Given that the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S3 has a touchscreen measuring in at 4.8-inches, it could be on the verge of falling in to the category of a tablet rather than a smartphone. Would this mean that it is a “Phablet”?
Samsung Galaxy S3 rolls into tablet category, would be classified a phablet
The term phablet does not do the phone justice as it has a beautiful design that hides its proportions very well. HTC along with LG and Huawei are set to release their own phablet handsets in 2012 and these will join alongside the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Note with its 5.3-inch screen and the Nexus, also from Samsung with a screen size of 4.65 inch.
Large screens are something that is coveted by those who spend a lot of time web browsing and reading when out and about. Conventional touch screens are said to be in the range of 3.5 to 4 inches. Any more than this and they should be in a category termed phablets, a cross between phones and tablets.
Whether the name will catch on remains to be seen but with the Samsung Galaxy S3 having a humungous screen of 4.8 inches, it would firmly put it in the category as it is way over conventional sizing.
As PCAdvisor points out, “more than 208 million phablets like the Samsung Galaxy Note, will be shipped globally in 2015,” according to estimates ABI Research. ABI Research classifies phablets as having a touch screen size between 4.6 to 5.5 inches and expect global shipments for phablets to increase by a factor of 10 in 2012 from 2011.
Of course, given that larger screens may just be a trend for new smartphones (even the iPhone 5 is expected to sport a bigger display), the definition of phablets may need to be changed. This is also why we predict that the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 would be much larger than its current 5.3-inch form factor in order to continue to maintain its biggest selling point – screen size.
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