We just finished reviewing the ASUS Fonepad and witnessed a launch of its beefed up variant too, but that won’t stop us from comparing the new calling tablet from ASUS with the similarly priced small tablets that we have in our labs. Like we compared it with the Samsung Galaxy Note 510 and the Galaxy Tab 2 310, we are now comparing it to the Apple iPad mini, which is probably the best small tablet money can buy right now. So, how does the ASUS Fonepad compare to the smaller iPad? We took them both in front of the camera to find out –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fIuZoCpels
ASUS Fonepad vs Apple iPad mini
A brief introduction to both the tablets again. The ASUS Fonepad is basically a calling tablet, and with its similarity in design to the Nexus 7, we prefer to call it the Nexus 7 with calling capabilities. The Apple iPad mini on the other hand is the first smaller tablet entry from Apple, after years of success with the original iPad. With regards to design, the Fonepad is made of glass, aluminium and plastic, with the back covered 90% by aluminium and 10% plastic. The iPad mini is made f aluminium and glass too. In terns of premium feel and build, the iPad mini stands out, no doubt about that. The build quality too, is far superior on the iPad mini, as expected from an Apple product.
Coming to the dimensions, the ASUS Fonepad is 10.4mm thick and weighs 340g, which is exactly the same as the Nexus7 while the Apple iPad mini is 7.2mm thick and weighs just 308g. The Fonepad has the curved edges like the bigger iPad to make it seems thinner, while the iPad mini is boxy and still feels amazingly thin and light. The 7.9 inch screen on the iPad mini is exactly 0.9 inches wider in diagonal, making it broader than the 7 inch Nexus 7, the height remains almost the same. The Fonepad is hence easier to hold in one hand, but the iPad mini, with its smaller bezel, is mainly good to hold in landscape mode.
The ASUS fonepad has a 7 inch 1280×800 IPS TFT screen, just like the Nexus 7, but unlike the former, the reflectivity is so high that the viewing angles are affected, and the color reproduction too. We also noticed that it has low brightness. The 1280×800 resolution at 7 inches provides a decent 216 ppi pixel density, much higher than the iPad mini. Talking of iPad mini, the display is a 7.9 inch 1024×768 IPS TFT unit, with much better colours and brightness than the Fonepad. However, the reading and browsing capabilities are slightly hampered due to the paltry 163 ppi pixel density.
Coming to the internals, the Fonepad is powered by the Intel Z2420 chip with a 1.2 GHz processor w/ HT, a GigaByte of RAM and the Power VR SGX 540 GPU powering the graphics. The internal storage of our unit was pegged at 16 GB. The iPad mini sports the same internals as the iPad 2, with a Apple A5 chip sporting dual core PowerVR graphics and just 512 MB of RAM. While the internals are underpowered for the Fonepad, the iPad mini manages to run anything just fine. So, the Apple iPad mini is obviously better.
Comparing the cameras, the ASUS Fonepad has a 3.2 mp rear facing camera capable of 720p video recording vs the iPad mini’s 5 mp iSight camera that can record 1080p full HD videos. In terms of quality, the iPad mini clearly better but the Fonepad is just sufficient for video calls. Speaking of video calls, the Fonepad sports a 1.2 mp camera capable of 720p HD video calling, and so does the iPad mini.
Regarding other hardware, the Fonepad has a micro SIM card slot in all its versions, and can make calls, send SMS unlike the costlier 3G version of the iPad mini, which can be used just for data. There is also a micro SD card slot that expand storage on the Fonepad, while there is nothing of that sort on the iPad. Also, you can use the Fonepad as a mass storage device with your PC, and even download and store files on the Fonepad unlike the iPad which requires iTunes and cannot download files from the browser unless jailbroken. This seems to be a big selling point for Android based devices and that applies to the fonepad too.
Considering the software of both these tablets, iOS has a lot of tablet apps and can really provide you the same tablet experience you get on the iPad here. The ASUS Fonepad on the other hand, running Android 4.1.2 JellyBean is almost stock, with a few tablet-optimized modifications like floating apps. But overall, there are very less tablet apps on Android that are optimized for the bigger screen. But the Fonepad is more or less a big phone, so it won’t matter a lot and also the 7 inch screen is not too big these days. With a SIM card and calling capabilities, it provides a vastly different experience to the iPad and is certainly not directly comparable. The performance however sucks, unlike iOS which is smooth as butter, always.
Concluding, the biggest difference between the two tablets is calling. The ASUS Fonepad can make calls and act like a phone. It’s a big phone. So, do you want a Nexus 7 with calling? Get fonepad, else go with iPad mini which provides you an iPad experience at a cheaper price, which is like 4k INR higher than the Fonepad.
The starting price of the two tablets in the Indian market are as follows –
ASUS FonePad – 15,999
Apple iPad mini – 20,500
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