Asus Introduce 5-inch 1080p PadFone Infinity
Asus has announced the PadFone Infinity, a 5-inch smartphone that turns into a tablet when you plug it into its 10.1-inch dock at MWC in Barcelona.
The smartphone-tablet transforming concept is quite unique to Asus. The company launched two such products before: the original PadFone and the PadFone 2, which launched in October 2012.
The PadFone ships with Android 4.2 and a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with an Adreno 320 GPU. The phone features an aluminium-based unibody design and the Super IPS 5-inch screen packs in 1,920×1,080 worth of pixels, delivering a 441 ppi.
On the back sits a LED flash-supported 13-megapixel camera featuring an f/2.0 aperture and according to Asus delivers lagless shutter speeds. There’s also a dedicated image sensor that enhances photos captured in low light.
Asus also claims the camera can capture up to 100 sequential photos at 8 frames per second, while simultaneously recording 1080p HD video. A feature that could possibly eliminate the video or photo dilemma at crucial moments; however, this is currently problematic as the video recorded while taking still shots is noticeably choppy. There’s also a front-facing 2 -megapixel camera.
Plug the PadFone into the tablet dock, and you’ve got yourself a 10.1-inch tablet with the same specs, which, beefed up as they are, sound more than capable of going head-to-head against standalone tablets.
The PadFone Station houses a 10.1-inch screen with 1,920×1,200-pixel resolution. Other features include a 1-megapixel front-facing camera, Micro-USB 2.0 port, an ambient light sensor, and an e-compass.
GSM, WCDMA, and 100Mbps-capable LTE antennas are also included along with a non-removable 5,000mAh lithium polymer battery, which, according to Asus, fuels up to 40 hours of 3G talk time when the PadFone is docked.
While the PadFone impresses with its high-end specs, with a price of 999 euros (this includes the phone and tablet), you’ll definitely be paying for it. For those looking for more synergy between their devices, however, that may may be a price they’re willing to pay.
Asus says to expect the PadFone in April in the U.K. No U.S. release is currently planned.