With their size being somewhere between the smallest tablets and the biggest smartphones, so-called "phablets" have found their way to many purchasers. These mobile devices typically have screens with a diagonal greater than 5 and smaller than 7 inches, providing the functionality of a tablet and a smartphone at the same time.

At first glance, it may seem unnatural to many to use a device with a 5.5-inch display -- or even greater -- especially for making calls, thus initial attempts of producing such gadgets were not welcomed by the market at first. Then, things changed precisely two years ago, when Samsung premiered its first Galaxy Note at IFA in Berlin. With a 5.3-inch display, this device seemed enormous at the time, meaning unpractical. However, the exceptionally practical S Pen that was delivered with it gave it functionality no other smartphone or tablet has had before, regardless of its size, and the Galaxy Note succeeded astonishingly, selling over 10 million units in just several months.

PhabletsA year later, Samsung presented the even more successful Galaxy Note II (at IFA again), which had an even bigger diagonal of 5.5 inches. IFA will be held in a few weeks' time in Berlin and Samsung has already announced its new spectacular premier, at which it will, no doubt, present the Galaxy Note III. Still, this time Samsung's phablet will arrive on the market with serious competition gathering, surely stimulated by the success of the previous two Note models, surprising everyone (probably including Samsung).

Over the last few months, Samsung's biggest rivals have revealed phablets, usually using stages and garnering signficant media coverage. Huawei presented the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate at CES, LG revealed its flagship device, the 5.5-inch Optimus G Pro, at MWC in Barcelona, and Asus stole the Computex show with its 6-inch Fonepad Note FHD 6. Meanwhile, riding the success of its own Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z, Sony has since hosted an event in London presenting the 6.4-inch Xperia Z Ultra and Samsung has decided to improve its phablet offer with Galaxy Mega models, available with 5.8 and 6.3-inch displays.

There is a whole lot more of phablets, but the mentioned models drew the most attention of potential users over the past few months and those who are already on the market have scored. I had the opportunity of trying all these devices and I'm now bringing you my impressions. The general conclusion is quite clear: phablets are a category of devices which, despite looking "funny", have plenty of potential that grows by the day. According to their specifications, all phablets can be compared to a higher smartphone and tablet category and quite often match up to flagship models; there are simply no cheaper, entry-level phablets. It is clear that the most demanding users go for phablets.

It is those users who love the fact that they get two devices for the price of one and this has made mobile gadget manufacturers raise the bar pretty high for each other before the upcoming IFA -- Samsung above all. The Samsung Galaxy Note III (if it will be named that) will surely be the most powerful mobile device this fall, hardware-wise, but it is equally likely that we will not have to wait long for an similarly impressive response from the competition.