices that Lenovo Cplus showed are the CPLUS foldable smartphone/SmartWatch and the Foliant foldable tablet. While the hardware details are light on both devices. Lenovo Cplus has made it clear that the mechanical design. The one they developed was made in collaboration with a major manufacturing partner. And the display technology was not their own, but what kind of partner? Very likely LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp or Toshiba. They also made it clear these were not finished products, but more pre-production prototypes/concepts. They will appear closer to the final product. Samsung recently announced, will it have similar features?

Lenovo Folio: Price, Release date, Specifications

I have taken photos of each device so that you can see how they work. One of the most interesting things about both devices is that they are not just physical. But also phones, they also change user interfaces between modes. The Lenovo Folio is perhaps the most important part of the fight against flip devices. Because different form factors have different user interfaces that suit them best. CPLUS and Lenovo Folio illustrated these changes in real time, and if we weren't paying attention, you probably wouldn't even notice it because the transition was smooth. Latest news in the world of smartphones about.

The necessary user interface changes are one aspect of the device's convertible design that many people seem to overlook. The future of PCs is already convertible between laptop and tablet for many users. Partly due to the saturation of the PC market, manufacturers are racing to innovate. I suspect that as we see the smartphone and tablet markets becoming saturated, convertible devices will be the next logical step. Nokia is also not standing still and has announced its new device.

Of course, we have seen many concepts in the past, but the reality is that many of them were technically impossible or financially unfeasible. I believe we are getting very close to making convertible tablets and smartphones a reality. Future technologies are the key to making this happen. Imagine a future where your detachable Folio tablet can also transform into a Phablet-style smartphone. Who wouldn't want to have a device that can function as all three? Last news .

At the Lenovo Tech World event, the concept phone stole the attention of visitors from the new Phab Pro 2 and Moto Z, since in the case of this gadget we are talking about a smartphone that can literally be wrapped around your hand.

Dr. Peter Hortensius, senior vice president of Lenovo's product division, unveiled a mobile phone called CPlus, like Q from the James Bond films. In its normal state, that is, when extended, it looks like a remote control with a large display.

However, the notches on the back and sides raise suspicions: the device bends. CPlus can even be wrapped around your wrist. When it was shown to journalists at a separate session in San Francisco, Lenovo representatives admitted that the display still suffers from breakages at the bend points.

In fact, when we rotated the smartphone, we saw cracks on the screen. In response to a request from the editors of Chip, Lenovo announced the expected date for the product's readiness to enter the market - the 3rd quarter of 2017.

Whether CPlus will be released in just a little more than a year is still a big question. The Lenovo Tech World event has a tradition of showing concepts that never become production products - although they certainly influence the development of technology for other devices.

Lenovo Folio: folding tablet

In addition to CPlus, we were able to admire another futuristic product: the so-called Folio, a tablet that can easily be folded in half.

What is so good about it? When folded, the device is comparable in size to a smartphone: holding it near your ear during a phone conversation is much more convenient than a large tablet. Again, whether the Lenovo Folio will mature enough to be released to the market is anyone's guess.

Phab 2 Pro and Moto Z: dino-mobile and modular smartphone ready for launch

Apart from the concept gadgets, the focus at Lenovo Tech World was the Phab Pro 2 and Moto Z. The Phab Pro 2 is a phablet designed to work with Google's Tango augmented reality platform. You can read about how to project, for example, a dinosaur onto a table surface in our review article about.

In the Moto Z smartphone, Lenovo, on the contrary, relies on modules that are docked to the rear surface of the device. Thus, you can, for example, turn your mobile phone into a mini projector, provide it with a large supply of energy for the battery, or equip your smartphone with a powerful speaker. You can see how it looks in reality in our review article about.

Exist only at the level of rumors, the Chinese manufacturer ZTE was the first in the world to announce such a device: with two 5.2-inch screens connected along the long side and software specially modified for this purpose by Google programmers.

The ZTE Axon M, introduced in the US yesterday as an exclusive product for the AT&T carrier, consists of two aluminum halves connected along the long side, like a laptop. Each of them has a 5.2-inch diagonal screen with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels (FullHD). The frames on the right and left of the screens are quite narrow, but the bottom and top are unfashionably large. When folded, the smartphone looks like a real “brick” compared to ordinary modern thin devices.

The unique design would be useless without the necessary software improvements - they were provided by Google programmers, who specially modified Android 7.1 for this model (alas, not the new Oreo 8.0, although the manufacturer promises to release a corresponding update over time) and some proprietary applications, such as Documents " and "Tables". As a result, the ZTE Axon M can operate in three different modes, in addition to the basic one, when only one screen is activated.

Parallel (Dual mode, A/B): one device, two screens, maximum performance In this mode, you can simultaneously run two different applications - for example, follow a sports match on one display and order pizza on the other. Or watch the series at the same time and chat with friends, discussing critical moments in the plot development.

Extended mode (/-): imitation of a tablet. This mode lets you watch videos, check email, or play games on the large 6.75-inch square screen. True, since bendable displays so far only exist in laboratories, you will have to put up with a black stripe in the middle, behind which the articulation of the two halves of the smartphone is hidden.

Mirror mode (A/A): collective viewing. This mode makes it convenient for a large group of people to view content. The content of one screen - be it a Power Point presentation, a film or a video - is duplicated on the second. It is enough to place the smartphone on the table, and users will be able to watch the same video from two different sides of the device.

Axon M has a completely modern, almost flagship “filling”: a Snapdragon 821 system-on-chip, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal memory, support for microSD up to 256 GB and the only one (because the design allows it to work both rear and front) 20- megapixel camera with two-color flash, capable of shooting video in 4K resolution. The battery capacity is 3180 mAh, and it is charged via a modern symmetrical USB-C port.

I can’t help but remember, similarly to Sergei, the series of wonderful Sony VAIO P laptops, now forgotten. I remember that I used a couple of versions myself and recommended them to friends, but inside - Atom, operating time - 2-4 hours, this was compensated by a luxurious keyboard and low weight (about 700 grams) - that is, it turned out to be an excellent typewriter.

Once upon a time (about three years ago) I had this bunch of devices intended for printing:

Now Microsoft is promoting a similar direction with its Surface tablets on ARM and x86 (will be on sale by the end of this year).

But today we’re talking about the Sony Tablet P. Let me remind you of the dimensions of this device (I’m tempted to write “toys,” but I’ll try to restrain myself): 15.8x1.4x8 cm, weight 372 grams.

Comfortable to wear

In fact, carrying such a miracle in a jeans pocket is definitely inconvenient, but in the pocket of a jacket (winter jacket, windbreaker, sports jacket - it doesn’t matter) it’s quite possible to carry a P-shirt. You can also throw it in a small bag - the device takes up almost no space.

I didn’t get a strap on my hand - well, thank God, wearing such a miracle on the wrist is not very good, in addition to the weight and size characteristics, there is also such a factor as the quality of materials, which we’ll talk about now.

Housing and build quality

As for the body, unfortunately Sony uses plastic, and in the photographs you can see what happens to the appearance of the device with constant use. Scratches, abrasions - what was the cost of using aluminum? Probably, I wanted to avoid the analogy with MacBooks and iPads - that’s how it turned out.

The assembly is not bad, but during use the top cover became completely loose. It will not fall off by itself, but it seems to me that very little time will pass before this moment.

Impressions from the appearance of the device

I would like to raise this point for separate consideration. If you don’t take the shameful plastic, then what remains is the folding design, it looks sort of futuristic, but, it seems to me, only in black.

In silver, the Tablet P looks like a toy. I showed it to friends and acquaintances - as a result, the poor tablet received such unflattering characteristics as “overgrown glasses case” and “powder compact”. Well, here's the design. On the other hand, it is not clear how it could be done better (except for the color of the plastic and materials).

