22.03.2014 7:03

Review Asus PadFone Mini 4.3: first look

I do not know about you, but I have quite a long time waited out a little “padfona”, and the fact that the Asus-still decided to expand the line and compact version of me unspeakably happy. In this “first look” I will tell you about all the features that I noticed a couple of days of use, and later released the full review.

Options

  • Smartphone
  • Screen Dock
  • Charger
  • Cable connection to a PC (also part of the charging device)
  • Wired Headset

The first change, which should stop immediately – availability PadFone 4.3 in two trim levels: you can only buy a smartphone, but you can just buy a kit together with the dock. Interestingly, if you bought a smartphone separately, then buy more to it will not be possible dock.

Appearance, materials, controls, assembly

Appearance PadFone Mini recalls his older “brothers”: slightly rounded edges, absence of some screaming parts, pleasant body materials. The design of the device is nothing special, but at the same time, the smartphone can not be called faceless, it clearly traces of the art Asus.

Front side takes screen with a diagonal of 4.3 inches above it settled mesh earpiece, front camera eye and proximity sensors and lighting.

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Under the screen you can see the three touch buttons: “Back”, “Home” and “Recent Applications.” The distance between the buttons a little more than most other smartphones, so to have to get used button layout. I recall that in the settings you can change the action for long press of the button “Recent Apps” (you can choose either removal of a screenshot button emulation “Menu”).

Left is a connector microUSB, and on the right – the power button and volume rocker. The latest short hard move, but use it more convenient than in the same PadFone E.

At the top end, you can see the power button, and the bottom – a special connector for docking station “padfona.”

The back cover is made of opaque plastic coated soft-touch. To remove the cover, it should pick up in the groove in the bottom left corner. Under the hood there are two slots for SIM-cards and memory card slot.

Assembly is too early to draw conclusions, but on first impressions, the Mini with it no problem.

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Dimensions

Availability Mini words in the title refers not only to the size of the dock, but to the “padfonu.” The device is quite compact, especially against five inch flagships.

  • Asus PadFone Mini 4.3 – 129.27 x 65.59 x 8.68 mm, weight – 105 grams
  • Apple iPhone 5C – 124.4 x 59.2 x 9 mm, 132 grams
  • Samsung Galaxy S4 mini – 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.9 mm, 107 grams
  • HTC One Mini – 132 x 63.2 x 9.3 mm, 122 grams
  • Meizu MX2 – 124.9 x 64.9 x 10.2 mm, 142 g

Use your smartphone comfortably even with one hand, however, it is worth noting that all depends on the size of your hands, for example, for me, the size of this smartphone is already a little too big (but it is important to note that its dimensions are comparable to other compact devices, so it’s just my problem).

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Screen

I recall that there were many different interpretations about the screen resolution PadFone Mini. Some sources say 960h540 points, while others noted that Russian version will be sold with a resolution of 800×480 pixels. In general, I hasten to please all concerned: we will sell an option with qHD-resolution, and it’s wonderful, and now let’s move on to the technical characteristics of the screen.

Display size – 4.3 inches, resolution – 960h540 points, matrix type – S-IPS, screen covered with protective glass Corning Fit, present oleophobic coating.

On the one hand, I would like to have such a smart phone full HD-resolution and with another – thank God that we were not left with a WVGA-resolution. As for the quality of the screen, it is very good: it has a good level of brightness, contrast and close to the maximum viewing angles.Clarity of the text, of course, gives the same HTC One Mini, but the latter is very costly. Summing subtotal, I can call the display PadFone Mini 4.3 good but not the best.

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Traditionally, Asus added several apps to customize the display. First – Asus Splendid. With it, you can adjust the color temperature of the display, making colors warmer or cooler. Mode «Vivid Mode» makes colors more contrasting (SuperAMOLED screen begins to resemble the matrix). Separate “read mode” softens the color of the screen, for example, white becomes beige, due to this reduced strain on the eyes. But the mode of «S-IPS +» decided to refuse. I recall that he increased the maximum brightness for better display in the sun.

Operating system

The smartphone runs Android 4.3 with the original shell from Asus. Several times I talked about all its features. Those interested can read more about them on the links below.

I once again add that the changes are added to the Asus, are cosmetic in nature and do not change nearly pure Android externally. In this case it is more convenient to use a smartphone.

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Performance

The device uses a chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8226 c quad-core processor, clocked at 1.4 GHz, video card – Adreno 305, there is support for OpenGL 3.0. RAM – 1 GB of internal storage capacity – 16 GB (11 GB user available), a slot for a memory card is present.

Snapdragon 400 is not a top-end chipset from Qualcomm, but its capacity is enough for daily work of all applications and most games. Although the same Asphalt 8 does not run at maximum settings. Use of this chipset to reduce the price, while not greatly reducing performance.

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Wireless interfaces and two SIM-cards

The device has almost full set of wireless interfaces, but a couple of the newest still missing. It comes to supporting dual-band Wi-Fi and Russian frequencies LTE (the latter, incidentally, were PadFone 2).

Interface work with two SIM-cards worked perfectly, you can easily make a call or send SMS with a certain “Sims” benefit manufacturer has provided the appropriate application with additional buttons.

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Screen Dock

Diagonal dock is 7 inches, resolution – 1280×800 pixels, matrix type – S-IPS, oleophobic coating is present. The screen has good viewing angles close to a decent level of brightness and contrast. Standard utilities to configure the display using the dock also work. Frankly, after the screen Google Nexus July 2013 such a display is not so good, on the other hand, here we get a smartphone, and tablet for the price just a little more than the cost of 3G-version of the Nexus 7, 2013.

Dimensions dock following – 199.86 x 119.45 x 17.7 mm, weight – 310 grams. And this is without installing smartphone. With him the weight reaches 415 grams. I think this is one of the reasons why in the PadFone Mini not installed capacity battery, because the total weight of the structure would be painfully high.

Battery capacity dock is only 2200 mAh battery capacity as a smartphone – 1500 mAh. In total, this gives us a 3700 mAh battery, which is quite modest, even for seven-inch tablet. However, the findings of autonomous work, I leave for a full review.

Conclusion

Let’s start with the most important – of course, with the price. Sam PadFone Mini 4.3 without dock will sell for 10,000 rubles. Set for the station you have to pay 17,000 rubles. Let’s see how these prices are adequate.

If we consider a small “padfon” separately, it looks pretty good as an inexpensive compact smartphone with support for two SIM-cards. Spoils the situation a small battery capacity (in HTC One Mini – 1800 mAh at Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini – 1900 mAh), but it is too early to talk about the poor battery life.

But kit with docking station looks not so interesting. In fact, we have to pay 7000 rubles for a blank screen with a small battery, with this money you can buy a full plate (same Asus MeMO Pad HD7) with a normal battery. On the other hand, plays a unique role ligament smartphone + docking and the use of the same data on two units.

Another drawback of the kit – netopovye characteristics. I think that many of you were expecting a small padfon with a more powerful processor, HD-resolution, long battery life, support for LTE and FullHD-resolution at the dock. However, the Asus PadFone Mini decided to position as a budget device, so in many ways to save on performance. Also separately frustrating that you can not buy a smart phone first, and then purchase an optional dock.

Summing up: smartphone itself turned out good (see what happens with autonomous operation), and talk about the popularity of the kit with the dock is too early, because most buyers – ordinary people who care little screen resolution or battery capacity, but the idea of ​​using smartphone and ligaments tablet may seem interesting to them.