Hate the word phablet? Well Nokia isn't too sure of it either

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If you guys haven’t heard, Nokia is working on a new device for the release of GDR3. The Lumia 1520 will be a phone of many firsts on Windows Phone. It will come with a 1080p display, quad core processor, and much more when it launches sometime in the near horizon – possibly early November on AT&T.

The device will also be 6-inches, making it the largest Windows Phone ever. Devices in that range straddle the line between smartphones and tablets, so naturally the media attached the name “phablets” to machines like that. Most of you really dislike that word. And so might Nokia.

Like any good company, Nokia does their market research before making plans with new devices. Sometimes that market research comes in the form of surveys sent out. A handful of you have been sending in surveys that point to upcoming researching from Nokia. They’re focused on the name of new products that are larger screen smartphones. So something like the Lumia 1520.

Here are some of the questions being asked:

Pretty straightforward. Nokia isn’t sure quite sure how to market a smartphone with a larger screen. Something they’re going to be doing pretty soon.

So what do you guys think of the word phablet? Hate it? Love it? Sound off below.

Also, can you think of something better?

Thanks for the tips/screenshots Matt and everyone!

Sam Sabri
Sam Sabri
242 Comments
  • Tablone lol
  • +1 for Tablone.
  • Palmpad.
    Smartscreen.
    Smartpad.
    Padlet.
    Smartglass would be an awesome name... but is already taken.
  • +1 Smartscreen
  • + Tobleron :p
  • lol
  • LSD (large screen device)
  • Some of the flower power generation may get excited about this name ;)
  • Chill, don't go nuts ;)
  • Haha all I can think of is Toblerone. Aaaaaand now im hungry.
  • Sonofabitch now I want a toblerone too...
  • Phablet used to bother me, but not anymore. Also it's just not that important to me what people call them, I'll keep calling them phablets.
  • The word still bothers me, sounds like a Tablet with a Phallus. 
    But maybe it's just my brains being corrupted. 
  • Smarblet?
  • Tableau?
  • Moblet
    Tabile
  • (sarcasm alert)  Yeah, why call a laptop a laptop?  I never use it on my lap.  Never.  It's a computer.  So just call it a computer.  Why refer to vehicles as trucks, semis, cars, etc?  They are all vehicles.  Just call'em vehicles.  Why call a mug a mug?  A pint glass a pint glass? A goblet a goblet?  They are all glasses.  Just call any of the differing form factor of glasses - glasses.  Make it simple.  Sure, it seems absolutely pointless to delineate products in the same family with a somewhat realistic name of how the product is actually being used.  Don't you think? A "phablet" is a phablet.  That's what it is.  The name doesn't bother me at all.  But the form factor does.  It is not to my liking one bit.  Those darn "Large Phones" are just too large.  :)  But to those who like'm more power to you.
  • I have to disagree!  A mug would only fit into the category of a "glass" if it were made of glass, otherwise it would be in the cup category.  Although thinking about it cups may or may not have handles, mugs always have handles, so maybe they are deserving of a separate category. 
     
