Hands-on: ASUS Fonepad [VIDEO]
ASUS has yet another twist on the phone/tablet hybrid here at Mobile World Congress. The ASUS Fonepad is, as the name suggests, a combination of the two devices. It is not, however, another Padfone. Instead, it’s a 7-inch tablet with full calling capabilities.
Appearance-wise, the Fonepad shares a lot in common with the ASUS-made Nexus 7, but on specs alone it couldn’t be more different. The tablet is powered by an Intel Atom Z2420 clocked at 1.2GHz and sports PowerVR SGX540 graphics. The 7-inch IPS display features a 1280×800 resolution. The system is backed by 1GB RAM and will be available in 8GB/16GB storage options. Rounding out the specs are a 3MP camera and 1.2MP front-facing camera.
Ultimately, it’s more pad than “fone,” and it’s hard to imagine any real benefit the device offers over owning two devices. Unless, of course, you absolutely need a tablet and don’t want to carry both a tablet and a phone. So as you can probably tell, owning a Fonepad is a bit of a special case. Perhaps helping the slate’s cause is its pricing. For $249 straight up you can own the tablet later this spring.
