Why You Can Trust CNET Posh Mobile Memo S580 review: A big screen with nothing to show for it
A lackluster display and middling hardware make the Posh Mobile Memo a phablet best avoided.
Phablets are a confusing segment of the smartphone world. Consider the Posh Mobile Memo S580: I'm still convinced that a 5.9-inch smartphone is a ludicrous notion, even in spite of my massive hands. But phones insist on getting larger, and device manufacturers -- including Samsung , LG and Google -- have long since begun to obey.
Posh Mobile Memo S580
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Smaller players like Posh Mobile evidently aren't keen on being left out. The company is a distributor based out of New Jersey that primarily sells its phones online through Amazon, Newegg and eBay, and in some retail stores in the US and Latin America.
All of its phones are unlocked, dual-SIM models that let you swap between two SIM cards on the fly. The Mobile Memo is the biggest of the bunch, a 5.9-inch device with a budget price tag: its MSRP is listed at $170, though you can find it for $99 on Amazon.com.
Unfortunately size is about all the Mobile Memo has to offer. Lackluster performance and an unappealing display make this phablet one to skip.
Design and specs
The Posh Mobile Memo is huge. It's 6.5 inches tall, with a 5.9-inch screen. While not absurdly heavy at 8.9 ounces (255g), the weight and width make the device cumbersome. The phone feels solid, with a rigid, glossy plastic body accented by silver plastic trim. It's also 3.5 inches wide: my massive hands can almost reach from one side of the screen to the other, but smaller hands will be dwarfed here.
Three capacitive buttons run along the bottom edge of the device and light up when pressed: these are the menu button, the home button and the back button. The physical volume rocker and lock button sit on the upper right corner, within relatively easy reach of my oversize mitts. Smaller hands will have some difficulty getting to them, and you'll definitely need to adjust your grip if you're holding the Memo up to your face while making a call.
For comparison's sake, the Posh Mobile Memo is exactly as wide as the BlackBerry Passport . While I enjoyed using that phone, the width becomes a sore point if you're trying to do anything one-handed. More sensible phablets eke out massive screen sizes without going so wide: consider the 5.7-inch Galaxy Note 4 , which is 3.1 inches wide. And then there's Google's 5.9-inch Nexus 6 , which is 3.3 inches wide. Those devices, while huge, can still be used with one hand in a pinch.
I wouldn't call the Memo ugly, though I'm not sure Posh Mobile's "Elegance for all" claim really holds up here. It just looks like a generic, plastic smartphone, albeit a massive one. And any claim to elegance or quality design flies out the windows once you fire it up and take a look at the dismal display, which has a meager 800x480-pixel resolution.
I almost assumed that was a typo, or some glitch to be ironed out with a patch. But no: in the year 2014, Posh Mobile has released a 5.9-inch smartphone with a sub-HD resolution display. Images look washed out; colors lack warmth and vibrancy. Things get worse if you aren't looking at the phone dead on, as the contrast starts to degrade rather quickly. High-definition video is right out, and my sample high-resolution photos looked dull, their details blurred. I'll admit that text is rather easy to read, owing to how large everything is.
A dual-core 1.2GHz CPU sits under the hood, coupled with 512MB of RAM. There isn't much in the way of storage space at 1.5GB, so you'll need to rely on a microSD card for expansion: the Memo supports up to 32GB cards.
The phone's backplate is a bit of a pain to pry off -- I was worried I'd snap the flimsy plastic -- but once you're in, you'll find that aforementioned memory card slot, as well as room for two SIM cards. That's a great feature for travelers, and dual-SIM phones are extremely popular in Latin America, a significant chunk of Posh Mobile's market. You don't need to pop out the 2,500-mAh battery to reach any of these slots, which is a smart touch.
Software and features
The Posh Mobile Memo is largely bereft of any sort of special fixings. It's running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, a woefully outdated operating system that's missing many of the extra features we've come to expect from Android. Google has uncoupled many of its native apps from the OS proper, so you'll still be able to get things like Hangouts and Google Now care of the Google search app. You can also grab the Hangouts Dialer app to take advantage of Google Voice integration. But you're still missing out on all of the new features and improvements Google has baked into Android 4.4 KitKat . This is especially disconcerting given that Android 5.0 Lollipop is just around the corner.