     
  • :) A mug by any other name is still a mug. Lol! To Nokia and others. A Phablet is what it is, a phone in a tablet form. There are digital phones, there are satellite phones, there are cell phones, there are car phones, there are rotary phones. These are all specific genres of phones. But they're phones. And there's a reason why we refer to them by a specific description versus just - phone. The sooner we get use to the term phablet the better off we'll all be. :)
  • Is a stein a mug?
  • Dinner plate.
  • If it has Gorilla Glass and is waterproof, you can call it Cutting board
  • Ha! XD +1520
  • I don't really see the need for a unique name for a bigger smartphone. The name Nokia Lumia 1520 itself makes anyone see that it's a higher end phone.
    When Nokia released the 920 they didn't put "new windowsphone, buy it." in the name. The glory that Nokia products have is that it's clear which one is better thanks to clear product names unlike "experia z" becase with that name you have to do research if it's actually better.
    Nokia should market it as the new Nokia Lumia 1520 and from there use some fancy slogan like "WindowsPhone reimagined" but don't use that because Nokia are masters at marketing and i think they can comeup with something awesome :) 
  • Its a bad word, but its functional
  • It really is. I almost want to start using slab instead. Slab - a phone with a screen smaller than 7 inches. "The Lumia 1520. Time for a slender slab of your own." ... I'll show myself out.
  • +1 for SLAB!
  • We can call bloated Androids Flabs... Trolololol
  • I was gonna say the same thing. That and phonetab.
  • PhoneTab it should be the name covers everything
  • Just call em bricks. Like the old cell phones from the 90's.
  • Or the original 30 GB Zune.
  • BFP
  • lol
  • That's a good-un.
  • LOL....
  • Love it!
  • +1520
  • Nice!
  • "Phablet" sounds like something that should have VTech on the box. Don't worry though, Apple will "invent" one soon enough and name it.
  • Yea, they will call it the iPhab...
  • Better than the iPhap. Granted, the iPad's pretty bad too.
  • Remember all the tampon jokes when the iPad first came out.
  • Why not just call it a smart phone. That's really all it is.
  • This, why even bother
  • Yep
  • Most that work in the cell phone industry do
  • Heh. I already doing this. I even call those Galaxy Notes smartphones (except for 7" or larger screen :p).
  • Exactly.
  • Yup. It's not like we have names for different size screen laptops. A 13" laptop or a 17" laptop. So this is just a 6" smartphone vs a 4" smartphone.
  • Maxiphones.
  • lol
  • LOL a have a very similar name for iPads
  • Haha yeah - it's funny how many people don't get that joke.
  • I joked when the iPad Mini came out that it was a tablet for your "light" days.
  • Mini TV
  • Two hander?
  • Zweinhander maybe?
  • BSD "big screen device" LSD "large screen device" zetta?
  • LSD or just Acid. LOL
  • Or WEED
    Wide extra enlarged dislay
  • Now you're talking!
  • I'd have a couple of those
  • "What's that in your pocket ?!"
    "Officer its just my WEED!"
  • BAP
  • FAP
    Fabulously Annoying Phone
  • Phablet sounds like shit
    Smartphone Is better
  • I can't stand it, and said so in the questionnaire...but I was unable to think of what I WOULD call it...other than just a large screen phone. Why confuse it all by making up a new word for the device based on one of its many features...? Every smartphone (which one would assume is unique in some way) cannot have an equally unique device name. No, like I say, it's better to just call it a smartphone, and if more specifics are needed, just describe it... It's a large screen phone.
  • People who own and use these as phones look ridiculous and should be mocked. Its like they are answering some comedy joke giant phone in a play school skit.
  • Times will change. Same could have been said about 4inch screen not long time ago.
    There were 25 milloin phablets sold last year and sales doubled compared to last quarter. Phablets made 35% of all smartphones sold in India and takes over 20% of phones sold in world largest smartphone market, China. 
  • That just means more people will look ridiculous than we thought.
  • Maybe you're the ridiculous one for thinking they're ridiculous? My Note 2 works fine as a phone and I'll never go for anything smaller than 5" again.
  • Anyone who is holding their phone up to their ear instead of using a BT device should be mocked anyway.
  • What's your Bluetooth device? I tried many and couldn't be used with it... Nokia triangular is the worst I tried
  • Bt headsets suck ass
  • No, Javier, only having one hand free while you're on the phone sucks. But then, I guess it depends on whether or not productivity is in your vocabulary.
  • The issue that I have with bluetooth hands-free headsets is that they are very impersonal and make for awkward social situations. Holding a phone up to your ear sends a message.
    Having a headset on 24/7.... well it sends a message too, but it's usually not a nice one :)
