I've been using my Fonepad for a couple of months now - I don't like to review 'straight out of the box'. For some time I had been using my Galaxy s1 more as a small computer and less as a mobile phone. I took the plunge to the Fonepad after an operation left me temporarily immobile. As an all in one communication device the Fonepad is only equalled in my view by the likes of the Galaxy note, which I considered, but the price was more than a touch off-putting and the screen wasn't quite big enough to be a proper tablet.
The screen of the Fonepad is clear and bright, the performance of the hyper-threading Atom processor is sharp and I haven't even come close to running out of battery in a day. It has coped easily with all the games I've tried, far more of them than normal recently. Streamed TV progs look superb. The Asus keyboard 'predictive word bar' saves me hours when emailing and the extra button opening the Asus floating widget bar is genuinely useful. My slightly banana-like fingers find texting is now easy and the device fits into my large-ish hands perfectly. For me this is the perfect size for a tablet. The interweb, using the Dolphin browser, is a joy, and it is truly portable, fitting into most of my jacket pockets. At 58 I'm secure enough in my skin not to give a flying fig about what anyone else thinks on the rare occasion I actually use the Fonepad as a 'fone' but when I do, the performance equals or slightly exceeds my old Galaxy s1.
With the addition of a dashboard mount and 'Sygic' offline mapping, the fast satellite acquisition and large bright screen make this a superb sat-nav device. I've retired the old Tomtom.
Lack of a camera? Not a worry for me personally - if I feel the photographic urge I carry my tiny waterproof Sony 'tuff compact' camera which does the job properly.
The downsides: It is difficult, but not impossible, to 'root' - if that interests you. There are also some incompatibility problems due to the Intel processor as virtually all other Android devices use ARM designed processors. Having said that, the only one that has bothered me has been the lack of Flash. You will not be able to load any of the specially written flash.apk packages for recent Android systems as there isn't one which works with the Intel processor. It will appear to install but won't do anything. For me that's just a minor inconvenience which doesn't detract in any way from the superb value and unrivalled functionality of the Fonepad.
| Brand | ASUS |
|---|---|
| Package Dimensions | 20.8 x 13 x 5.4 cm; 559.99 Grams |
| Item model number | ME371MG-1B038A |
| Manufacturer | Asus |
| Standing screen display size | 7 Inches |
| Screen Resolution | 1280 x 800 pixels |
| Processor Brand | Intel |
| Processor Type | Atom |
| Processor Speed | 1.2 GHz |
| RAM Size | 1 GB |
| Computer Memory Type | DDR2 SDRAM |
| Hard Drive Size | 16 GB |
| Graphics Card Description | Integrated |
| Connectivity Type | 3G |
| Operating System | Android Jelly bean 4.1 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 9 Hours |
| Are Batteries Included | Yes |
| Lithium Battery Weight | 300 Grams |
| Item Weight | 560 g |
