1. Definition

2. History
    Origins  Galaxy Note and competitors 

3. Sales

4. Devices

5. Notes

6. References

The phablet ({{IPAc-en|'|f|æ|b|l|ᵻ|t}}) is a class of mobile devices combining or straddling the size format of smartphones and tablets. The word itself is a portmanteau of the words phone and tablet.^[1]

Phablets feature large displays that complement screen-intensive activity such as mobile web browsing and multimedia viewing. They may also include software optimized for an integral self-storing stylus to facilitate sketching, note-taking and annotation.^[1] Phablets were originally designed for the Asian market where consumers could not afford both a smartphone and tablet as in North America; phones for that market are known for having "budget-specs-big-battery" with large low resolution screens and midrange processors, although other phablets have flagship specifications.^[2][3] Since then, phablets in North America have also become successful for several reasons: Android 4.0 and subsequent releases of Android were suited to large as well as small screen sizes, while older consumers preferred larger screen sizes on smartphones due to deteriorating eyesight.^[4]

While Samsung's Galaxy Note (2011) is largely credited with popularizing the phablet when launched in 2011,^[5] examples of earlier devices with similar form factors date to 1993.^[6][7][8][9]

The popularity of phablets grew dramatically in 2012, as a successor to the original Galaxy Note, along with the falling costs and increasing power efficiency of smartphone displays, began to fuel competition in the market from other smartphone manufacturers, including Lenovo, LG, HTC, Huawei, Micromax, and Sony; IHS, Samsung reported that 25.6 million phablets were sold in 2012 alone. Due to the market's growth, Reuters called 2013 the "Year of the Phablet".^[10] In 2014, noting that phablets had overtaken laptops and desktops in global sales, The New York Times said "phablets could become the dominant computing device of the future{{snd}}the most popular kind of phone on the market, and perhaps the only computer many of us need".^[11]

Definition

The definition of a phablet has changed in recent years due to the proliferation of larger displays on mainstream smartphones, and smartphones designed with thin bezels and/or curved screens to make them more compact than other devices with similar screen sizes. Thus, a device with a "phablet-sized" screen may not necessarily be considered one.^[13][14]

Current phablets typically have a diagonal display measurement between {{convert|5.1|inch|mm}} and {{convert|7|inch|mm}},^[12][13][14] assuming a 9 aspect ratio.^[14] In comparison, most flagship smartphones released in 2016 have a screen size of around {{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}, with larger versions of mainstream flagships (such as iPhone 7 Plus, Pixel XL, and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge) using {{convert|5.5|in|mm|abbr=on}} displays.^[14] PhoneArena argued that the S7 Edge was not a phablet, as it has a narrow and compact build with a physical footprint more in line with the smaller-screened Nexus 5X, due primarily to its use of a display with curved edges.^[14]

In 2017, several manufacturers began to release smartphones with displays taller than the conventional 16:9 aspect ratio used by the majority of devices, and diagonal screen sizes often around 6 inches. However, in these cases, the sizes of the devices are more compact than 16:9 aspect ratio devices with equivalent diagonal screen sizes.^[15][16]

History

Origins

In tracing the 10 earliest devices in the history of the phablet concept, PC Magazine called the 1993 AT&T EO 440, "the first true phablet",^[17] followed by the following devices: