What's good
- Excellent battery life
- Display offers crisp details and good viewing angles
- Connects to 3G network without tethering
- Good day-to-day performance
What's bad
- Slight lag when opening and using apps
- Mediocre call quality
- Bad bright light legibility
Not to be confused with the Asus Padfone, the Asus Fonepad offers a hybrid phone and tablet experience. At 7", the device is fairly unwieldy for critics to use as a regular phone without the aid of a headset. Most experts agree that it won't replace a standard smartphone, especially when taking its mediocre call quality into account. Still, a major perk of the Fonepad's phone aspect is its ability to connect to the 3G network without tethering. This gives users the ability to connect online anywhere, even if there is no WiFi available.
As a tablet, the Fonepad didn't wow reviewers. The 7" screen offers a decent resolution of 1280x800 pixels, which equates to 216ppi. According to experts, the display delivers wide viewing angles due to its IPS technology and crisp image details. Unfortunately, Wired says, "The brightness settings don't allow it to get particularly vivid…" and critics mention that the tablet is very difficult to read under bright light situations.
With a 1.2GHz single-core Intel processor and 1GB of RAM, the Fonepad consistently scored low in system benchmark tests. After test driving, however, most critics were surprised by its good day-to-day performance. Of course, they also point out that there are issues with lag and stutter, but nothing bad enough to ruin the overall experience. In addition to the processor and memory, the tablet also comes equipped with 16GB of onboard storage and an expandable microSD slot.
The one area where the Fonepad excels is battery life. When put through battery tests, it lasted 8 hours of intense usage and 20 hours of moderate use. According to Ubergizmo, the battery also charges "crazy-fast," going from 0 to full in less than two hours.
Although this product doesn't offer top-of-the-line features, most experts were happy with the budget tablet. Phone Arena says, "The Fonepad…stands out with being a good-looking, 3G-capable slate…" but they go on to say, "Nevertheless, we would definitely recommend you to consider trying the Nexus 7 tablet…it packs more processing power…at a similar price."
What the Critics Are Saying...
- Ershad Kaleebullah, Gadgets 360The Asus Fonepad 7 is available for as little as Rs. 7,299 on e-commerce platforms, which is a really good price for a tablet that performs so well. Yes, the software was slightly iffy in the beginning, but that could have been a problem with our review unit. The screen is not too great and the came...
- Richard Devine, Android CentralI really want to like the Fonepad, and in some respects I do. For the price, this is a very competitive device with fantastic battery life, Jelly Bean and the ability to make calls. Sadly, the internals let it down, and I fear that its low price point price may have led to the decision to use the In...
- Stuart Andrews, ITProPortalThe Asus Fonepad will be a brilliant Android tablet for many business and home users. In most areas it matches the Google Nexus 7 and in some key areas – like battery life and expandability – the Fonepad outperforms it. This device’s real ace, however, is its built-in mobile connec...
- Anil Satapathy, The Mobile IndianThe Asus Fonepad comes as a really good choice. Unlike other devices it has an Intel processor. Though just a single core processor, it offers very fluid performance thanks to its Hyper Threading technology. We would recommend this product over its rivals for its good battery back up, connectivity o...
- Alun Taylor, The RegisterSo, can you live with a 7-inch, 340g smartphone? Yes. Naturally there are compromises to be made. I wouldn't want to take a FonePad with me to my local pub for the evening or to a gig, and the absence of a suitable camera is going to become an issue at some point down the line. But the cash savings...
Prices (Where to Buy)
Resources
Manuals / User Guides
- Asus Fonepad Manual (PDF)
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