I brought myself an Asus fone pad 8 GB when I went to Dubai in August. I don’t since it was my first android device and I did not know that android would take up so much spa exactly remember when it was launched here in India. I tried to find reviews on MouthShut but there were none, so I decided to write my 2 cents worth. Anyway enough with the small talk and straight on to the details.
Price:-
I got it for about 15k in august. Now in India , the prices seem to range between 14k and 14800... so it is not that costly and for that price, you get 3g support and calling function .Also there is a 2yr warranty from Asus, Most brands will give you 1yr warranty , so this is also a plus point.
Design:-
The finish and design of this tablet make it look very high end. There are only two color options, one being champagne gold and the other black silver. There is a port for 3.5mm jack and another port for charging/usb. The only bit I didn’t like about the tablet is its weight. At 350 grams it is very heavy and you cant hold it in your hand for more than about 15 to 20 mins before needing to exercise your fingers and wrists.The micro sd and micro sim slot are placed beneath the rear cover which I found a bit difficult to remove since there are no slots on the cover to help you remove it. You have to use your nails and be careful not to scratch the rear panel. the volume and lock button are on the left side.
Software:-
It runs on android 4.1.2 jelly bean and there has been a couple of updates released last month. Asus have not altered the os much and hence it runs smooth and is very similar to the basic android. MY tablet has not had a single OS crash till now. so I think no problems in the software dept.
Hardware:-
Intel’s Atom Z2420 single-core processor is used. It can process two threads simultaneously via Hyper Threading. The clock rate is 1.2 GHz. In addition to the Intel CPU, the GPU model PowerVR SX540 also present on the SoC (system-on-a-chip). It can be classified as a good mid-range model and matches the Fone pad’s claim and price. The working memory capacity is a decent 1 GB. So good at this price range. There is an 8 GB and 16 GB model that can be quickly expanded via a micro-SD card. The device supports cards with up to 32 GB.Go for the 16 GB model as the android os will easily take up to 3.5 GB of the internal memory. unfortunately I got the 8gb model . The fone pad comes with a 3mp rear camera and 1.3 mp front camera.The cameras are okay in bright condition but poor in dark places as there is no flash. The fonepad comes with a 7 inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. The capacitive touchscreen is also smooth and easy to operate. The pixel density of the screen is 215 ppi which will give a sharp display and the viewing angles are also quite good.
Performance:-
The CPU has a rather slow clock rate of 1.2 GHz and it is supported by 1 GB of RAM. The tablet struggles a bit when it comes to running heavy games like Fifa and nfs etc. but temple run and other games that have a size less than 50 to 60 MB will run very smoothly. HD video playback and internet connectivity is also excellent. The rear speaker is also good but lacks bass. Asus unfortunately don’t provide you with headphones and you will have to buy them separately.
Battery:-
The fone pad comes with a high capacity li-on battery of 16wh. Without WiFi and at minimum brightness I have used it for music and watching a full movie continuously for almost 18 hours. With WiFi on, I have used it for online surfing for almost 7 hours nonstop. The charging time is also very fast. you will get full charge in less than 2 hours. only problem is the charger module gets hot after just 20 to 30 mins of charging.
Now let me give a small list of problems I encountered during my use:-
1) Initially my fone pad was unable to play any video. But had this solved easily by downloading mx player from Google playstore.
2) While playing heavy games like nfs, the loading time is almost close to 30 seconds and if you accidentally press the lock screen button during gameplay, system will hang and you may have to press the factory reset button on the backside to turn the fonepad back to normal.
3) I have heard that the micro SD automatically unmounts itself during use, I have personally encountered this problem only once and you can solve it by removing the SD card and re inserting it. there is no other way to mount the sd card.
So the final verdict:-
A tablet for calls - Asus again uncovered a new gap. Nevertheless, only few users will hold the 7-inch Fonepad next to their ear. Conversations are possible when a headset is used, particularly due to the perfect speech quality. However, I don’t really understand why Asus does not include a headset for this specific device.
The casing of the Fonepad does not give much reason for complaint. Its build and stability are good and the choice of materials is at least appropriate for this price range. The configuration is more than decent for a mid-range tablet and also quite unusual with Intel’s Atom processor. Like the Fonepad’s name already hints, it also features a 3G module as standard. It also has assisted gps, glonass, proximity sensor and bluetooth 3.0.
The screen is good. The contrast, black value, color accuracy and viewing angles are on a good to very good level. Just the brightness could be a bit higher.
The Intel processor has compatibility issues with a few games. However, the graphics and internet performance were quite good.
The battery run-times are good, though not outstanding. The power supply unit proved to be the only major flaw.But maybe I am the only one with this charger problem.
The bottom line is Asus gives an impressive performance with its Fonepad. Users looking for a device for browsing, emails, games and very few phone-calls can go for it. I personally own a small phone for my calls since its easier to carry around.Also please do check out the Asus website. heard they are releasing the fone pad 7 and also another model. I use the fone pad for multimedia purposes only. Hope my review helps you guys out. comments and ratings are welcomed.
Cheers!