Panasonic P81 review – could have been better

Panasonic P81 is using the MediaTek Octa core processor clocked at 1.7GHz and running on Jelly Bean 4.2.2. This dual SIM handset comes with a 5.5 inch screen with 720p resolution. The P81 is priced at approx Rs. 18,500 – does it compete with other brands?

Box Pack
This handset comes in a good box packing with lot of freebies. Inside the box you will find the handset, screen guard, warranty card, user manual, quality flip cover, travel charger, data cable, earphone and battery of 2500 mAh capacity. Freebies – Evernote premium services for 6 month, download access to Hungama, 3 months India Today digital magazine subscription and Readwhere Bouquet.

Design, Display and OS
If you have had a look at other octa core processors or in general any other handsets, the Panasonic P81 will not impress you. The front facing is not that attractive, moreover the navigation buttons will remind you of the cheap Chinese phones.

The rear side is made of plastic and has got the leathery texture that not only looks good but is also soft to touch. P81 weight with battery is 153 grams and dimensions are 77.49mm x 149.85mm x 8.54mm. The handset is comfortable to hold but as already mentioned it doesn’t look that attractive.

There is a silver line on the side that helps it look a little better. This is a dual SIM handset and you will need 2 normal SIM’s. The micro USB port and mic are placed at the bottom, 3.5mm audio jack on the top, volume rockers on the left and power button on the right.

Panasonic P81 sports a 5.5 inch screen. The screen does not come with any protection and hence a screen guard is provided in the box. Touch is smooth and responsive. Display resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels. Colour reproduction and viewing angles are good.

This handsets runs on Android 4.2.2 out of the box with Play Life user interface. The lock screen itself is different. (Gesture controlled). For example you need to draw ‘U’ to unlock the screen. There are 3 sensors accelerometer, proximity and light.

Memory and Storage
The P81 comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. Of the 1GB RAM about 259MB is available on the first boot. And of the 8GB storage there is 5.5 GB available space for apps. There is micro SD card slot that supports up to 32GB card, however you cannot install apps on the external storage. OTG is also not supported. OTA updates are supported.

Performance
Panasonic P81 is using the 1.7GHz (1.66GHz) ARM Cortex A7 octa core chipset (MediaTek MT6592) with Mali 450 MP GPU. Performance is lag free.

Benchmark

Gaming
Modern Combat 4 and Asphalt 8 games got installed on the internal storage. I did not face any issues with the games. Both the games played really well. Asphalt 8 was playable even in highest visual quality mode.

Entertainment and Camera
The P81 can play full HD videos with ease. As for the cameras there is 13MP AF camera on the rear with LED flash and 2MP on the front. Camera supports HDR, GIF and Panorama modes. Rear camera can shoot 1080p videos and front camera can shoot 720p videos. Video stability option is also available. Videos can be recorded in 3GP or MP4 formats.

The still camera quality is good however there are some issues when recording a video. In video mode auto focus does not work and neither does touch to focus. This means that when you are shooting a video in will be in fixed focus mode. It is a software glitch and should not be an issue fixing it.

Others
Loudspeaker sound is loud and clear. No issues found with 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. Wi-Fi direct, hotspot and USB tethering is supported. There is no Bluetooth tethering. The non-magnetic flip cover quality is very good and you need to clip that on to the back of the handset. You will need to double tab the home navigation button to get the list of running apps. The handset also comes with Viera remote application that works with Viera TV.

Battery
There is 2500 mAh removable battery. I used the handset for 23 minutes playing around with benchmarking apps, battery dropped by 8%. When I played the high end games for about 11 minutes the battery dropped by 5%. I also played a video in a loop for almost 21 minutes – the battery then dropped by 7%.

If you are playing high end games you can expect battery backup of 3 to 4 hours and when watching movies or with continuous moderate usage the battery will last for up to 5 hours.

Verdict

The P81 comes with a 5.5 screen but with 720p resolution. There is 1GB RAM and 8GB storage, through there is micro SD support you cannot install apps on the external storage.  There are better handsets available in the market. The Gionee Elife E7 mini and the Alcatel OneTouch Idol X+ is a better option. When you compare the P81 with Alcatel Idol X+, the X+ clearly wins.

Panasonic P81 current price is Rs. 18,596.

P81 image gallery

Sample images shout using P81 handset

Front Camera Sample

Panasonic P81 handset and gaming review