 "Turn your Samsung smartphone into a tablet with Phonepad")
If you thought it was a shame that the Padfone by Asus isn’t compatible with your handset, the Phonepad is here to quell your woes. The Phonepad lets you dock your phone in and use it as a tablet. It has built-in batteries and speakers as well.
The tablet has a 10-inch LED HD display. It measures 187 x 270 x 20 mm and weighs in at about 968 g without the smartphone docked into it. It can be used in both landscape and portrait orientations. While it does seem like a useful device for some people, the weight might be a big turn off. A peripheral that weighs almost 1kg isn’t exactly the most portable device out there.
The Phonepad uses MHL as a connection protocol and is compatible with Samsung smartphones, including the Galaxy S3 and the S2. The pictures on the Phonepad’s website show a Galaxy S3 docked into the tablet. As of yet, there is no mention of phones by other companies being compatible with the tablet.
The Phonepad has hinges that let you swivel the screen around. It uses the same 3G or Wi-Fi connection that your phone is connected to. It also has the ability to connect to a gaming controller that comes bundled with the device, thus letting you use it as a full-fledged gaming device.
The Phonepad will be launching in July for £149.99, which roughly translates to Rs 12,555.
The Phonepad is like the Padfone for Samsung’s smartphones
If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution instead of buying accessories made by different companies, you can check out the Asus PadFone 2. It is a 4.7-inch Android smartphone that docks with the PadFone 2 Station to become 10.1-inch tablet. Apps are optimised to support both tablet and phone modes, offering an instant transition between smartphone and tablet screen sizes.
Asus claims that its “Design Thinking” philosophy has helped in reducing the PadFone 2 Station’s thickness and weight. The device now weighs 649 grams with the combined weight of both PadFone 2 and PadFone 2 Station making it lighter than most tablets on the market. The dock mechanism has been redesigned to require a one step to use. PadFone 2 has also been designed to increase its screen size to 4.7-inches, while reducing its thickness and weight to just 9mm at its thickest point and weighing 135g respectively.
Here is a quick look at the highlighted features of the Asus PadFone 2:
- 4.7-inch 720p Super IPS+ panel with up to 550nits brightness
- LTE, 3G, GPRS, NFC, Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth 4.0 with USB 2.0 Host
- 13MP f/2.4 BSI sensor with full HD video recording at 30fps, 1.2MP front camera
- 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions
- MHL for AV out
Asus claims that the PadFone 2’s 2140 mAh battery provides up to 16 hours 3G talk-time and 13 hours Wi-Fi web browsing, while PadFone 2 Station’s 5000 mAh battery gives up to 36 hours of 3G talk-time. PadFone 2 Station’s internal battery also has enough capacity to recharge the docked PadFone 2 three times over. However, this claim cannot be verified until we put it through our stringent battery test.
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