Notebookcheck's Top 10 Phablets (>90cm²)

The Huawei P20 Pro mainly creates a wow-effect with its powerful triple camera, but we also like the colors with some extraordinary choices. Huawei completely changed them for the current P-series and now uses large display and big batteries. It is also the first P-series smartphone where the cameras are not sitting flush with the rest of the chassis. The technical specs are very similar to the Mate 10 Pro, but Huawei uses a Natural-Tone display for the first time, which will automatically adjust the picture based on the environment. The MIMO antenna technology for the Wi-Fi is now also available on a Huawei smartphone and enables high transfer rates, but the Wi-Fi performance was not very consistent. We also have some expectations for a smartphone that retails for more than 800 Euros, like modern Bluetooth and at least a 1440p screen. The latter is not really an advantage in day-to-day usage, but important for VR applications.

Bigger is better for the Huawei Mate 10 Pro: The 6-inch phablet comes with Huawei's most powerful high-end SoC, 6 GB RAM as well as 128 GB internal storage. It is also the first device of its kind with dual-VoLTE and LTE Cat. 18. It is already shipped with the current Android 8.0 Oreo and offers a full list of features worthy of a high-end smartphone, including a 4000 mAh battery as well as IP67 certification. The panel resolution falls a bit short and you cannot expand the storage via microSD. There is no stereo jack, either, and Bluetooth 4.2 is not the latest version, but you can stream high-res audio files via aptX HD.

No doubt: both, the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+, are amazing smartphones. However, the differences to their respective predecessors are fairly small. Equipped with a new and quite fast Exynos SoC, 6 GB of RAM (S9: 4 GB), and 64/256 GB of UFS 2.1 storage the S9+ has quite a bit to offer. The display has been fine-tuned even further by Samsung and the phone’s already narrow bezels have shrunk once more. The rest of the specs are not any less impressive: LTE Cat. 18, Bluetooth 5.0, microSD slot, IP67-certified, wireless charging, USB 3.1 with support for DisplayPort, fingerprint reader and iris scanner, and much more. Like the new brilliant dual-lens camera capable of adjusting its aperture between f/1.5 and f/2.4.

The OnePlus 6 is mostly a final polish by the Chinese company. The smartphone is now shipped with the Snapdragon 845 and the display got a notch. The latter is bigger as well at 6.28 inches with a resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels. The smallest models comes with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage, but you can also get 128 or 256 GB (both 8 GB RAM) if you need more storage, because there is no microSD reader.The rear cover is now made of glass.

The cameras are really good, but not much improved. The display is also pretty dim compared to other high-end smartphones, even though this is only a problem under direct sunlight. VoLTE and VoWiFi are supported by the OnePlus 6 in theory, but you will need a cooperation with your local providers, which is not possible in every country.

At 6.1 inches (15.49 cm, 13:6, 91.34 cm2, 14.16 sq in) the LG G7 ThinQ’s display is very large. It is based on MLCD+ technology including HDR, and can get incredibly bright. Pixel density is high thanks to its 3120 x 1440 resolution. The remaining hardware matches the device’s high-end ambitions perfectly: a very fast Snapdragon 845, LTE Cat. 18, ac-Wi-Fi with MIMO, a Hi-Fi DAC, and last but not least wireless charging. Storage size is nothing to write home about but rather average for its class, and it can be expanded via microSD.

Many people believe the LG V30 is what the LG G6 should have been. Contrary to the small sibling, LG equips this smartphone with the latest components including a high-end SoC, quad-DAC audio chip as well as wireless charging. LG does not drop the stereo jack, either. The display of the LG V30 is also very good, but is pretty dark in practice. 4GB RAM as well as 64 GB internal storage is just average, but you can expand the storage via microSD. The V30 is also certified according to IP68 and passed 14 MIL-STD-810 tests.

The USB port only supports the 2.0 standard, which is unfortunate. The price at launch is also rather ambitious.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is once again a really good business phablet. The Korean manufacturer upgraded the battery to 4000 mAh on the new Note model, so the runtimes are much longer compared to the previous model. The S Pen now supports Bluetooth and offers some new features. Samsung's new smartphone also turns out to be a serious storage device at up to 512 GB internal storage, which can be doubled via microSD card. All in all, the Note 9 can store up to 1 TB of data.

The smartphone is powered by the latest high-end SoC from Samsung in combination with up to 8 GB RAM, fast LTE with many bands, fast WLAN, a huge number of sensors, good stereo speakers, a great camera, as well as a brilliant Super AMOLED screen.

The design of the HTC U12 Plus hardly changed and features a 6.0-inch SLCD6 display (2:1, 15.24 cm, 92.90 cm²) with 2880 x 1440 pixels. HTC's smartphone is powered by Qualcomm's current high-end SoC supported by 6 GB RAM and 64 GB fast UFS 2.1 storage. The latter can be expanded via microSD card. The case is protected against dust and water, and also accommodates two speakers that sound decent. The main lens of the new dual-cam is really good, but we were not convinced by the second lens during the review. The battery runtime is also just average, but this is also a result of the comparatively small battery. The display is also pretty dark compared to the other high-end competitors

The Honor View 10 is an interesting alternative, because it offers many high-end components for a comparatively low price. The display (5.99-inch, 2:1, 2160 x 1080 pixels) manages good test results and the system performance of the View 10 is really good thanks to the fast Kirin SoC as well as one of the fastest LTE modem, which even supports Dual-VoLTE.

The high temperatures under load are not good and the WLAN performance could be better. Honor could also improve the power consumption, although the battery runtimes are still good thanks to the big battery.

The Razer Phone is currently one of the few smartphones with a 16:9 aspect ratio despite the high-end specs. The display size is 5.72 inches (14.53 cm, 90.20 cm²) with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. It is powered by a powerful Snapdragon SoC, which is supported by a healthy amount of RAM (8 GB). You can expand the 64 GB internal storage with a microSD card. The Razer Phone was shipped with Android 7.1 Nougat, but already got the update to Android Oreo.

The high refresh rate (120 Hz) of the gamer smartphone's IGZO panel is another highlight. We also liked the two speakers during our review, and the 4000 mAh battery provides great battery runtimes.