Hands On: Polaroid's Android Lineup

LAS VEGAS—Polaroid has been reinventing itself after shuttering the traditional camera business that made it such a household name. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, Polaroid had a whole host of touch-screen devices on display for showgoers. We had a chance to check out its latest Android-powered smartphones and tablets on the show floor.

This year brings modest updates to the company's L Series Android tablets, the L7 and L10. Both tabs are powered by an undisclosed quad-core ARM processor, likely coming from a Chinese manufacturer like MediaTek or Rockchip. The L10 features a 10-inch, 1,280-by-720-pixel display, while the L7's 7-inch display has the same resolution. Neither of these tabs are going to win any speed or design awards, but they're dirt cheap at $99.99 for the L7 and $149.99 for the L10. Their best feature, though, might be the near-stock Android 5.0 software, which should appeal to Android purists on a budget.

Polaroid's smartphone lineup was a surprise this year, but continues the company's trend of licensing the Polaroid name to manufacturers like Southern Telecom, which makes both the tablets and smartphones bearing the Polaroid name. We took a look at the Polaroid Selfie, Polaroid Flip, and Polaroid Snap, which are slated for a U.S. release this spring.

The Polaroid Selfie is the most interesting of the bunch, clearly aping Oppo's rotating camera module design that we most recently saw on the N5. The top section of the phone houses a 13-megapixel camera that easily swivels forward and backwards. Below that is a 5.5-inch 720p LCD that looked about average in my brief hands-on time.

The Polaroid Flip features the same 5.5-inch display without the rotating camera, instead opting for 8-megapixel and 2-megapixel cameras. I found the boxy lines to be interesting, but the device felt a bit unwieldy for its size.

Lastly, the Polaroid Snap is the smallest of the bunch with a 4.7-inch, 960-by-540-pixel display. All three will be powered by another undisclosed quad-core ARM processor.

Luckily, all three run stock Android 5.0, which should help distinguish them from more bloated options. No word on pricing for the smartphones yet, but expect something in the bargain bin range given the specs.