a phone-tablet hybrid:ASUS Fonepad

Hardware
The front of the ASUS Fonepad is devoid of physical navigation keys; the device rightfully skips them in favor of four on-screen buttons. Except for the obligatory company branding on the bottom and the chrome-painted earpiece grill, the Taiwanese electronics maker does not make any further attempts to differentiate its latest 7-inch effort.
The back's a different story, though. That's where the Fonepad distances itself from the usual budget or mid-tier offering. The rear cover features a smooth, anodized aluminum finish, which is rare for non-Apple devices. It also houses a down-firing integrated speaker, which pleasantly surprised us with its loudness and better-than-average clarity. 
The rear offers a nice departure from dimpled, rubberized, and glossy coatings, and it definitely lends a premium appearance. Also, seeing it on an aggressively priced Android only reaffirms this belief: There's simply no reason why phone and tablet makers can't take design cues from ASUS, Apple, and a handful of others. 
The ASUS Fonepad's micro-SIM and microSD card slots are tucked under the backplate's top part. The removable cover, the only foil to an almost-unibody aesthetic, is again wrapped in aluminum coating but can be easily identified thanks to its different color.

ASUS FonePad

Our only gripe at this point is that it requires considerably more effort to slide out, especially on the first few tries. Then again, you'll hardly find yourself struggling to push the cover out, granted you're not keen on switching between carriers and memory cards. 

A comparison of dimensions between the ASUS Fonepad and the ASUS-made Nexus 7 reveals that the two are nearly identical in size and weight, with the former being slightly shorter (196.4mm versus the Nexus 7's 198.5mm). Consequently, the Fonepad lends well to single-handed use despite its chunky bezels and thick, beveled sides. 

Of course, its unnecessarily bloated hardware may be a sticking point for some, although products on the pudgy side are a norm in the Android scene. 
Display
The ASUS Fonepad's IPS-LCD panel measures 7 inches diagonally, and its resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels on a 16:10 aspect ratio is on a par with what we've seen on the Google Nexus 7.
The resulting pixel density is 216ppi, and the clarity showcased here is enough to provide a decent movie watching experience. Photos and websites, likewise, boast natural and vivid colors, except that in some cases, blues seem to stand out more than other hues. 
The 10-point multi-touch screen is covered by toughened, albeit reflective, glass, which is largely to blame for the Fonepad's modest sunlight legibility. That said, if you plan on using this hybrid for long stretches of time outdoors, make sure to do so where there's a lot of shade. However, viewing angles shouldn't be an issue because the screen offers decent views from most angles.
Should you feel that a bit of display tweaking is in order, you'd be pleased to know that ASUS bundles the Fonepad with Splendid. The app allows you to adjust saturation, hue, and color temperature,

ASUS Fonepad at a glance:

*Price: P14,995
*micro-SIM card slot for voice calls and SMS
*1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2420 single-core processor with Intel Hyper-Threading technology
*PowerVR SGX540 GPU
*1GB RAM
*32GB internal storage
*microSD expansion (up to 32GB)
*7-inch IPS-LCD display (1,280 x 800 resolution; 216ppi pixel density; 10-point multi-touch input)
*3-megapixel rear camera
*1.2-megapixel front camera
*4,270mAh battery
*WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth 3.0 radios
*Dimensions: 196.6 x 120.1 x 10.4mm
*340 grams
*Android Jelly Bean (version 4.1.2)

Next to smartphones, tablets—iPads and Android-based 7- to 8-inchers, in particular—are the rage these days. And why not? The tablet segment has become one of the darlings of mobile computing, with more major manufacturers trying to bridge the divide between laptops and tablets with hybrid devices. However, one thing most tablets lack is telephony—you know, voice-calling and text-messaging capabilities.

ASUS sees a burgeoning niche in the Philippines, where consumers are keen on using their tablet/phone mash-ups as phones, and so here we have the Intel-powered ASUS Fonepad. The 7-inch device is capable of doing what many people clamor for: running apps, browsing the Web, and watching videos, with the option of making calls and sending messages on a larger-than-smartphone form factor.

The Fonepad comes with a pretty reasonable P14,995 price tag and should be available in stores nationwide in "champagne gold" and "titanium gray" color schemes starting next week. Is it worth your consideration?