Phone-tablets and tablet-phones: Asus FonePad and PadFone Infinity hands-on

Handset makers these days seem intent on blurring the line between phones and tablets, and while there are plenty of large-screened phones on the floor here at Mobile World Congress, no one is going to the lengths that is Asus. At the company's press conference yesterday, it revealed two devices of interest: the FonePad, a 7" Android tablet that features 3G data and voice capabilities; and the PadFone Infinity, the latest iteration of their phone-and-tablet-dock concept that has been kicking around for awhile now.

We stopped by Asus' booth to log some hands-on time with both devices. Neither has been announced for the United States just yet, but they're likely to be a sign of things to come.

The FonePad, a tablet that’s also a phone

The Asus FonePad runs Android 4.1 on an Intel processor and will let you make phone calls; otherwise it's very Nexus 7-like.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

Let's start with the FonePad. On its surface, it's very much a 7" Android tablet in the style of the Nexus 7 (a comparison made all the more apt by the fact that both are made by the same company). It has a 1280×800 display and runs a lightly skinned version of Android 4.1.2—not the stock Android 4.2 experience you get on the Nexus 7, but not terribly different. Like the Nexus 7, it includes 16GB of storage and 1GB of RAM. The European model (pictured) is also missing a rear camera, something that may give you pause if you're looking at it as a potential phone replacement (the Asian version will sport a 3MP rear camera, though).

The tablet has a small speaker grille above the screen for use while making calls.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

There are three differences of note. First, of course, is the device's signature voice calling capability—the top of the back case slides off to reveal a micro SIM slot (as well as a microSD slot, another difference from the Nexus 7), and once you've inserted one you can use it for data and for voice calls.

We couldn't test call quality, of course, since Asus' demo units didn't include SIMs, but we will say that it feels a little silly to hold something as large as the Fonepad up to your ear. It will no doubt be a workable solution for those who value a larger screen over all else in a phone—the ever-increasing size of smartphones seems to indicate that this demographic exists—or if you use a headset for most of your calls, but as a primary phone it strikes me as just a bit too large for comfort.

A 1.2GHz single-core Atom CPU powers the FonePad.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

The second interesting thing about the Fonepad is that it's got Intel inside—though not, apparently, the same Clover Trail+ Atom processor we reported on yesterday. Rather, it uses the Atom Z2420 that Intel unveiled at CES last month, and while Jelly Bean seemed to run well enough on it it's certainly not Intel's fastest Atom. The Z2420 pairs a single-core 1.2GHz Hyperthreading-enabled Atom with a PowerVR SGX 540 GPU, the latter of which is even a bit slower than the GPU used in the Nexus 7's Tegra 3. It's also almost certain to be using and Intel modem—whether the older XMM 6260 or the newer 6360 isn't clear—but either way this means it won't support LTE.

The metal construction of the FonePad inspires a bit more confidence than the Nexus 7's plastic.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

And, finally, we get to the build quality—the Nexus 7 is made mostly of plastic, and while for a $200 tablet it doesn't feel terribly cheap, it's also not the sturdiest thing in the world (the back of my own Nexus 7 has been known to come loose from the front if it falls off the bed, and while it snaps back together easily it doesn't inspire a ton of confidence). The Fonepad, by contrast, has a slightly rounded, smooth metal back that feels nice to hold. Whether it stays together better than my Nexus 7 is hard to divine from using the tablet for 15 minutes, but it does feel a little better.

There's no word on US availability for the FonePad, but it should be available in Asia for $249 in March and in Europe for €219 in April.

The PadFone Infinity, a phone that turns into a tablet

The PadFone phone nestled safely in the PadFone pad.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

Asus' PadFone product line isn't new, but the PadFone Infinity updates the hardware to bring it in line with the rest of the high-end Android competition.

It starts with the phone, which even by itself is a relatively impressive handset. Like other high-end Android phones of late, it includes a 5" 1080p IPS display, a 1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC, and 2GB of RAM. It's also got either 32 or 64GB of storage, a 13MP rear camera, a 2MP front camera, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band Wi-Fi, and LTE support, all packed into a five ounce, 0.35" thick package.

As a stand-alone phone, the PadFone is actually pretty competitive.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

The back of the PadFone is a gently curved brushed metal that's pretty comfortable to hold.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

We're not sure how its heat output and battery life stack up, but Asus has crammed quite a bit into a 0.35" thick slab.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

The phone has a lightly curved, brushed metal back and feels pretty good to hold. We weren't able to run our standard suite of benchmarks on the phone (or perform any battery life tests, given how power-hungry some of these quad-core 1080p phones are), but Asus' skinned Android install ran smoothly and without issues (Asus' presentation and spec sheet lists Android 4.2, though the devices themselves appear to be running Android 4.1.2—we'll give Asus the benefit of the doubt and assume the update will be available by the time the device launches). By itself it would be a fairly impressive high-end Android phone along the lines of other high-end Android phones we've been seeing lately.

Slide the phone into the tablet-dock, and it switches seamlessly into tablet mode.

Without the phone, the tablet is just a screen with a battery in it—all of the important stuff is in the phone itself.

Credit: Andrew Cunningham

Where the PadFone Infinity differs, of course, is in its tablet shell. I call it a shell because there's really not a lot in it—a 10.1" 1920x1200 display, a battery that can recharge and extend the phone's talk time, a front-facing 1MP camera, and some extra internal antennae. All of the heavy lifting is done by the phone—the tablet uses the same storage, internals, connectivity interfaces, and camera, and therein lies the appeal of the device. If you have issues keeping your phone and tablet in sync with one another, just fold them into the same device.

Depending on how you hold your tablet, the PadFone in tablet mode can be a bit uncomfortable—the back of the tablet is a nice, smooth metal, but there's a bulge in the center for the cradle where the phone is inserted that might get in your way if you hand reaches the center of your tablet to hold it. The phone does seem to fit pretty securely in the tablet-dock, though, and while there's no physical latch or anything that keeps the phone in place, we wouldn't be too worried about it falling out on accident.

There are two potential issues with the PadFone, which launches in Europe in April: the first, for many, will be its price tag of €999, or just over $1,300—roughly commensurate with what you'd pay for an unlocked iPhone and an iPad; that combination would include a whole lot of hardware that Asus simply doesn't have to pay for in the tablet part of the PadFone.