It seems that ASUS is toying around with its Fonepad budget phablet series. While the ASUS Fonepad 7 definitely has a precedent and contemporaries, the Fonepad 8 unambiguously crosses over to the realm of tablets and, perhaps, irrationality.
The new Fonepad 7 is, by no means, unique or new, and it is clearly meant as an upgrade, albeit an incremental one, to the phablet of the same name unveiled last September. The CPU, for instance, has been boosted to a 1.8 GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3560 with 1 GB of RAM and 8 or 16 GB of internal storage. The back camera is marked at 5 megapixels while the front one is at 2 megapixels. Sadly, the 7-inch display retains the same HD capacity as the previous model. Of course, the highlight of the Fonepad line is built-in 3G connectivity and phone functionality, and in this regard this phablet does not disappoint.
The Fonepad 8, however, is a puzzling device. Granted, it’s not the largest tablet with telephony built-in, a distinction that probably belongs to the older Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. However, the market has more or less defined how big users are willing to go for a phablet, and this 8-inch wonder is definitely going to make hands sore. Nonetheless, ASUS believes that, despite the size, the device will still be usable with one hand due to its 12 cm wide body. Aside from the size, the Fonepad 8 is practically the same as the Fonepad 7, with the same Intel Atom Z3560 processor, 1 GB of RAM, down to the same 1280×800 WXGA resolution.
Both phablets, or tablet phones if you wish to call them that, come in the same color choices of white, black, gold, and red. ASUS has so far withheld pricing and availability details for this new devices.