Life with two screens

It’s not very clear where the idea of ​​splitting two screens on a tablet came from, because the main problem is applications that do not always (let’s face it, not always at all, and even worse - almost never) know that instead of one screen they have access to two at once. As a result, only Sony branded applications and several programs in the Sony Select section work adequately (useful applications can be counted on the fingers of one hand, mostly these are toys), maybe there is something from third-party developers, but I did not find such happiness. So you can get either one “combined” screen with a diagonal of about 7 inches, or one separate 5.5-inch one.

Simply put, the standard program drawer is even more or less equipped for a two-screen tablet; in other cases, either one of the screens is empty or is occupied by the on-screen keyboard. Plus, the two screens have slightly different color rendering, you can get used to this, but the fact is surprising - is it really so difficult to choose a pair of identical matrices?

In addition, there is one more minus. After opening the two halves, the tablet thinks for 1-2 seconds before turning on the backlight. In my opinion, it takes too long - it would be more pleasant if the OS was activated immediately, that is, at the moment of opening, and not after it.

With the exception of color rendition, the screens are of high quality, and the coating is more or less resistant to fingerprints.

Update to Android 4.0

The update to the latest version of the operating system “with a robot” for Tablet P was waited for a long time, but in June it finally happened. Apart from the version, not much has changed - the applications are the same, the operating speed (and battery life) are also unchanged. So it’s not very clear what to expect. One important change is that the icon next to the clock has disappeared somewhere, which allowed you to switch some applications from dual-screen mode to normal mode, where the second screen is dedicated to the keyboard or auxiliary elements. Plus, the device flatly refused to communicate with the computer via USB. Well, not a big loss, in general.

In general, the following should be said about the speed of operation (on any OS): not a fountain. In some places there are strange slowdowns in the browser (in the same Sony Select web application), although the interface as a whole works smoothly, it happens that applications launch more slowly than we would like, and the gallery slows down. The level is approximately the first (in some cases, the second) Apple iPad, that is, never a breakthrough.

3G implementation

Everything is simple here - remove the socket, insert a SIM card, and start working. The connection is stable, everything is fine. Naturally, if you constantly carry it with you, this is an indispensable option - we look at mail, surf, update applications. What this leads to - see the next section.

Working hours

The claimed 7 hours of operation on a single charge is a myth and fiction. It is clear that the tablet can last a day in standby mode (even in mail checking mode), but if you start surfing the Internet, listening to music, playing games, you will get 3-4 hours, at best – 5. That is, Tablet P – this is such an addition to a smartphone/laptop; if it runs out of power, it doesn’t matter, we take it home (you can’t really carry a charger with you). What can I say - Android.

Camera

The tablet has two cameras, one for photo and video shooting (5 MP), the other for video conferencing (0.3 MP).

The quality of both cameras is not high, in my opinion, it could be done better. In any case, the application for shooting content is quite convenient, there is even a panorama stitching function.

One way or another, I quickly forgot about the shooting function - I think example photos will explain why.

Price and competitors

In the few months since the first part of the review was written, the price of the tablet has remained virtually unchanged - it was 24 thousand, became 20 for the regular version and 22 with a 16 GB memory card. In general, for this money you can buy almost any tablet on the market - and it’s worth adding something miniature as a competitor, but the trick is that there are no models with a 5-6-inch screen on sale anymore, you’ll have to bend your heart and compare Tablet P with Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and 7.7. Yes, Samsung has one screen, not two - but as you understand, this is in many ways a plus, not a minus. In terms of dimensions, it is clear that the Galaxy Tab will not fit into every pocket, but otherwise the filling is approximately the same, the screens are of high quality in both Galaxy and Sony.

Formally, the P has no competitors; in terms of all its characteristics, the folding tablet from Sony is unique. But why such uniqueness (without applications)? It's not entirely clear.

Use cases

The problem is that we pay a high price for the uniqueness of the device - the lack of applications. That is, what can you use “to the fullest”? Browser. Mail client. Built-in reader. And, in general, that’s all.

