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Despite its cost and unusual configuration, Asus is all in with its Padfone convertible phone-tablet device. The original model was introduced last year at MWC and this years model, the Padfone Infinity, bumps up the tablet to LTE, an HD display and Android 4.2.
The phone part of the Padfone Infinity is a powerhouse with a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The phone has a sleek aluminum unibody design and a 5-inch, 1080P display that rivals most new smartphones on the market. On the outside, the Padfone has a power button and volume rocker on one side and a sim card slot on the other. The top of the device has a headphone jack, while the bottom is home to the charging port. Performance was snappy, but that’s to be expected from a phone with a quad-core processor.
The handset slides easily into the Padfone Station dock, which converts the device into a 10.1-inch tablet. The tablet portion of the device has a 1920×1200 display, a 1-megapixel front camera and a microUSB port that can be used to output 1080P HD video to an external device like a TV. The tablet has the same aluminum unibody design and the same feel (albeit bigger) as the phone. There’s also an integrated battery that’ll deliver up to 40 hours of talk time when the phone is docked.
Asus will ship the Padfone phone-tablet hybrid starting this April in the US. The full package will cost 999 Euros. Check out our hands-on gallery below.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
