ASUS Fonepad 8 review: A calling tablet with a great form factor!
The tablet is a fitting investment for people who constantly need a larger screen device
ASUS has always focused on performance in a budget, and it has now released another such product. ASUS has launched an 8-inch tablet, the Fonepad 8 in India at a price tag of Rs 13,999. We had a hands-on with the Fonepad 8 and this what we drew out of the tablet’s experience.
This 8-inch tablet phone, which sports an IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. The display is protected by an Oleophobic coating, which keeps the display from attracting too many fingerprint smudges. The tablet’s front panel sports a speaker grille (which doubles as an earpiece), a proximity sensor and a 2MP front camera on the top, and another speaker grille towards the bottom.
Along the edges, the tablet dons a golden rim. Unlike a regular smartphone or tablet, the ASUS Fonepad 8 sports the function keys (power and volume button) slightly towards the back end of the edges. We thought, considering the size of the tablet, the placing of the keys is quite convenient and easily accessible. On the right, the tablet features the volume rocker and the power button, while on the left, under a port flap sit two slots for SIM cards and a slot for microSD card. On the top edge, the tablet sports a USB charging port and headphone jack.
The rear panel is made out of plastic with a rubberised finish, and sports a 5MP camera, without flash. The tablet's has a rugged build quality and is well-flushed along the edges. Though the tablet sports a glossy display, it does not attract a lot of smudges and fingerprints — thanks to the Oleophobic coating on the display. The ASUS Fonepad 8 is 8.9mm thick and weighs 328g.
On the ergonomics front, the tablet bags a high score. The Fonepad 8 is comfortable to use as it easily fits in your palm, unless you have small hands. Unlike the conventional 8-inch tablets, the ASUS Fonepad 8 has a slim form factor, instead of wide, which makes it easier to handle with one hand.
Under the hood, the Fonepad 8 is powered by an Intel Atom Z3530 chipset, featuring a quad-core processor clocked at 1.33GHz, and accompanies by PowerVR G6430 graphics processor and 2GB of RAM. The tablet embraces an internal storage of 16GB, which is expandable up to 64GB using a microSD card.
The connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS and a microUSB v2.0. The tablet is fuelled with a non-removable 15.2W Li-Po battery, which the company claims can offer a runtime of 21 hours on 3G.
Running on Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system, the ASUS Fonepad 8 uses ASUS’ custom ZenUI. The tablet’s user interface is fluid with effortless transitions. The Fonepad 8 offers a satisfying performance; the phone does not feel sluggish, nor does it freeze. Applications open smoothly, and we experienced absolutely no delay in launching new applications, whatsoever.
The Fonepad's display has large viewing angles. The display legibility in bright sunlight is pretty decent too, which means that it is clear enough to read even on a bright sunny day.
As mentioned earlier, the Fonepad 8 features two stereo speakers, each of them placed at the top and bottom of the front panel. The audio quality of the speakers is fair and decent for casual video viewing or listening to music.
Moving to the camera, the ASUS Fonepad 8 features a 5MP primary camera. The images shot by the camera are average, with decent colour reproduction, but they lack adequate sharpness. Below are some of the shots taken by the Fonepad 8. You can click to view/download the images and view them at full resolution in order to judge the performance of the camera.
Priced at Rs 13,999, the ASUS Fonepad 8 is a decently well performing tablet. However, considering that the tablet is integrated with the features of a smartphone, ASUS could have concentrated a little more on the camera. Having said that, the ASUS Fonepad 8 is a fitting investment for people who constantly need a larger screened device beside their smartphone, so that the tablet provides them with both the features in one device. However, using a tablet as a primary smartphone may be highly inconvenient, and we suggest you use a headset or a Bluetooth headset for telephoning.