And you probably thought the Galaxy Note II was big. Over the weekend we told you about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, a mid-sized tablet with phone functionality. Now ASUS has joined that party, unveiling the Fonepad, a 7-inch tablet that’s also a telephone. Like the Note 8.0, the Fonepad targets users who want to carry a single device and yet want a screen that’s more tablet-sized.
The Fonepad runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on an Intel Atom Z2420 processor at 1.2 GHz. It has 1GB of RAM and 3G HSPA+ connectivity. The screen is a 7-inch 1280×800 display with 10-point multitouch. Storage is available in 8GB or 16GB sizes and it has a microSD slot for up to 32GB more. The front-facing camera is 1.2 megapixels, and a rear-facing 3-megapixel camera that will capture 720p HD video is optional.
The tablet will be available in Europe in March, starting at a price of €219.
A lot of things are easier with a larger device, but using the telephone, (at least without earphones or a Bluetooth headset) may not be one of them. Would you give up a smaller phone for a 7-inch tablet that lets you do it all? Let us know in the comments.
I’ve long been promoting “phablets” (on eReaderjoy.com), because I’ve always thought that web surfing and reading on a 3.5-inch phone is hopeless. I got the Note 1 and loved it. (Only wishing it’d run iOS.)
This is great for those of us for whom telephoning is a minor function of the device.