  • Like Google Glass?
  • Yes, exactly :)
  • I've got a Motorola H730. Looks like a mini-chainsaw, but I've had 12-hour convos using it... Flat speaker rests against ear instead of jammed into ear canal, so it's very comfortable. Best battery life of any BT I've seen.
    Using it with my Lumia 920. Also works with my laptop for Skype.
  • If you're talking about sitting at your desk then a BT device is fine. If you're walking around with a douchebag identification device in your ear while you walk around talking to yourself then not only should you be mocked but you should be rounded up and dropped off on an island so you don't mess up the gene pool here.
  • ^^^now that's some funny s**t^^^
  • I can't, ppl will think I'm a schizophrenic. (seriously)
  • +1 People holding the Note, & other phablets, up to their head look ridiculous. It's like taking photos with an iPad :P
  • Call it the Nokia Lumia 1520 and forget about what group of device it falls into it. People will call it what they want to.
  • How about " Megacell " :D
  • If it is a smartphone just call it what it is :the xlphone
  • Slab! I'm gonna make it a thing, you bet your bottom dollar friends!
  • Phone-ormous? Giganti-Phone?... Or maybe, Phonezilla.
  • All of the above.
  • MegaPhone?!
  • I say Comp-U-Tab....computab seeing the functionality Microsoft gives its users with the ability to perform work with the inclusion of office, one note, and even SharePoint if you have a server & market it highlighting that functionality and while working, someone calls in using Skype pointing out it can always be used as a phone.
  • Like Dan and Jay said once, LSDs (Large Screen Devices).
  • We could call them "Enormoes"
  • I say keep it real simple and to the point.. Nokia 1520 "Jumbo"
  • Jumbo it is
  • Big Smart
  • BS, I like it.
  • Smartphone Tab
    (medical terminology)
  • Lol
  • LLADWU
    Looking Like A Dumbass While Using
  • You win!
  • Idgaf what they wanna call it .. I just want it.
  • Me too!
  • Tabletphone, phablet sounds the same in all the 10000 non-English languages out there spoken by 80% of the world population.
  • Awful.
    I'd rather call them by their name: dinner-tray phones. =P
  • I like BFP and BAP, but to truly market to people's vanity, call it a smarterphone.
  • How about OFS ("Overcompensating For Something")?
  • Poor eye-sight? Large fingers? :P :P
  • Most likely yes
  • The Hulk should get that
  • "Nokia isn't sure quite sure".. Gotta love proof reading. lol.. I don't really mind the name phablet.. At the end of the day, it explains what it is, just go with the flow
  • ^This
  • Slate.
  • +1 for Slate
  • When cellphones where the size of a brick, we had no problem calling them cellphones. 
  • *mobile phones. Only Americans called them "cellphones"
  • I really liked when Microsoft called their original tablets "slates." Could we repurpose "Slate" for these phones?
  • When I hear slate I think about the slate roofing
  • I think about lying on the beach with at least 50 beautiful women and a small team of experts...
  • Extra Smart Phone
  • Phablet is wrong, but all I can come up with so far is "slab". This is a toughie...
  • the iphone with a 3.5 inch screen was a smartphone.  the galaxy s4 with a 5 inch screen is a smartphone.  the galaxy note is still a smart phone.  i think as long as it can be used as a phone, it should be just a smartphone.  but they all have different screen sizes.  so what.  no 2 smart phones have the same screen size.  whats the big deal
  • Don't really mind calling them phablets really. That's how names evolve sometimes.
  • Yup. It's an established name by now. Maybe informal, but works.
  • Mega Phone!!
  • Well, Samsung Galaxy Mega comes to mind... so... no.
  • Exactly, Megaphone. Its a word that is already familiar to people and would/could be quickly learned by the masses.
  • Phone 6 Inches. What's wrong with telling like it is?
  • Half-a-foot-phone
  • Demi-Foot phone
  • My daughter says that since it is a Nokia, it's indestructible. So maybe we should just call it a weapon. Or as the WowHead in the house says, BFS.
  • "Weapon" it is. The Nokia Lumia Weapon
  • Clown Phone and you need to ride around in a tiny car when using it.
  • Ha ha, made me laugh ☺
  • i vote for Slate
  • Dear Nokia... if rumors are correct... that it doesnt have a stylus or special applications to take advantage of large 6" screen... you should call it a phone/smartphone with 6" display and nothing else... because its nothing more than a big phone :)
    Otherwise... 
    SmartPad or LumiaPad or somehting else... But definitely not Phablet
    However... whatever it may be called I am intersted in this device :)
  • Good point.
  • How about....Surface?....nevermind.
  • Fine with every name as long as I get it ASAP. I would call it the LLumia... The first L for large :)
  • Just ridiculous!
  • Call it Nokia that says it all
  • BFS!  (Big Fu**ing Smartphone)
  • +1
  • How about Ultrone
  • Like ultron from marvel made by tony stark ironman
  • John Phones
     
