Asus has been trying to nail down the modular mobile device for some time now, but the PadFone X is the first iteration of the company's tablet-smartphone hybrid to reach the U.S. Was it worth the wait? In the age of digital omnivorism, yes, but with some qualifications. Asus hasn't arrived at the perfect union here; as a smartphone, the Padfone X is capable, but unexciting, and as a tablet, it's clunky and has some performance issues. That said, the device is an unbelievably great deal on AT&T—$199 (with a two-year contract) gets you both the 5-inch PadFone X and the 9-inch PadFone Station. The shared data connection and combinable batteries help mitigate functional shortcomings of either device alone, making the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Still, if all you need is a new phone, there are better standalone options, like the Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One (M8).
Design, Dock, and Call Quality
Form follows function for the nondescript, rather utilitarian PadFone X. The rounded, soft-touch plastic back fits comfortably in the hand and an angular, faux-metal band facilitates docking, but it lacks distinction or character. At 5.67 by 2.85 by 0.39 inches (HWD) and 5.29 ounces, it's the same width as the Galaxy S5 and a touch thicker than the HTC One (M8). Volume and Power buttons are on the right side, but the latter is situated too high, making it hard to reach conveniently with your thumb. There's no visible notch along the edges, but with some uncomfortable prying at the micro USB port, the back cover does peel off for access to the SIM and microSD card slots, as well as the non-removable 2,300mAh battery. In my tests, the PadFone X was able to last for 10 hours, 15 minutes of continuous talk time.
The PadFone Station measures 9.86 by 6.78 by 0.46 inches (HWD) and weighs 1.13 pounds. The protruding docking mechanism dominates the back, but makes for easy transitions from phone to tablet—the PadFone slides easily in and out, while rubber teeth along the edges help keep the union secure. The whole package looks pretty clunky and has an unbalanced weight distribution, making it feel heavier than it is, while the oversized bezels don't help with the already cheap feel. There's a micro USB port on the left that can charge both the docking station and the phone at the same time—the dock has its own built-in 4,990mAh battery. Two front-facing speakers flank the display and sound better than average, but mostly by virtue of their position.
There are two displays to consider here: a 5-inch, 1080p display on the smartphone and a 9-inch, 1,920-by-1,200-pixel display on the docking station. Asus has had a good track record with its displays, and that quality extends to both of these. They're bright, sharp, and feature wide viewing angles.
Asus also sells an optional Bluetooth keyboard dock for $99. It's similar in design to Asus's Transformer line of keyboard docks, but instead of a physical port, the PadFone keyboard connects wirelessly, while a sturdy hinge holds the tablet in place at any angle. The dock is made from sturdy aluminum and the full QWERTY keyboard is comfortable to type on, if a bit on the small side. I understand it needs to be heavy enough to balance out the PadFone, but at 1.7 pounds by itself, the keyboard is pretty heavy.
The PadFone X supports AT&T's GSM (800/900/1800/1900MHz) and LTE (700/1700/1900MHz) networks. Call quality was good in my tests, with a punchy earpiece that made it easy to carry on conversations outdoors in noisy environments. Transmissions through the mic were easy to understand, but sounded somewhat muted and gave my voice a nasal quality. Noise cancellation worked well in my tests, but louder chatter produced some distracting background artifacts.
Also onboard are dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, and Bluetooth 4.0. The PadFone X connected to our 5GHz networks without issue and paired easily with an Era by Jawbone Bluetooth headset. There's also support for wireless charging on the Power Matters Alliance (PMA) standard, which includes systems like Duracell's Powermat.
Performance and Android
Powering the PadFone X is a quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2GB RAM, which resides entirely in the smartphone, not the tablet. It's not the latest chip, but it's still a more-than-capable setup. The PadFone X actually performed comparably to Snapdragon 801 devices like the GS5 in most benchmarks, and generally feels as speedy as you'd expect a high-end Android device to feel. Media-heavy websites load quickly and games like Asphalt 8 play smoothly.
That's all in phone mode, though, and some performance issues start to crop up once you dock the PadFone. There's a noticeable delay introduced to touch input once docked, making the entire thing feel sluggish or unresponsive at times. Scrolling in Chrome is one of the worst culprits, requiring long and deliberate swipes to move even just a few lines down a website. Launching apps routinely takes multiple taps, too, while audio for YouTube videos will typically fall out of sync. It's not unbearable, but it can be pretty frustrating at times. Switching between phone and tablet mode also presents a few more issues on the software side, which I'll touch on in a minute.
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