ASUS Fonepad 7: an affordable phablet

Hyderabad: Ever since  Apple launched the first tablet, big players like Samsung, seemed to have adopted the mantra ‘Big was Beautiful’. Which is why the size of early versions of the iPad and the Galaxy Pad was 8 to 10 inches.

Then the buying public gave them a sharp lesson or two. The question customers asked was: “Who wants to lug two devices, one to make calls, one to access the Web, and do all those PC productivity things?”

The industry finally got the message - which is why 7-inch is emerging as the most popular size in tablets — especially the ones that add a slot, to insert a phone SIM. ASUS had the advantage of a late starter in this particular race. The Fonepad 7 dual SIM  is a phone-tablet or phablet  that fine-tunes display and wireless features and throws in a host of home-screen application choices.

The IPS (In Plane Switching) backlit LED screen is sharp and readable even in bright ambient light. The built-in speakers are better than what most tablets in this price range offer. The screen resolution is 1280 by 800 pixels which makes it better than 720p HD or High Definition; but shy of full HD or 1080p — which is okay for viewing the best quality available in YouTube. And let’s face it: on a tablet one doesn’t want to slow down things any further than what a 720p video will stream!

The WiFi antenna is very fast and can take advantage of the fastest WiFi speeds available today. There are also slots to insert a 2G or 3G SIM — you need to ensure it is a micro SIM or have your standard-size SIM expertly cut to micro size - but opening the slot involves using a special pin provided, it seems to me, a needless complication.

The 1 GigaByte of RAM memory and 8 GB of storage is fine for starters and okay to work with the dual core 1.2 GHz Intel Atom processor. But, Android users know that the Achilles Heel of that particular Operating System is the difficulty in copying files from one device to  another, so they  will probably invest in an additional storage using the micro SD slot.

Coming to the camera, ASUS goes all the way, with a 1.2 MegaPixel(MP) front camera with 720p video recording (great for Skype-type  video calls) and a 5MP full HD 1080p rear camera with auto  focus, with this much imaging muscle, you really don’t need another handycam for almost all of your personal video shooting.

A built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) capability ensures you can also use the Fonepad for running map and direction-finding apps. With all these  features, ASUS has managed to keep the weight down to some 330gms — an achievement in itself, considering the Lithium-polymer batteries promise 10 hours of operation. The device runs on  Android 4.3 Jellybean.

At the asking price of Rs 12,999, this is certainly a good-value bundle of hardware and software for a tablet that thinks it is a phone (or is the vice versa?).