Thus, I have developed the main use case - constantly checking my mail (the light indicator signaling incoming letters is very pleasing), and surfing the Internet a little. I tried reading books, and I didn’t like it very much - the Tablet P is very difficult to perceive as a book.

You can use the P-shka as a player. For both audio and video playback. But I personally have an iPhone 4, and there are also specialized players. That is, a simpler phone would be needed to pair with P, but is it convenient to take out a tablet and unfold it to switch tracks? No, it's completely inconvenient. Video player - on one 5.5-inch screen? Quite funny.

Conclusion

So, should you pay more than 20 thousand for a tablet? Yes, if you like fashionable things and gadgets. Even after reviewing the disastrous BlackBerry Playbook, I received letters saying that I was wrong and that it was a great device, worthy of purchase and adoration.

Well, the same can be said about the Tablet P. But you should immediately understand that this is the first (and, most likely, the last) such tablet, there will be no applications for it, and its body is flimsy. And this is a purchase that you will make “forever” - you can only sell it at a considerable discount (14-15 thousand rubles for an almost new tablet - these are the prices now on the secondary market).

If all this doesn’t bother you, take the money and buy it. But the charm of the folding bed wears off after a couple of days; it’s fun to carry with you, and nothing more. Next, the Tablet P begins to be integrated into your personal ecosystem, and here it is better to think about which functions the tablet will support and which it will not.

Ilya Tarakanov ()

Sony is a company that always tries to surprise. However, this does not mean that all their findings were implemented in the best possible way. But nevertheless, in the portfolio of the Japanese giant there are such masterpieces and representatives of the classics that only for them it would be worth respecting and appreciating the concepts and mass products it presented. Many are unhappy that the company offers inflated prices, without hesitation to include a “tip” for eccentricity. But despite this, interest in the brand has been stable for several decades.

Sony Tablet P: review of a unique clamshell tablet

When the P series tablets were introduced to consumers, many experts expressed concerns about the viability of such solutions. This is due, first of all, to a feeling of déjà vu: micro-notebooks of the P series of the same name appeared and disappeared, as if they had never existed. Apparently, the problem lay in a very specific view of the development of portable computers. But it cannot be denied that many people loved them. Now a similar “microsolution” has been presented in the world of tablets. Let's see how successful such a reincarnation will be?

Sony Tablet P

Appearance. When folded, the tablet looks more like a pencil case, a small case or an eyeglass case. However, the strict Sony inscription and the camera lens immediately emphasize its belonging to the world of high-tech. The new device looks very, very attractive. The “cover” is made of gray metallic material. The ends: right and left and the “spine” are made of glossy black plastic. There is a small recess in the middle for a comfortable grip with your fingers when opening. At the same time, there is a protrusion on the back side, which is convenient to rest your thumb on when opening the tablet. There are feet on the bottom to prevent the device from scratching or sliding when typing. The weight of the tablet is 372 grams. Dimensions when opened: 15.8 x 8 x 1.4 cm.

Control devices.

On the right side, in the “keyboard” part, there is a volume rocker, a micro-USB connector, hidden behind a plug made of the same material, and therefore not conspicuous. Then - the power connector. The device is charged only from an adapter with a round plug. The power supply itself is small; a cord comes from it, tightly soldered to the device itself, but the power cable (from the adapter to the outlet) can be disconnected.

As a result, in a work environment the outlet can be reached in any conditions. Recently, manufacturers have begun to save even on the length of the wire, which has led to discomfort for owners of tablets of some brands.

When folded, the Sony Tablet P looks very compact

Nearby there is a button for forced on/off of the device. The tablet also automatically starts working when opened more than 45 degrees. This is very convenient if you do not want to “shine” information, but you still need to periodically check the data on the display. Accordingly, when closed, the device turns off. We must immediately make a reservation that the Sony Tablet P does not turn on instantly, you need to get used to it.