    "Why yes, that's a phone in my pocket."
     
     
  • The Nokia Bulge - Everyone will be happy to see you.
  • I'd call it boner because it's bigger than the usual one. 
  • MiniTab or MinTab or Milet
  • Call it mini-tv Phone! MTP hahahaha
  • I never liked phablet. It not a tablet. It a phone albeit a large one. Find a name and call it a day.
  • Go go SuperPhone
  • LumiARRRRGH!
  • Or lightab?
  • It's a super phone. The size & specs proves it all. "super phone"... The Ad would go something like, "the windows phone super phone Nokia Lumia 1520"
  • Tween
  • Call it the Lumia " 'Murican 'dition".
  • Tricorder! Oh wait that's probably copyright protected. Bunker Buster. Nah, too violent. WTTW-Window To The World. Nickname-Whatwhat! OMG - cuz that's what she said. JIB - Jesus Its Big - cuz that's what she said. CHOKER - cuz...oh, nevermind. Seriously, its not just a phone anymore, but what phone is? Call them global or universal communication devices (unicomm? glocom?) or live with the damn phablet, though saying it feels stupid.
  • They should throw out the name 1520, and actually brand it the Nokia Phablet with Windows Phone 8...this way, whenever someone else calls their phone a "phablet", Nokia can cash in (or get notoriety, either way).
  • Simply continue calling it a smartphone. Its a smartphone with a 6" display.
  • Phonezilla. :)
  • Lumina---- cause so many folks apparently think that is the current way to spell the Nokia line. This ain't 90's Detroit!
  • Notepad? Padphone device? I like the sound of these, but that's just me.
  • PHulk
  • Aw, just submitted this tip to WMPoweruser an hour or two ago!
  • Call it Luminati
  • Lumizilla
  • My suggestions:
     
    - Lumia G
    - Lumia XL
    - Lumia +
    - Lumia Tane (TAblet + smartphoNE)
    - Lumia Bag
     
  • I would support a Lumia XL or Lumia +. Even a "Lumia One"
    Nintendo have their DS and XL range, so it will sound acceptable.
  • I like the Tane, sound pretty nice.
    I want a Lumia Tane
  • Why not call it a "smartphone+" to differentiate it from a smartphone?
  • It's a More Phone.
  • Just call it a 6inch smartphone. Period. Or like Blueiii said "Smartphone+"
  • BAP
    (BIG ASS PHONE)
    LOL
  • "All-Smart" smart in everything! Only if new and exciting apps that make use of this much real-estate.
  • Nokia Lumia 1520 - A freak phone engineered for the Hulk.
  • Megaphone!
  • Mega Lumia!
  • How about "Phone" ?
  • Those are my screen shots :) my name isn't Matt though (I know, nobody cares) :-P
  • Hermaphrone - The best of both worlds...
  • actually Nokia loves the name it just letting knows that a phablet is coming
  • LSDs (Large screen devices) would be my pick. It's addictive though.
  • Phablet is uninspiring and dumb (to me) but the unpunctuated contraction does convey its meaning just fine.
  • SuperPhone is simple enough
  • I love phablet
  • BBP..Big Beautiful Phone :)
  • How about call it the Nokia Lumia Surface Phone 8? Nokia's being bought out by Microsoft anyway, wouldn't make a difference with the copyright. It makes sense since Windows tablets are called Surfaces, & basically it's a mini-tablet with a built-in phone. This can be the Surface Phone that never was.
  • YES
  • Brick House
  • hey how about nokia 1520 WP  featuring a 6in screen
  • I just filled out that survey. Told them I HATE the term phablet. Can't stand it and I hope they don't use it.
  • It is a smartphone... period... I just has a larger screen... No need from some bastard name that will not only confuse, but deter sells.. Let people know/think/believe they are getting a cellphone with a nice and large screen and not another product.
     
