Buckle up, augmented reality fans! Google's first Tango phone, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, is ready to take you on a ride.
Initially supposed to launch during the summer, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro was delayed until the fall and it's now finally ready to hit the scene.
The AR-touting smartphone is finally on sale and shipping starting on Nov. 1, just as Lenovo promised.
Augmented reality may not have gained so much ground so fast if it weren't for the immensely popular Pokémon GO AR game, which set the world on fire and proved to be a record-breaking hit. The Pokémon GO craze may have died down, but AR is still raising interest and the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro has great potential.
With Pokémon GO giving a taste of AR technology to hundreds of millions of smartphone owners, the Phab 2 Pro now comes as the very first fully-equipped AR smartphone. In terms of AR, think of Pokémon GO as the appetizer and the Phab 2 Pro as the main course.
"The Phab 2 Pro is the world's first smartphone to include Tango — a new technology from Google that enables augmented reality (AR) gaming and utilities," Lenovo explains. "All you have to do is look through the Phab 2 Pro, and you'll see objects and information overlaid onto the real world."
This opens up a myriad of potential applications for both fun and practical purposes. For instance, users can check out how new furniture would fit into their home or how remodeling would turn out, all thanks to augmented reality.
AR gaming, meanwhile, will allow the Phab 2 Pro to turn your world into an entertaining virtual playground.
Aside from augmented reality and Google Tango technology, however, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro doesn't exactly pack groundbreaking specifications. Its impressive 6.4-inch QHD 2.5D display and large 4,050 mAh battery are among its strong suits, but otherwise the handset packs a midrange Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of native storage space and a 13-megapixel main camera.
In other words, while the hardware specs are decent and should deliver a good performance, no standout specs break the mold.
On the other hand, the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro doesn't aim to impress with its hardware specs, but with its augmented reality experience which makes it unique, at least for now. No other full-fledged AR smartphone is currently available, so the Phab 2 Pro definitely stands out from the crowd.
Roughly 35 Tango apps are currently available to maximize the potential of the Phab 2 Pro, including apps from Autodesk and Lowe's that prove how useful 3D mapping can be.
The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is now available for purchase at $499.99.
