Panasonic P81 Hands on and First Look: A Quality Driven Mid-Range Smartphone

Rating:

3.0/5

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PROS

• Effortless Design
• Large 5.5-inch display
• User interface (UI)

CONS

• Poor camera
• Outdated Android

It might not seem that long, but it's been almost a full year since we first met the Panasonic P51 at an event held in New Delhi. It went on to become a decent mid-range phone, and for most of 2013 it attracted a lot of eye-balls.

So a year later, where do things stand? The Panasonic P51 might not have turned out to be a blockbuster handset, but nevertheless, it gave confidence to Panasonic to set new standards. On Tuesday, Panasonic introduced its latest flagship handset, dubbed the P81, in Delhi-NCR based event.

Panasonic got a new phone with a large 5.5-inch HD display, power-packed processor and re-imagined UI. Inside, it's packing a 1.7GHz octa-core processor, a 1280 x 720-pixel display and a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera. Those of you who doubt Panasonic's capabilities, the P81 apparently come with decent spec sheet. Panasonic says the P81 will be made available nationwide starting today at a price point of Rs. 18,990. Here's a first look at the P81, Panasonic's premium handset to rival Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 Neo.

Panasonic P81: Design

The Panasonic P81 is entirely made of plastic. It has the same faux-leather like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo. The back cover has been designed to look like genuine leather, making the device much premium in nature. The illusion goes hand-in-hand with Panasonic's thought process. The frame around the screen is made out of metal, again another attempt to woo buyers.

Under the display, we find the typical Android three way capacitive button layouts consisting of a Home button with Back and Menu keys each side. The side of the P81 has the typical controlling buttons. There's the power button on the right hand side and the volume rocker on the front. The top features the 3.5mm head-phone jack, while the bottom has the USB 2.0 jack for connectivity, plus the primary microphone.

We genuinely like the phone's faux leather back cover. The P81's back features a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and a single LED Flash. The loudspeaker has been placed on the bottom side of the rear-back side. When opening the back cover, you will get to see a large removable 2,500mAh battery, along with dual-SIM setup and microSD card slots.

With a 5.5-inch display, it's not exactly a small phone. If you're after a pocket friendly handset, you might want to look towards a smaller handset.

Panasonic P81- Display

As mentioned in the beginning, the P81 has a massive 5.5-inch (267ppi) screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720-pixel. In our view, the resolution seemed adequate for navigating around the re-vamped Android UI. The display seemed fairly bright and colors looked vibrant.