Gadgetory

an Android smartphone that becomes a tablet when you need it that's the idea behind the new pad phone X from Asus and AT&T and we have thoughts about the combined phone and tablet dock in another video published alongside this one but if you're like us you're gonna spend much more time going solo with the more portable half so how well does it hold up as a standalone smartphone quite well in some ways not so well in others I'm Michael Fisher with PocketNow and this is our sous pad phone X video review part 1 smartphone Edition a sous didn't set out to change the world with the pad phone X hardware like the two generations before it the new handset is a nondescript hunk of matte plastic with almost nothing remarkable to set it apart from the masses except for its Asus logo which is still pretty novel to see on a handheld device at 150 grams it's a little on the chunky side given the materials used in its construction and with no curves or a clever flattening on its tank-like body it feels even thicker than its nine point nine millimeter frame suggests while we understand a degree of restraint in design was required to build a phone that would slide into a tablet dock there's no getting around it the pad phone itself is big bulky and aboutus ordinary-looking as you can find under the hood things get a little more impressive a Snapdragon 800 backed up by 2 gigs of RAM and 16 gigs of storage is augmented by a microSD memory card slot supporting cards up to 64 gigs in size 18 T's 3G and 4G LTE bands are fully supported along with Wi-Fi up to AC and Bluetooth 4.0 which comes in handy if you opt for the keyboard dock we'd talk more about in the full review the display up front is a 5-inch panel at a very crisp 1080p resolution and like most IPS screens it's capable of some stunning saturation its pixel density means it's sharp enough for even the most discerning pixel counter but its viewing angles aren't the best and it's daylight readability leaves a lot to be desired Android 4.4.2 is the OS that lives on that panel with a special software layer from that resembles its Zen UI aesthetically some of the skin comes off nicely the notification shade with its bright whites and blues feels especially clean and fresh but in other areas like home screen widgets the effect is more cartoony with a lot of wasted space and a kind of beginners edition smartphone feel a software update will be pushed to devices before the official launch so we won't comment on stability other than to say it's good that an update is coming because from the keyboard to the assuage it's to multitasking to notifications the pre-release software on our review unit is very buggy on the back of the pad phone sits a 13 megapixel pixelmaster camera that lives up to its ostentatious branding in some situations the viewfinder with its various shooting modes is a simplified version of what you'll find in most modern smartphones and the photos it produces in broad daylight are acceptable on the plus side colors are rich and the 13 megapixel resolution gives you enough detail and zoom ability to get the whole picture as it were on the downside digital noise is apparent in most shots probably thanks to some artificial / sharpening and that's especially true in the otherwise handy HDR mode if noise is something you're willing to live with and even if it bothers you you'll still be impressed by the pad phone's performance in near darkness where it offers not one but two shooting modes to get the most light in low light mode confined you to less than three megapixel shots which is kind of annoying but it does crank the light up to a ridiculous degree while night mode provides a better middle ground letting you keep your resolution and almost always delivering a more balanced photo each requires a steady hand when shooting though so action shots at night are out of the question without the flash on the front side the 2 megapixel selfie cam won't be winning any awards but it comes with enough options to keep you occupied on the video front 4k recording is supported but we spent most of our time shooting in 1080p which isn't the best frame rate is low enough to be annoying when you're doing even slope hands and the digital noise from the still section is also evident here audio is muffled and while auto exposure and focus seem to work well colors are just a bit off in some this is a camera you'll be happy to have in low-light situations and as with most smartphones it gets the job done for a Facebook or Instagram photo it offers easy to use software and plenty of resolution but you wouldn't want to count on it for a wedding and even if you're just a guest ATM T's LTE network delivers excellent throughput in our Greater Boston stomping grounds and the PadFone acts had no trouble grabbing and maintaining a 4G signal over our six days of testing voice quality is just fine if a little on the quiet side and noise cancellation seems to do its job well over the earpiece the speakerphone is quiet though for notifications and for media and located as it is on the back cover it points the wrong way so you'll likely take most handheld calls on the earpiece or over the included earbuds those earbuds are plenty comfortable and they sound just fine too with the Snapdragon 800 it should come as no surprise that the PadFone performs beautifully in browsing and gaming popular titles like asphalt 8 played wonderfully on the 1080p display with no hiccups or other issues to report but with high-impact graphics on a full HD display the embedded 2300 milliamp hour battery has a lot on its plate and despite the very intelligent power management software you'll probably have trouble getting through a full day of heavy use on a single charge you should remember that this video review only covers half the story the pad in PadFone is a crucial component of this combo and our review of the combined pair is live on youtube right now but for the times you're out and about with just the phone the experience is dead smack in the middle of average despite its heavy spec sheet the pad phone is no blockbuster but despite its shortcomings neither is it a disaster it's about as plain and Android flagship as you can find which makes it fortunate that it's priced as competitively as it is and that it's capable of some really neat tricks when docked with the other half to see the other half of this review click the video in the center and stay tuned for our full review of the azuz PadFone X 480 landing June 4th at pocketnow.com till then this has been michael fisher like this video if you enjoyed it follow us where we talk text and tweet in the links in the description below and above all else thanks for watching we'll see you next time