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ASUS introduces the 7-inch FonePad

Tablets with phone functionality have always been a rarity since manufacturers are hesitant to invest in a product that most consumers aren’t really in to. But this doesn’t stop ASUS in unveiling the FonePad which was launched alongside the PadFone Infinity.

asus fonepad

Considering the success that ASUS has garnered with the Nexus 7, we think that it’s only logical for the company to produce a tablet that not only has the features that endeared to the consumers, but also addresses some of the gripes that they have with it. Fortunately, that’s exactly what they’ve done with the FonePad.

The FonePad’s display is almost identical to that of the Nexus 7’s with the only significant difference being the absence of a Gorilla Glass protection on the former’s screen. Another thing that these two tablets have in common is the 1.2MP camera mounted at the front which takes care of your video calling needs. And just like its sibling, the ASUS FonePad will run on Android Jelly bean (4.1.2) right out of the gate.

asus fonepad philippines

The first noticeable difference between these two devices is the use of aluminum material for the FonePad’s back cover (which by the way looks gorgeous) instead of a dimpled plastic back plate of the Nexus 7. The dissimilarity continues under the hood as ASUS forgoes the use of Tegra 3 processor and instead opted for Intel’s dual-core Atom-based processor. The processor, the Atom Z2420, is clocked at 1.2GHz and is accompanied by PowerVR SGX540 GPU and 1GB of RAM.

ASUS will be releasing the FonePad in two models initially; 8GB and 16GB. However, unlike the Nexus 7, this newly announced slate will feature a microSD card slot for storage expansion; a feature that the drove most Nexus 7 users nuts. Another feature that’s missing on the popular tablet is the phone functionality which is clearly one of the main advantages that the ASUS FonePad has over its competition.

ASUS FonePad specs:
7” WXGA IPS touchscreen display, 1280×800 @216ppi
1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2420 single-core processor
PowerVR SGX540 GPU
1GB RAM
8/16GB internal storage
MicroSD card slot w/ support for up to 32GB
HSPA+
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0 w/ A2DP
GPS w/ A-GPS, GLONASS
1.2MP front-facing camera
Non-removable 4270mAh Li-Ion battery
Android Jelly bean
Dimension: 196.4 x 120.1 x 10.4 mm
Weight: 340g

The ASUS FonePad will hit the shelves starting this April and will cost USD249 a pop or almost Php10,200. So is this slate worth the cash? What do you guys think?

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Avatar for Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

25 Responses

  1. Avatar for tont0 gutienes tont0 gutienes says:

    14,995php sa cmk

  2. Avatar for RaM RaM says:

    This is single core but with 2 threads.

  3. Avatar for uchiyas uchiyas says:

    tama mura na ito super pag iipunan ko ito.. bye bye na sa android phone

  4. Avatar for loLOL loLOL says:

    walang phone functionality ang n73g. pwede i-push sa system yung apk ng stock MMS pero it cannot make and take calls like a normal phone, unless may special tether/sync app.

  5. Avatar for aedis aedis says:

    So it has 2 cameras? a front-facing one and another at the back?

  6. Avatar for Jay Jay says:

    The nexus 7 is also not using gorilla glass

    • Avatar for Justin Justin says:

      http://www.gsmarena.com/asus_google_nexus_7-4850.php

      The Nexus 7 is equipped with Gorilla Glass. GSMarena listed the display protection as ‘Corning Glass’, which may have been a typo. Corning is the company which makes Gorilla Glass.

  7. Avatar for John John says:

    Sir Ronnie, you forgot to mention that ASUS Google Nexus 7 has a 3G version do it has phone functionalities. It can be expanded by using an OTG USB cable and downloading the cracked version of Nexus Media Importer at either Aptoide or Blackmart. One thing it lacks is that there is no HDMI pod and a rear facing camera. Hopefully this will be addressed when Google and ASUS will release the 2nd generation of Nexus 7 this coming May 2013.

    • Avatar for John John says:

      Correction, that’s HDMI port not pod. The 3G Version of ASUS Google Nexus 7 has indeed phone functionalities.

    • Avatar for Angelica Angelica says:

      we’re talking legal here please, not some other firmwares :)

      The Nexus 7 can indeed make calls but where is the earpiece like the FonePad? Not everyone can do custom firmwares.

  8. Avatar for Dodong Dodong says:

    i want this :)

  9. Avatar for Rolly Rolly says:

    Ronnie, Samsung already rolled out Galaxy Note 8.0 that can make call as well.

    http://www.yugatech.com/mobile/samsung-galaxy-note-8-0-now-official/

    So I think this will head to head competition with Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0

    • Avatar for Ronnie Bulaong Ronnie Bulaong says:

      @Rolly, yeah it’s going to be interesting to see how these tablets will fare in the market. :D

  10. Avatar for Templar_kaozzzz Templar_kaozzzz says:

    Hey Ronnie the 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2420 IS ONLY A SINGLE CORED PROCIE! please VERIFY.

    • Avatar for wewet wewet says:

      yup, single core lang talaga ang Intel Atom Z2420, I think it has to be somewhere Z25XX for it to be a dual core… nabasa ko na yun dati pa parang sa wikipedia at sa ark.intel… so ronnie please correct your post

    • Avatar for Templar_kaozzzz Templar_kaozzzz says:

      Thanks Wewet, nagulat ako, pero kahit single cored it performed well halos mala 1ghz na quadcore din sya, so this really is a great tab if priced 12k below.

    • Avatar for Richard Richard says:

      buti naman na realize mo na not all cores are the same. The heck yung quad core nga ng cherry mobile mas malala pa sa performance nito eh.

      Saka I rather trust intel in processors than other newbie processors

    • Avatar for Ronnie Bulaong Ronnie Bulaong says:

      Yup single core lang. :D Pero as mentioned by @wewet, snappy yung performance for a single core processor. Will post the first impression later on, so watch out for that. :D

    • Avatar for Templar_kaozzzz Templar_kaozzzz says:

      Sir Ronnie, when is this expected to be avail in the phil? most off all in the gray market?

  11. Avatar for Ryan Ryan says:

    looking forward to this baby.

  12. Avatar for Smokescreen Smokescreen says:

    Asus has typically been producing high quality products. And this one looks to be a keeper. But I highly doubt this would be released at around the 10k price point. If it’s $249, then I would estimate it to be around P15k. Not realy a steal but fairly priced considering the hardware.

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