    The Galaxy note is a phone.... These were aways phones no matte what trend.  There was a time when the smaller the phone the better... Now we are going large again... The only names that stuck, but I kinda hate is "smartphone"... Then they had to make "feature phone"... It is a cell phone.
     
    Phones are not just for talking anymore, they are communication devices...  Just leave it smartphone and thats that... Or better yet, Windows Phone, PERIOD... The more companies try to create fancy names, especially long ones, they fail.
     
    Iphone/ipad... Galaxy...  ipad mini.. Galaxy Note.. KISS: KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE
  • +1 Soon these big phones will become so mainstreamed that it will seem silly that we gave them a special name. Just please, please, please don't give any credence to 'phablet'. It's an immature name that shows how quick we are to bastardize the English language and it's probably unpronounceable in other countries.
  • Nokia BALLS - Nokia Big and Large Lumia Slate, will never happen, what phone you got, I got BALLS lmao
  • Nice
  • Minitablet or minitab? Come to think of it, in the nomenclature of mobile device designs, there are:
    Clam shells,
    Candy bars,
    Tablets,
    Notebooks,
    Laptops... Slate would fit best.
  • DENiPhone
     
  • How about TAP       for Tablet And Phone
  • A PipBoy 1520...a necessary tool for all WPCentral Vault dwellers.
  • Ridiculous unless you have massive hands
  • I like slate or (sur)phace.
  • Screw calling it a phablet. That's the crap android calls them to fool people into thinking they are buying a phone that looks like a tablet. Sounds fruity anyway.
  • MAD
  • (MOAP) Mother Of All Phones
  • A device that does the exact same functionality as a 21st century phone but a little bigger is still a phone/smartphone, no need to change the name.
  • "We would like to get your response to talking about smartphones that have very big screen. These are smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Xperia Z and HTC T6" Nokia has info on the HTC One Max?
  • Just "Tone". Call me on my tone for more details. I love receiving tone calls. Man, that sounds weird to say... But not as much as "phablet". In the end, people will call it a phone or hey will call it a tablet. That is exactly what will happen. :)
  • Going back to the classical, we could call it a "phoputer", PHOnecomPUTER. if we go ahead and reduce the size of this further then it could become a pocket phoputer :)
  • Going a bit classical, How about Phoputer, PHOcomPUTER. In future if this same things comes down in size, we could call it a "pocket phoputer"
  • German tech press sometimes calls it a "smartlet". Don't like that either though....
  • In Germany Smartlet is quite a common word instead of phablet ;-)
  • btw: We also use the word "Handy" for mobile phones. I like that pretty much, sounds pretty smooth I think :-)
  • Screenphone.
  • Homestly, I like the name phablet. I dont think it sounds odd, and if youre intelligent enough, I believe you can make an educated guess on what a phablet is. I love phablets and have ever since the Dell Streak graced our eyes. None of my friends are cell phone nerds, so I dont kno what they would think if they heard the name. I believe ive said it around them before, but im sure. Anyway, I am looking forward to th 1520. 
  • I believe that phablet should be given to the device which will run BOTH windows phone 8 and windows 8 ( or blue for the future)
    NOT to a device which is basically very big to be a phone. the lumia 1520 will still not have the abilities of the surface for instance (its a windows 8 tablet )
  • It should call XB Phone. This would sound and almost rhyme with Xbox One. However, the word XB is short term for Xtreme Big. Base on this size, it is extreme big smartphone.
  • just plain 'Fab'let
  • I've never really liked the term Phablet which I believe was entirely an invention by the media. Thing is, these larger screened phones are not really tablets. They just happen to be smartphones with a larger display.
    But, as I've just said, the media will still continue to call them Phablets regardless of what Nokia would like it to be called.
  • Lumia Exponent = Lumia² Lumia Infinity = Lumia∞
     
