The ASUS PadFone X might finally be on its way stateside. AT&T announced in January that it would offer the smartphone and tablet combination sometime in 2014, but gave no indication of an exact launch date. Now that AT&T has leaked all the PadFone X specs and we've seen the X passing through the FCC, it's only a matter of time.
ASUS is fond of making wacky device combinations, but so far its most intriguing and strange devices have stayed in Asia and Europe. The PadFone X will be the first of ASUS' more fringe devices to make it to the States. The PadFone X landed a deal with AT&T, which happens to be one of America's largest carriers. It will get a lot of exposure, so it will be interesting to see how Americans take to it.
The smartphone part of the PadFone X features a 5-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and a pixel density of 441ppi. The PadFone will be powered by a 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor from Qualcomm and 2GB RAM. ASUS added 16GB of built-in storage to the PadFone X and included a microSD card slot, so that you can add up to 64GB more of storage.
The PadFone X will run Android 4.4 KitKat, feature 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. The smartphone portion has a 13-megapixel camera on the back and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The PadFone X has a 2300mAh battery onboard and weighs just 5.3 ounces.
The PadFone X tablet docking station has a 9-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and a pixel density of 252ppi. The tablet is powered by a 4990mAh battery and has a 1-megapixel front-facing camera for video chats. The PadFone X tablet dock weighs just 1.1 pounds, so it won't add too much weight to your load.
The two parts of the PadFone work seamlessly together and give you the best of both worlds. When you want a tablet, you've got it. Conversely, when you want a smartphone, it's also there with you. The PadFone is supposed to make it easier for you to switch back and forth between tablet and smartphone based on the functionality that you need in that moment. The advantage of the PadFone X lies in its ability to be two devices at the same time.
So far no release date or price has been announced, but it will be interesting to see how Americans respond to the dual device.
