by wterry507. gadget geek, toy model fetishist.
edited by yellowchilli
Asus decides to capture some of the phablet space from Samsung and does so with the right set of strategies, namely: a budget price tag.
Naturally, there has to be compromises and it’s down to you to decide how they outweigh each other. Another thing to consider is: would you use this as your main phone and is 7inches enough as a tablet?
specs and info
Intel Medfield Z2460
1.6 Ghz
single Core
3G HSDA
1GB RAM
32 Ghz
4270 mAh battery
Amazon price: $317-399
design and hardware
+ + + device feels great in hand, especially when compared to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.O”. This is down to it being less angular and having a more curved and ergonomic design.
++ 32GB internal memory, with 26GB of which is user accessible. A lot of you will also be glad to know that it also has a micro sd slot for storage expansion.
+ Asus finally comes to their senses and replaces their proprietary charging socket with a standard micro-usb version.
— the bezel is thicker than it needs to be, a fair bit of wasted space
– simcard and microsd are both hidden behind the top cap which is a bit of a bother.
– while the aluminum back adds a premium feel to the device, it nevertheless becomes a burden to the user via its extra weight and fear of scratching
display
+ testing with a 2GB full HD movie with MX player, the IPS 1280×800 216 ppi display does a great job, the details are all there but of course it’s very clearly not full HD.
camera
+++where other budget tablets miss out on the back camera, the Fonepad doesn’t skimp on anything here
+photo quality is within expectations- some noise but otherwise accurate colour reproduction
-camera sensor size could be larger
photo samples
front cam
back camera
back camera
software features
++ the UI is only lightly skinned, google experience is largely preserved
++ Asus’s handy floating apps
+ pretty much devoid of bloatware. Asus was even nice enough to include a rather handy paid-for dictionary app (called Dr. Eye) in the HK version.
— there’s a permanent SD card icon on the top left corner of the notification area. not sure of its purpose.
– minor point but: no battery percentage display
– microsd’s mount path is non-standard but in a way might make more sense. Normally it’s “mnt/extsdcard” but the Fonepad mounts it at “/removable”
sound quality
+ voice calls are clear but would you slap it up against your face?…
impressive sunspider score. reference: Razr i scores 845 running at 2ghz
performance and battery life
+++ ui and performance is surprisingly smooth considering the single core. we’ve already seen some good performance out of the Razr I XT890’s Z2480 2ghz single core (also dual thread) Intel Soc so this is no exception despite having 20mhz less.. 3D gaming e.g. the Sims Freeplay and Toy Story Smash it was perfectly smooth as well.
+++ blistering web browser speed
++ the 4270mAh battery lasted up to 12 hours on a 3G, enough for one work day. our week-long testing involved the following activities: a few calls, non-stop web browsing and gaming in the morning, did some download in the afternoon. This is roughly inline with the Razr i’s battery life and should idle in a similar manner too: 48 hours.
– one important thing, being x86 means there are still some compatibility issues. Firefox and Flash isn’t compatible, for example. but hopefully with Intel SoCs becoming more and more popular, developers would be the one playing catchup.
– 1GB ram- sometimes when several apps are opened, it could cause a bit of lag and tasks have to be killed manually to return the tab to original smoothness
specs and info
Intel Medfield Z2460
1.6 Ghz
single Core
3G HSDA
1GB RAM
32 Ghz
4270 mAh battery
Amazon price: $317-399