    My favorite: Nokia Infinity = Nokia∞
     
  • So have we reached a point where we have defined specific categories of device now by size? Can we say if you have a device smaller than 3.5 its a flip or feature, larger than 3.5 but smaller than 5.5 its a smartphone and bigger than 5.5 to 7 (7's don't exist yet so this is somewhat arbitrary ) are phablets. Bigger than 7 and you have a tablet.
    I know this is loose and other factors are involved but perhaps we can rift off this a while!
  •  Here's my suggestions in no particular order:
    SmartTab
    UltraPhone
    PhoneMax
    SmartLet
    GrandPhone
    SuperPhone
  • I'd say go the Star Wars route and call it "datapad".
  • Nokia Orbit! (One of only a few man made things visible from space) ☺
  • They should call it "Released on Verizon"
  • LOL I like the LSD (Large Screen Device) idea :)    Here's one I haven't heard yet.  How about PalmTop.  Themes with DeskTop and LapTop.  If Phablet sticks I'm sure we'll get used to it.  Somehow we got used to "Smartphone" which I think is descriptive but a stupid label for the device.  I'd rather have seen the simple term "Handheld" used. 
  • Always hate the word phablet - it sounds like one of those stupid celebrity couple name mashings.
    Maybe ignore or minimize the phablet label and market it by brand name much like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or Samsung Galaxy Mega.
    How about the "Nokia Lumia BFD!" as in the Big F***ing Deal? :)
  • It already has a name. Smartphone. And I do not like the pseudo name phablet.
  • This is very easy actually. Refer to this segment as "hybrid phones". Most of us know what a hybrid laptop is. There is no specific iteration as to what makes it a hybrid laptop, but it is the functionality of a laptop and tablet. This combines the functionality of a phone and tablet. This won't just be for Nokia because other companies will make theirs of course.
  • I got that survey and I don't like the word. "Phablet" is not an attractive word. Then again, when the iPad came out, it was heavily criticized and ridiculed in relation to feminine hygiene. Now, no one thinks twice about saying iPad and what it means. I don't think "phablet" will have the same success.
  • TabPhone - That says it all , Nothing to think about. and sounds Nice.
  • Bigphone
     
    Tabphone
  • Phuck "Phablet", lol.
  • simply call it a 'phonepad'
    apparently the launch of the 1520 has been moved to October, so this could be the right opportunity for Nokia-MS to PROPERLY categorize big screen phones into 'phonepad'
    when phones became 'smarter' and serves as mini-pc we call it smart-phone
    while a tablet-like device with a larger display is a pad with its dimension and utility but sized smaller than tablets that can be used as a phone as well, we could simply call it a phone-pad
    i hope Nokia is listening...
  • Let's call it iTablet and see what Apple's lawyers would do :)
  • The 1520 is MyPhone and it is a BFP. BFP is a winner. Let the marketing people figure out how to spin it.
  • If I get the chance to buy one I think I'll just call it MINE ;-)
  • Superphone
  • Four colors reported for the 1520, so:
       Time for Teletabbies!
    Actual names:
    Slatephone (kinda like cell phone)
    Tabphone
    Padphone
    PhoneXL
    All in all, my vote goes for megaphone. 
     
  • Loving Nokia Lumia DialerPad
  • Hello All,
     
      I think you've done pretty good brainstorming so far.  I like megaphone, but could entertain arguments about it already being something else, and one word with two unrelated meanings could add ambiguity to our fine language that we've been working so hard on.  BFP is one of my favorites and I'm certainly going to be using it in all informal conversation.  For formal conversation, I think I will go with... Magniphone
    Sounds good, conveys the proper meaning, fun to say.  Try it in a deep, movie-trailer-voice-over voice.
     
    Thoughts?