Have some fun with a Fonepad

ASUS Fonepad is an affordable 7-inch tablet computer that can function as a giant-screen phone and comes in a sleek metallic finish. It performs quite well for this price range thanks to the power from an Intel Atom Z2420 1.2GHz. And it’s built strong in a matte aluminium panel, which gives it a sleek metallic look.

Fonepad runs on the Android 4.1 operating system and features a 7-inch LED-backlit IPS touch-screen panel with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. It has 1 gigabyte of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. The user also gets 5GB of storage space on the ASUS cloud service for life.

The tablet supports the HSPA+ 3G connection of all 3G providers in Thailand on the 850, 900, 1900 and 2100MHz 3G bandwidth.

Fonepad supports microSIM with a slot on the top. You must push the top cover up. Underneath is the slot for microSD memory expansion, which supports up to 32GB more storage.

I tested it on TrueMove H’s 3G service and was impressed by the fast connection speed. I could take photos and upload them to Facebook fast. Updating my Facebook status, checking mail, and checking in at Foursquare could be done smoothly. And downloading and installing applications was also fast.

Its touch screen was responsive and the menus and scrolling were fast and responsive. The apps also ran smoothly during the test. YouTube clips played smoothly and music files played without disruption. The music quality was good when I tested it with my in-ear premium Sony headphones. The tablet also rendered Web pages fast.

Its IPS panel is bright and colourful and was enjoyable to use for reading e-books, mail and Web pages and for viewing photos and video clips. It has 178-degree angle view. At its full brightness, the screen is readable outdoors.

As a phone, Fonepad has good voice quality. You can hold it to your ear like a giant phone without having to use a smalltalk headset or its speaker-phone system. My conversation partner could hear me loud and clear even when I was riding my bike thanks to its use of two microphones to reduce ambient noise. The Intel processor consumed little power, so Fonepad has good battery life. On one full charge I could comfortably survive a day of phone calls and checking and updating Facebook.

The tablet comes pre-installed with useful apps including MyLibrary, File Manager, Kindle, Zinio and SuperNote Lite.

ASUS Fonepad has a suggested retail price of Bt7,990.

 

 

Key specs

_ Operating System: Android 4.1

_ Display: 7-inch LED Backlight WXGA (1280x800) IPS touch panel

_ CPU: Intel Atom Z2420 1.2 GHz

_ Memory: 1GB

_ Storage: 8GB plus 5GB lifetime ASUS Webstorage Space

_ Network Standard: HSPA+ 3G WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 MHz; EDGE/GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

_ Wireless connection: WLAN802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth V3.0

_ Camera: 1.2 MP Front Camera, 3 MP Rear Camera with 720p Video 

_ Interface: 1 x Micro USB, 1 x 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Mic-in), 1 x Micro SD Card Reader, up to 32GB, 1 x 3.5mm headphone socket, 1 x Micro SIM

_ Sensor: GPS & Glonass, G-Sensor, E-compass, Proximity, Ambient Light Sensor

_ Battery: 9 hours; 16Wh Li-polymer Battery

_ Dimensions: 196.4 x 120.1 x 10.4 mm (LxWxH)

_ Weight: 340g