O+_Fab_Go_Review

The phablet era is here and really close on reaching its maturity. Manufacturers are eager to put their cards on the table by releasing large-screen smartphones that aim to give them a stable ground in the smartphone industry warfare.

O+’s latest offering on this category is the O+ Fab Go, their most recent release after the high-toned, O+ Fab Elite. The Fab Elite received quite a critical reception due to its dear price tag; and that’s probably one of the reasons why O+ is now offering the Fab Go. Priced at only Php8,995, the device offers a trimmed down spec sheet than its older brother.

The question is, does the device’s build and overall performance justifies its asking price despite that it is now offered at a more competitive price (not compared to O Plus’ other handsets)? Let’s dig in and figure that out.

What’s in the box?

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The device is sheltered by a familiar-looking box, a customary packaging design of O+ in all their products.

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Opening the box would flaunt the device itself. O+ included a complimentary Smart Cover on this one.

Accessories of O+ USA O+ Fab Go Accessories

Popping-out the black, textured divider shall bring out the accessories: the in-ear earphones with ear tips on different sizes, microUSB cable, wall adaptor, user manual, and a standard back cover.

Design and Build Quality

The O+ Fab Go’s look and design aspects really can speak-up to the device’s price. There are some tiny little details that will make you feel that this device is made to make you feel that you own a good quality phone. The accents that we are talking about are the details surrounding the camera’s hardware and the Smart Cover. But before we go deep in to that, let us first talk about the device’s apparent physical attributes.

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At the front you would see the gigantic 6” Capacitive Display together with the 2MP front-facing camera, ambient light and proximity sensors, LED notification indicator and the capacitive buttons.

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The microUSB port and the 3.5mm headphone jack is placed at the top while the lock/power button and the volume controls sits together at the right side of the device. Both the left and bottom part of the device are empty. The ports and buttons on this device are neatly placed.

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The rear portion on the device houses the 5MP camera with the flash and the loudspeaker.

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O+ included two variants of back cover on this one. One is a Smart cover and the other is a standard back cover. Both of them never fails to give the phone a slightly premium and high-end feel. The Smart cover itself has this exquisite texture with an embossed O+ logo at the lower right corner, and its rear panel is shaded in black while the latter back cover is painted in blue.

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It’s just worth noting how the rear panel looks like, particularly the camera’s hardware. If you take a closer look, the camera’s side casing has this particular and accent which we don’t usually see on other devices today.

The O+ Fab Go is probably one of the most good-looking and solidly built device that we have ever seen, not only in this price range, but also in any other criteria.

Display

The O+ Fab Go is packed with a 6” IPS capacitive touch screen with a resolution of 480×854, 240ppi, and a Mali-400 GPU. And as the display specifications suggests, the device’s display doesn’t offer the sharpest screen compared to others. You may not get full satisfaction with the screen’s resolution, but the big-ass 6” can shoulder the sharpness that the screen is lacking. For someone who’s used to 5-inch 1080p displays, this is pretty much a trivial concern because you look farther away due to its huge 6-inch display. However, I still strongly prefer high-res displays than this one.

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Viewing angles are just impressive on this one. The IPS display really delivers and is on par with other competing devices. But there’s something on the display’s glass cover that builds something like a glare that can really be annoying in the eyes especially when you look at it in direct sunlight.

Performance

O+ Fab Go Benchmark scoreThe O+ Fab Go is being ran by MediaTek’s 1.3GHz dual-core processor with Mali-400 MP GPU and 1GB of RAM. By the said processing specifications alone, it’s evident that this device is not a well packed device of all compared to the competition today. We’ve even seen device who are offering a quad-core experience at a much lower price than what this device is tagged at. For a phablet, a dual-core processor is really not an ideal thing to have as having a bigger screen means you must be capable of doing a lot of things at once or performing heavy tasks at whip in the tip of your hands.

O+ Fab Go GamesDownload apps and games on O+ Fab Go

Nonetheless, we were still able to manage on living throughout a day on using the device completing fundamental tasks like messaging, checking social media, doing some school homework via word document and playing entry-level games. Playing games are hit-or-miss on this one; it’s a sure thing that it’s a pleasure playing on a 6” screen, but, you are limited on high-end games to play as some of these titles require more processing power to play.

Software

The O+ Fab Go runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, a standard Android version we see on this category these days. Though it supports OTA updates, we aren’t really counting on it.  There’s not much to talk about the device’s software as it just really runs on almost pure stock Android, like most of O+ USA’s devices.

O+ Fab Go

Though there’s one addition on the software and we found it really handy – the One Hand feature. It’s just the shortcut button drawer on the homescreen, which we are all familiar by now. It gives you quick access with some of the most essential application and also gives access to the device’s switches. The only let down that we have encountered is that the applications are included in the shortcut are not customizable. You are limited to only what have O+ included in there.

Related: O+ Imagine Review

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Air Shuffle technology is still here, of course. Helps you take photos, control the music player and the radio, and browse the gallery without touching the device. It’s also nice to note that O+ doesn’t preinstall some senseless manufacturer-made apps, like what the other competition does, as it only eats-up a lot of the available storage.

O+ Fab Go

Camera

The O+ Fab Go houses a 5MP camera with autofocus and flash, and a 2MP front-facing camera. The device took decent photos, but an entirely impressive quality for a 5-megapixel camera. Photos have strong enough saturation, though contrast is just on the downside. Video recording also has the same characteristics. The 2MP camera can also take decent and worth-instagraming selfies.

You may check our sample shots below:

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Battery Life

From all the O+ devices that I have reviewed before, the unprecedented battery performance really never fails to impress me. The O+ Fab Go is powered by a 2500mAh battery, which, during our tests, can impressively last for 2 to 3 days with light to moderate use and almost 8 to 10 hours with heavy use.O+ Fab Go Battery life

Media

Playing games and watching movies are really enjoyable on this device as you can really take advantage on its 6” screen. Though it may not have the crispest projection compared to the others (due to the low resolution), but viewing angles are still quite nice. Fortunately, you can load up HD movies really well which is really great for a phablet like this.

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The loudspeaker is also mediocre. It’s probably not the loudest among all, but it delivers well-detailed sound. However, don’t count on it to suffice for a small group movie marathon because you’ll definitely need an external speaker to maximize the experience.

Verdict

Let’s get it straight, just by basing on the spec sheet itself,  the O+ Fab Go really isn’t the best you could buy for Php8,995. Most of the comepeting manufacturers even offer devices with even more processing power at a slightly cheaper price.

O Plus Fab Go Review - NoypiGeeks

But as how we have seen the device, O+ really focused on the Fab Go’s build quality.The device feels sturdy, well made and can possibly handle some beatings.

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Nonetheless, the O+ Fab Go is still worth considering as the device actually has potential, though, you might just have to wait ’till its price tag become lower. Or, if you really want to try it out, you can check it on O+ USA retail stores nationwide and see if this device fit your needs.

Pros

The device’s large display, lengthy battery life, inclusion of two back covers and solid build quality is what we like about the O+ Fab Go.

Cons

What we don’t like about the O+ Fab Go is the low resolution display, mediocre processing power, and having a high price tag.

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