Panasonic ELUGA Power

Available now
28th February 2012

We saw the Panasonic ELUGA just a few days ago, and now Panasonic have topped it with the Panasonic ELUGA Power, an Android smartphone with a name that sounds like a cleaning product, but it does come with cool feature set.

The ELUGA Power is a much more sexy device than the plain old ELUGA. This is an Android 4.0 smartphone with a large 5.0" 720 x 1280 pixel display, a dual core 1.5GHz processor, 8GB of internal flash plus a microSD slot, an 8 megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture plus a secondary video calling camera, NFC support, a large 1800 mAh battery and all the usual Android 4.0 features that other smartphones have.

What sets the ELUGA range apart from most other handsets is that they are waterproof and dustproof to IP57 standards, the other ELUGA is rated for 1.5 metres of water for 30 minutes and we expect that the ELUGA Power is too. Another somewhat novel feature is that the ELUGA Power has been designed for rapid charging, going from 10% to 50% charge in just 30 minutes and to 80% in under an hour.

This is an HSPA+ capable smartphone, which should give download speeds of at least 21Mbps where HSPA+ is available, and of course if supports normal 3.5G HSPA and other bands as well. The ELUGA Power measures 136 x 70 x 9.6mm and weighs 133 grams, which is pretty light for a big screen phone like this.

On paper the ELUGA Power looks like a nice handset to use although it really is just a black slabby thing to look at. Panasonic haven't said when the ELUGA Power will be available or how much it will cost, but the rival Samsung Galaxy Note retails for about €530 and we would expect the ELUGA Power to come in at a broadly similar price point in markets across Europe.