ASUS Fonepad 7 Dual SIM: Review

Smartphones, the bigger they are, the better you can use them. While this might not be true to many, there are a few in the crowd who would prefer to use a smartphone that has a larger display. Those who prefer large-screen smartphones give reasons such as ‘comfortable font size’, ‘enjoyable videos and gaming’, ‘large photo viewing, ‘big keyboard’ and a few others. While the decent and the most comfortable smartphone size is said to be around 4.3-inch to 4.7-inches, some 5-inchers are also comfortable since they are less wide and easier to handle. Smartphones larger than 5-inches are considered phablets (a mix between a phone and a tablet). However, rising above this category is the tablet, usually 7-inch and above.

There are a few too many who prefer using a tablet rather than a large-screen smartphone. Reasons could be anywhere from ‘prefer to use a bigger display for productivity’ to ‘better than carrying two devices'. However, we have witnesses a few who answered ‘why not a tablet with calling features, when it is cheaper than a large-screen smartphone?’

There are many tablets that feature SIM cards that make the tablet a single-device for calling and productivity. You can see many on the move today, flaunting the tablet in their hand with the headset tucked in their ears, listening to music or casually on a conversation. While the tablet may make life difficult with its large chassis and difficulty while moving around, it is pretty practical, reasonable and preferred by many.

Samsung, Reliance, Datawind, and a few others are into the manufacturing Android-based calling tablets that are reasonably affordable. In the midst of cheaper affordable Chinese tablets today, you can see the major differences in the offering they have for users. While some are single-SIM tablets, a few are offering dual-SIM options. Most tablets are based on ARM chipsets, while some are Intel based too. We have the ASUS Fonepad 7 which is a dual-SIM Intel-based 7-inch calling tablet.

The ASUS Fonepad 7 is a decent and affordable Android-based tablet in the market today. It is powered using an Intel Atom Z2520 chipset featuring a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a PowerVR SGX 544MP graphics processor and 1GB of RAM. The display is a 7-incher LED backlit IPS display with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels and allows 10-finger multi-touch inputs. The internal storage is 8GB, which can be expanded using a micro SD card. The rear shooter is a 5MP camera while the front camera holds a 1.2MP sensor. Connectivity options include dual SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, micro USB connector, Bluetooth v4.0, GPS, GLONASS and AGPS. An internal 15Wh battery fuels the tablet for 720 hours on standby while offering a regular usage for around 10 hours. The tablet is 11.35mm thick and weighs in at 340g. The ASUS Fonepad 7 is powered by Android JellyBean v4.3.

The ASUS Fonepad 7 is like any regular 7-inch tablet. The device we received for review sports a dual-tone exterior with a glossy black on the front and an equally glossy rear panel. The glossy exterior is easily prone to fingerprints, smudges and scratches very easily and can tarnish the entire looks of the tablet. This could force you to encase the tablet in a pouch or a case and also carry a micro-fibre cloth to keep wiping it. Without a case, you cannot even think of keeping the bare tablet on the desk as it could be scratched very easily.

Moving on, the front panel is all-glass—no physical or capacitive buttons for interface controls. The back, menu and home buttons are put up in the user interface itself, by the operating system. On the front face, you shall find a speaker grill towards the top, which is used as an earpiece for voice calls. Yes, the tablet can be put to your ear when making calls, unless you prefer to use the bundled headset. Towards the right of the earpiece is the front 1.2MP camera and on the bottom of the front panel is the ASUS logo.

The rear panel of the ASUS Fonepad 7 sports the 5MP camera, but lacks a flash for night or low-light photos. Towards the bottom of the rear panel is a large speaker grill. The rear panel is slightly curved to flush with the front panel. The power button and the volume rocker take their place on the right side if the tablet. However, the buttons are awkwardly placed more towards the bottom, which makes their usability a bit difficult. Once you get used to the button placements, you should be fine. On the left you will find a large covered placeholder, which houses the two micro SIM card and one micro SD card slot. Towards the top are the micro USB socket, a 3.5mm audio and headset jack and a secondary microphone. Lastly, the bottom features the microphone for calling.

Coming to the usability, we did find the user interface a bit sluggish and loading it with additional apps would only add to issue. However, you would only notice it if you are a frequent Android user—new users would find it fluid enough. The user interface has a few bloatware, as compared to a basic Android interface. Preloaded apps include Amazon Kindle, App Lock, Google Drive, Mirror, Play Books, Play Games, Play Magazines, Press Reader, and a few more. There are no options where you could get rid of these apps if you don’t want to use them. The only possibility of getting rid of them is to either disable them from the settings or root the tablet and uninstall them. The onboard 8GB storage only offers 5.22GB of space for the user, his/her data and the apps to be installed, while the rest is siphoned of for the Android operating system.

However, the user interface has a decent launcher—simple, straight-forward and easy to use. It sports the regular app drawer and a couple of widgets to go with it. Pull down the notification bar from the top and you will notice that it features a series of quick setting. These include wireless, audio settings, brightness, system settings, connectivity options and a few more.

The ASUS Fonepad’s display is crisp and clear, thanks to the IPS panel and the HD resolution. The viewing angle is decent, and you can be assured of enjoying your movie and gaming on the 7-inch display. However, owing to the highly reflective display glass, which is also a fingerprint magnet, viewing the tablet in broad sunlight is pretty difficult, even with the display brightness turned to the highest level.

Gaming on the ASUS tablet was a disappointment—the accelerometer, on the piece we received for review, is buggy. Games that use the accelerometer for moving and tilting don’t respond well, and you might tend to get frustrated. We assume that the issue we faced in the review unit is not a common issue with all devices.

Playback of video and movies is good. There was no lags or issues with the video playback whatsoever, even with full HD videos. However, we did notice audio of the device a bit lower than usual. Secondly, the audio, thanks to the rear-facing speakers, forces you to cup your palm behind the device for a sharper quality. Music playback on the tablet is decent—not very loud, but enjoyable enough. There is a lack of bass too.

The rear camera sports a 5MP sensor, but lacks a flash. However, the camera does a pretty decent job with photos, well enough for sharing on social media and for casual pics. Outdoor shots and pictures shot in the shade are good enough. Indoor shots would require a good amount of light on the subject owing to the missing flash. The camera does have a bit of focussing issues, but captures the picture with a good shutter speed, resulting in good shots being captured. He colours are a bit off too—seems like a white balance issue. However, you cannot expect professional-like pictures from a mere 5MP camera. Here are sample pics of the camera for you to judge.

The whole experience with the ASUS Fonepad 7 was good, though some segments such as gaming and audio were a bit disappointing. The ASUS Fonepad 7 is available for a street price of Rs 12,999. Considering that the tablet comes from a well-known brand, you can be assured of after-sales for the product. The tablet sports all features such as a good display, great media playback and a decent camera, which spells out to be a good value for money.