Next to the power supply there is a small multi-colored LED indicator. When the battery level is low, it lights up bright red alarmingly, and when fully charged, the color changes to green. During charging, the indicator is bright orange. Another color indicator, in the form of a long strip, is located on the front panel under the opening recess. It lights up and flashes green, which may indicate that a message has arrived or a calendar event has been activated. The indicator is another “kawaii” thing (kawaii means “cute” in Japanese) that we already miss. Other manufacturers - take up the baton!

Connector for standard 3.5 mm. headphones or a headset is placed on the front edge of the bottom of the tablet, at the very right edge, so as not to interfere with typing.

Interfaces and physical buttons of Sony Tablet P are collected on the right side

Displays

Sony Tablet P is equipped with two five and a half inch screens. The resolution of each is 1024x480. But you have to understand that in the end you don’t get an eleven-inch tablet. Firstly, the combined screen is almost square. And also between the screens when fully open there is a gap from the frames. It's not that small. Minimum 8.75 mm.

The screen is made using TruBlack technology, which provides it with sufficient contrast and good color reproduction. The backlight brightness level is also not satisfactory. The screen goes blind in the sun, but making out black on white (for example, a letter) is not difficult.

Due to the fact that the Sony Tablet P has two, almost independent screens, many applications do not immediately understand how to work. First, they are launched on one of the screens. And what joy is it to use an application on a display that is smaller than some modern smartphones? Pleasure is below average. To do this, in the Android interface, on the lower command line, next to the battery level and calling settings, there is an icon that forces the application to work in full screen mode. True, when you click on it, the application ends, without any warnings. It feels like you just “fell out” of the program. However, the next time you start it, the program will start on two screens. Again, this doesn't happen with all apps. And in some games this makes virtually no sense. In the same famous “Angry Birds”, the entire upper screen is occupied by a stretched sky, and the action takes place on the lower screen.

Sony Tablet P's two screens struggle to merge into one

In principle, you can launch almost any application presented on Google Play. The only question is how comfortable it will be to use it with this screen configuration. As for the speed of work, everything is good here, even in heavy office applications the work goes smoothly. It should also be noted that, despite the presence of two displays, there are no problems with synchronizing their joint work.

Processor and memory

Built on an nVidia Tegra 2 processor, as everyone already knows, this is a dual-core solution. Each core operates at 1 GHz. And most importantly, the chipset provides decent graphics capabilities that allow you to work quite quickly with simple 3D graphics. This is just enough for a mobile platform, with not the highest resolution. The chip also handles high-definition video.

Given the screen resolution, the need to run video at 1080p seems a bit far-fetched to us. Still, you are unlikely to look at an image stretched vertically, and also with a gap in the middle. Therefore, all that remains is to watch the video on one of the screens. And there the resolution cannot possibly exceed 480 vertical pixels. So is it worth loading the processor and, accordingly, the battery with heavier videos?

Watching videos and playing games is possible only on one of the Sony Tablet P screens

The tablet has a full-fledged GPS module built into it, so the device can be used as a navigator. But again, the gap between the screens may make you disappointed in this navigation solution.

Sony Tablet P is equipped with one gigabyte of RAM. 4 GB is provided for storing programs and content. However, the capacity can be expanded with an additional card. The expansion slot is located next to the battery under the removable bottom cover. True, there can be no talk of any “hot” replacement; to install and change a memory card, you need to remove the battery. When the power is connected, the operation of changing the memory card takes place even without turning off the device. Both micro SD cards and high-capacity micro SDHC cards are supported.

Wireless interfaces include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G. The slot for a full-size SIM card is located in the upper half of the tablet, under the cover. By the way, in order to remove both the lower and upper covers you will have to sweat. They themselves are made of very thin plastic - it is very dangerous to damage them.

The hinges of the Sony Tablet P are quite tight and hold their shape

You can't help but dwell on the interface. Sony has always been careful about the design of its products, be it the interface or a set of the “right” accessories. So it is in the situation with the Sony Tablet P - the first glance rejoices at the laconic and stylish surroundings of the working screen. All icons have been redrawn and depicted in the same color and style. Icons are consistent with the desktop background. Colors “catch” the eye. However, soon, if you start working with the tablet, all the harmony will break into small fragments. Icons from third-party manufacturers, alas, know nothing about the idea of ​​the Japanese interface engineers. And soon, between the original labels, various bright pictograms will be scattered, destroying the primordial harmony.

