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ASUS Padfone 2 improves on Russian doll design

Last updated on July 23, 2020

It’s not quite building the trinity of the Mac, iPhone and iPad, but ASUS can lay claim to pioneering some minor form factor trends (or at least fads) including the netbook (Eee) and the detachable (Transformer), the latter of which will see increased adoption under Windows 8. Now it’s extending the case for form factor fusion and making a case for the trifecta with the Padfone, which embeds a phone in a tablet (which can then be docked).

There’s clear improvement in the Padfone’s second iteration. The phone is a competitive modern beast — 4.7″ IPS display, quad-core processor, the locking mechanism seems very secure, and the overall package with the tablet is thinner and lighter. But there is stil that hump in the back to literally and figuratively get over. The Padfone continues the assault on the tablet as  a standalone  device as something destined to become either a notebook variant or a smartphone accessory.