Why Panasonic P81 phablet is a good buy at Rs 18,999

Panasonic P81

Price: Rs 18,999

Specs: 5.5-inch IPS, 1.7 GHz Mediatek octa core processor, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB + microSD slot, 13 MP + 5 MP camera, dual SIM, Android 4.2, 2,500 mAh battery

With so much happening in the smartphone space, Panasonic isn't staying quiet. Focusing on Android smartphones for some time now, the company has now launched a phablet under Rs 20,000.

The P81 has got a 5.5-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. It has a 7.9 mm thickness and the faux leather back panel makes for a comfortable grip. This isn't a vanilla Android phablet as Panasonic has customised the interface.

There are a few features, such as gesture commands, pop-up video player, builtin call recorder, Play More apps, etc. that add utility value to this device. While the P81 manages to run all the day-to-day tasks with ease, the phone does lag a couple of times with multiple heavy apps running in the background.

While the camera might not stand against the results obtained by the ones added on the flagship Samsung and Sony smartphones, the images captured are impressive, sharp and offers natural colours. However, there weren't many modes to play around with. Watching multimedia was good as other than good viewing angles, it offered great sound too. The battery lasted over a day and a half with heavy usage.

Bag it or junk it: Panasonic P81 performs, without many glitches