The left side of the Sony Tablet P is absolutely smooth

The player is superbly rendered. The top screen displays the cover of the current track or album, as well as the main controls and the “progress bar” of the song. The most interesting thing is on the bottom screen, where, in addition to several playback modes, covers of your entire music collection are scattered across the working screen. They can be shuffled around the field, rotated, zoomed in and out, and naturally launched into playback. Of course, the player works even when closed. True, playback control in this state is impossible.

The camera is also implemented non-standardly. The bottom screen becomes the working area of ​​the viewfinder. All camera controls are located on it. From this point of view, everything is normal for the camera. There are various shooting modes, white balance settings, digital zoom, and the ability to attach “geo-tags” to the image. A separate mode, in addition to photo and video shooting, includes the ability to create photo panoramas. On the top screen there are stencils stylized as film, into which thumbnails of the latest photos and still frames of video clips are inserted.

Sony Tablet P is comfortable to hold in your hand

Also, we can’t help but dwell on one more application written specifically for this version of the tablet. From the name Reader it is immediately clear that this is a program for reading books. Moreover, the program skillfully plays with the design of the device itself. That is, the Sony Tablet P turns into a real open book: a page of text is displayed on each screen. This is a godsend for those who yearn for traditional reading. The only thing that could be wished for is additional animation when flipping, which is so mesmerizing in the original version of the Apple developer. Another additional advantage of the program is reading the ePub format, without any conversion. Books can be downloaded directly from the Internet. Reader automatically picks them up directly from the Download folder.

Support for three-dimensional games from the legacy of the PlayStation universe is also declared. Moreover, the game Crash Bandicoot was initially loaded onto the tablet. The controls are located on the bottom screen. That is, when playing, your fingers do not cover the game scene. But this is the main complaint about modern games adapted to the tablet. In many ways, gameplay on tablets is determined by controls. However, based on the example of the presented game, it becomes obvious that touch buttons will never replace analog ones. Fingers slip and miss. And the triggers and other keys are still displayed on the working screen with the game. It would be more logical to imagine racing in this capacity, where it is possible to smoothly control the touch steering wheel, carefully guiding the racing car through difficult turns. Moreover, Sony has such an immortal game series in its assets - Gran Turismo, with a countless host of digital indexes and consoles.

The color range of the Sony Tablet P case is quite diverse

Cameras

There are two cameras. One is external, its resolution is 5 megapixels, there is no flash module. When closed, there is no way to use it, but it would be possible to “hang” start and shoot on the volume buttons. Although, of course, you can’t do artistic photography with a tablet. It's just inconvenient. Color rendering and noise level, in the absence of sufficient lighting, contribute to the resulting result. There is not even certainty that a miniature light source would improve the situation.

The internal camera has a resolution of 0.3 megapixels and is intended only for VoIP conversations.

Sony Tablet P and "big brother"

Battery

The tablet is equipped with a removable battery with a capacity of 3080 mAh. In principle, this charge should last for a long time. Moreover, you can’t really play 3D games on such a tablet, and you can’t watch videos either. And in standby mode, the Sony Tablet P shows very good results. Especially if you play around with the energy saving settings. Our only complaint would be that the charging time is too long. However, given the convenient charging device, there is no problem leaving it charging overnight.

Original Sony Tablet P packaging

conclusions

The device is definitely not without charm. The style of the tablet echoes the design of micronotebooks of the same series. And if you value the aesthetics of these devices, why not pay tribute to the new incarnation of a successful concept? The Sony Tablet P is also suitable for those who are not tied to certain full-screen Android applications and are willing to accept the compromises imposed by the design of the device. Let us repeat, the Sony Tablet P is interesting, productive and inimitable, which has always been valued by true aesthetes.