Posh Mobile hasn't done too much to change the look and feel of Android, and there thankfully isn't much in the way of preinstalled software: you'll find a File Manager and an FM Radio app. There's also the Posh Apps App Store, which claims to offer free apps by Posh, but actually just calls up a list of shortcuts to free apps on Google Play. You can just delete it if you'd like, though I must admit I am smitten by the logo, a dapper-looking Android in a Posh Mobile bow tie.
Performance
Performance isn't great. While the dual-core 1.2GHz processor does a suitable job of bouncing around between menus and the like, apps that require some modicum of heavy lifting performed dismally. Consider the kart-racing game Angry Birds Go : it's not exactly the most taxing of apps, but it puttered along on the Memo at unsatisfying frame rates. Performance on synthetic benchmarks were similarly uninspiring.
I tested the phone on AT&T's network in my neighborhood in San Francisco, and performance was generally good: I saw an average of 6.6Mbps download speeds, with 1.11Mbps upload speeds. Download speeds would occasionally dip to an average of about 3.5Mbps when I moved closer to downtown San Francisco. As the quad-band phone is unlocked, your own results will vary by network and location, so keep coverage maps in mind while you're shopping around.
Call quality was excellent. That's largely owing to the network, but the phone's microphone picked up my voice clearly, and folks on the other end had no trouble hearing me clearly. I similarly had no trouble hearing anyone I was talking to. Holding the phone while you're speaking will prove to be a bit cumbersome, but you'll sound fine. There's a single, tiny speaker on the back of the phone, but you'll want to stick to headphones or a Bluetooth headset: it produces the same anemic, tinny warble you might have expected from a phone this cheap.
The Memo's 2,500mAh battery is rather resilient. It regularly held up for days of casual use, consisting of navigating around San Francisco, shooting photos, instant messaging and sending texts. It similarly wasn't fazed by hours upon hours of video playback: I saw an average of about 7 hours of nonstop video before the phone finally threw in the towel. That's an ideal use for a phone this size, so it's a real shame the screen is so disappointing.
Camera
Tap the camera app, and the Memo's 5-megapixel camera will be at the ready in less than 2 seconds. The autofocus is sluggish, but pair tap-to-focus with a patient subject and you'll get a shot.
It isn't likely to be a shot you actually want. Cloudy days, sunny days, dimly lit bars or middlingly average outdoors venues: no matter the conditions, the Memo churned out dull, lifeless photos swamped with digital noise.
Colors are robbed of their vibrancy, and while shooting in HDR mode brings some of the color details back, there's still the matter of noise to deal with. And I'm talking about relatively ideal circumstances, with static subjects and optimal lighting. Attempting to take a candid, spur-of-the-moment shot with this behemoth will leave you disappointed.
Conclusion
The Posh Mobile Memo disappoints: ample battery life and solid call quality -- among a phone's most important attributes -- aren't enough to buoy this behemoth. The massive size is wasted on a large display with a terrible resolution, the 5-megapixel camera is best ignored and performance is middling at best, the device brought to its knees by casual games.
There are plenty of better options, at similar prices or similar sizes. The $150 Sharp Aquos Crystal will set you back an extra $50, and call quality on Boost Mobile fell flat. But it performs well, and boasts an appealing design with a 720p, 5-inch edge-to-edge display. The $80 LG Tribute is also saddled with an 800x480-pixel resolution, but its 4.5-inch display makes that faux pas far less egregious -- it's also running Android 4.4 KitKat.
Large screen phablets are also no longer a curio, with major device manufacturers stepping up to the plate to offer a premium experience. If you absolutely must have a phablet, both the upcoming Google Nexus 6 and the well regarded Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will deliver a far more satisfying experience, well worth the extra you'll need to spend.
Even at its budget price, the Posh Mobile Memo is simply not worth the hassle.