Phablet

The Big Screen Theory. This is how Huawei advertises the new Ascend G730, a dual-SIM phablet with a gigantic 5.5-inch touchscreen priced at around 300 Euros (~$410). The rest of the device's components do not exactly sweep us off our feet, but could it still be a good buy?

Double pack. Just recently we tested the 6-inch model Slate 6 VoiceTab, now the 7-incher HP Slate 7 6100en VoiceTab has arrived at our test laboratory. The Marvell quad-core SoC clocks slightly higher, and the IPS display has a marginally higher resolution of 800x1280 pixels. The performance is, nevertheless, not much better.

Two-in-one. HP introduces an affordable phablet with 3G, dual-SIM feature, and a budget SoC from Marvell dubbed Slate 6 6000en VoiceTab. Despite its low price of 199 Euros (~$271), there was still room for a bright 6-inch IPS screen. However, its performance is not as convincing.

Diet. Samsung offers light versions of its smartphone models under the product name Neo. The Galaxy Note 3 Neo is a slimmed down version of its big brother. The manufacturer has made cutbacks in many areas of the device, and only the wireless communication options and the typical Note S Pen remain untouched. Find out what limitations have to be accepted here.

A fresh phablet. Pursuing the Lumia 1520, Nokia sends another 6-inch phablet featuring HD resolution and Windows Phone 8 into the race, called the Lumia 1320. Its power and configuration are no match for the premium model, but it is nevertheless a strong smartphone.

Curved thing. The display of LG's first smartphone with a curved screen is certainly an eye-catcher, but just this key feature turns out to be the problem. The other features are on one level with the high-end competition: A fast Snapdragon 800, 32 GB storage and an Ultra HD camera as well as the self-healing case create an interesting package nonetheless.

Big brother. The Taiwanese manufacturer surpasses its S1 model with the latest Acer Liquid S2. The smartphone is equipped with a Full HD screen, a fast Snapdragon 800 processor and a 13 MP camera, which can even record UHD videos. This places it comfortably in the high-end category. The price for this hardware is high, as is to be expected.

6 inches made in Finland. Big screen, Full HD resolution, a powerful Snapdragon 800, and a high-resolution camera. Nokia has finally arrived in the premium division, and presents its first phablet based on Windows Phone 8 called Lumia 1520. Read how it fares against the Android competition in our test report.

A giant from China. With a panel diagonal of 5.7-inches ZTE follows the trend of ever bigger smartphones. A strong SoC, a camera with a 13 MP sensor and LTE support will make the device a hit - and all of this for a low price. Find out what the downsides are in our test review.

Big brother. Step one: Take HTC's successful One smartphone and blow it up to a gigantic 5.9-inches with Full HD resolution. Step two: Add a swift Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core with an integrated Adreno 320 graphics card. Step three: Blend in 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage, a big 3300 mAh battery and a fingerprint scanner. HTC's new One Max is complete. Is this recipe enough for a podium placement in the phablet category?

Little stylus giant. Fonepad goes smartphone. Everyone is making their smartphones bigger. Asus shrinks its Fonepad and turns its 7-inch tablet with telephone function into an ultramodern, 6-inch phablet with Full HD based on Intel's platform. Its contender is Samsung's Galaxy Note 2. It's 1:0 for Asus in terms of price.

The third time is the charm? The newest addition to Samsung's successful Galaxy Note series comes with a huge 5.7-inch display - fitting, given the current trend toward ever-larger smartphone screen sizes. But is this beast truly a sight to behold or is it actually a step in the wrong direction?