After much wait Asus has launched the new Padfone mini 4.3 at Taipei in an event as promised last week. This Padfone Mini is a phone/tablet hybrid which is a mid range device with a 4.3 inch Super IPS screen with 540 x 960 (qHD) resolution at 256 ppi.
This phone is lighter and compact measuring 129.3 x 65.6 x 8.7mm, weighing a mere 105 grams, because of its small size even the battery used to power the device is also small (1,500 mAh). Much like its predecessor Padfone Infinity, the Asus Padfone mini 4.3 comes with a tablet docking station having a 7 inch (1280 x 800 pixels) WXGA, super IPS display with 2200 mAh battery.
The device is running on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS, with dual-SIM option (GSM+GSM). This makes it the first Smartphone-tablet hybrid with dual SIM option from Asus. It has a 16 GB internal memory that can be extended up to 64 GB with microSD card featuring 1 GB RAM.
The Asus Padfone Mini 4.3 is powered by a 1.4 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 (MSM8226) processor and Adreno 305 GPU. It has a rear camera of 8 MP with LED flash and f/2.2 aperture and also BSI sensor bursting up to 16fps shorts. It has a 2 MP front facing camera. WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, AGPS, GLONASS and 3G connectivity is also available.
Asus Padfone Mini 4.3 will be available only in Taiwan for now and will be going on sale in China, Russia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore lately. For now there is no word on the availability of this device in other regions. The device will be available in Black, White and Cherry (Pink) variants, however first few units will be only in Black. It has been priced roughly Rs. 25,000 which is 11,990 in New Taiwanese dollars (NTD). Taiwan will also offer Asus Padfone Mini 4.3 on a 2 year contract for NTD 9,900 or less depending up on the monthly tariff.
Originally Published by Chetan Bhawani on Dec 7, 2013 :
The Asus PadFone Mini, a 4.3-inch smaller version of the PadFone had recently passed the FCC certification and since then there were a few rumors flowing around, but now the prominent source Evleaks has posted a few press shots of the Asus PadFone Mini 4.3. The size is shrunk from 5-inch to a better looking 4.3-inch and the pics suggest that it could be a 7-inch tablet whose back will hold the smaller sized phone.
Engadget found some details at Global Certification Forum (GSF) which claims that the PadFone Mini is likely to have a 4.3-inch qHD display, i.e. 540 x 960 pixels and it would be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC, a quad-core chipset and it would probably run the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS.
The official unveiling of the Asus PadFone Mini 4.3 is in Taiwan on the 11th December, and the not-so-famous PadFone series is finally coming with the decent sized smartphone when you talk of a combination of both. The problem with them has been the place of launch and availability, and none in the PadFone series has shown an official launch in the U.S.
Asus did attempt to make a mark by launching the Asus Padfone Infinity, which had a 5-inch 1080p display smartphone and a tablet with the 1080p display, and the processor included was a Snapdragon 800 one. But the price wasn’t any attractive at that time. This time, the PadFone Mini is supposedly going to be a cheaper option, and this should be quite a deal for those who are looking to have a neat looking smartphone with a larger display option only when they looking for it. But for those who looking for an actual large screen, it’s the 10-inch option they should go for.
The official unveiling is not far, and we would update you with the actual details when it’s out.
