ASUS at CES 2014: ROG 27” 1440p 120Hz G-Sync Monitor, Tablets, Smartphones, and a new Transformer Book
by Ian Cutress on January 6, 2014 3:30 PM ESTNew at CES: the ASUS PadFone Mini
The range of PadFone/FonePad from ASUS has been something of a small revolution in terms of having the adaptive device on the go. The current PadFone 2 uses a 4.7” phone that slots into a 10.1” tablet to provide a larger working surface for media consumption and extra battery, whereas the PadFone Infinity has a 5” HD phone with a 10” full HD tablet. ASUS is announcing today the PadFone mini, striking cues from other ‘mini’ branded products in the market – this is a 4 inch smartphone that slots into a 7 inch tablet.
The 4” smartphone is powered by the Intel Atom Z2560 (dual core with hyperthreading) at 1.6 GHz and 8 GB of internal storage, with a microSD slot on hand for another 64 GB. Initially it will ship with Android 4.3, but this will be updated to KitKat/4.4 in due course – ASUS will also apply its own ZenUI on top of Android. The battery is a non-removable 1170 mAH polymer battery, powering an 800x480 IPS+ screen – the tablet segment will give another 2100 mAH battery life while powering a 1280x800 screen.
Other specifications include dual micro-SIM capability, 1GB LPDDR2, support up to DC-HSPA+, a Sony BSI 8MP f/2.0 main camera with a 2MP front camera, 802.11 b/g/n, BT 4.0 and a weight of 116g. The tablet section will add an additional 260g, and both units will be available in a choice of colors.
New at CES: the ASUS ZenFone 4, ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 6
Also in the spirit of attaching numbers relating to the size of the product, ASUS is going for a more mid-range market with the ZenFone series in their new 4 inch, 5 inch and 6 inch formats.
All the models will be running Intel Atom processors, have IPS panels, microSD card slots, Android 4.3 and one of the marketed features of this lineup is ASUS’ ZenUI to increase the user experience. This features the Omlet Chat client for messaging and improved stock Android apps such as email.
No word on release date or pricing as of yet.
| ASUS ZenFone Range | |||
| ZenFone 4 | ZenFone 5 | ZenFone 6 | |
| CPU |
Intel Atom Z2520 1.2 GHz 2C/4T |
Intel Atom Z2580 2.0 GHz 2C/4T |
Intel Atom Z2580 2.0 GHz 2C/4T |
| Screen Size | 4" TFT | 5" IPS | 6" IPS |
| Resolution | 800x480 | 1280x720 | 1280x720 |
| Android | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.3 |
| Android 4.4 | Soon | Soon | Soon |
| DC-HSPA+ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| LTE / 4G | No | No | No |
| DRAM | 1GB LPDDR2 | 1GB LPDDR2 | 1GB LPDDR2 |
| Rear Camera | 5MP | 8MP | 13MP |
| Front Camera | 0.3 MP | 2MP | 2MP |
| Battery | 1170 mAh | 2050 mAh | 3230 mAh |
| MicroSD | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dimensions | 124.4x61.4x11.2-6.3 mm | 148.2x72.8x10.3-5.5mm | 166.9x84.3x9.9-5.5 mm |
| Weight | 115g | 144g | 200g |
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chizow - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
Yeah 1440P IPS started at $800 a few years ago, only in the last few years with the cheap Korean panels has this dropped substantially. Like anything, new tech introduces a price spike, there's a lot to like on this panel but I still want to see if there's LightBoost and 3D Vision included.Sabresiberian - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
I don't know why people are stuck on $800 being an average price for a consumer grade 1440p 27" IPS monitor these days, it simply isn't true -http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Sub...
The ONLY justification for this monitor being $800 is that so many of you are still living in yesteryear's prices. Asus could make a nice profit selling it for $600. And, they would get more buyers, so I don't think they will actually make more money selling it for the higher price. (That being said, it isn't uncommon to release a product at a relatively high price and then bring it down, so that may be their plan.)
Sabresiberian - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
What I meant by "selling it for $600" is selling it at a retail price point of $600. Obviously they would actually sell it to a distributor like Newegg or Amazon for less than the retail price. :)Sabresiberian - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
There is no technical reason for it to be a TN panel. There is no technical reason it should cost $800 either. Both in one offering would be is just outrageous, and would knock my opinion of Asus and ROG down several notches. PLS is basically Samsung's IPS, so no reason for it to be one and not the other either (unless Asus just prefers to deal with Samsung over LG).There certainly is no technical reason to use VA either, and IPS is a more responsive technology, so I would also be surprised if it were VA. Not sure what AU Optronics is doing with their MVA solutions, but Samsung appears to be moving away from VA (PVA).
Tha Blob - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
This monitor is using a TN pannels. IPS simply can not switch fast enough to go above 60htz without making the picture look like garbage. ATM TN pannels offer the best price/performance. As nice looking as IPS pannels are they are not the best for gaming and are certainly not responsive enough to handle 120+htz.Sancus - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
I don't think it's even (currently) possible to make a 120hz IPS monitor. *Some* of the korean 27" panels will accept a 120hz signal, but none of them will reproduce it as well as a TN 120hz. The pixels just transition too slowly.That said, manufacturers should really be looking to VA for these kinds of monitors, not just continue the TN crap -- Something like the Eizo FG2421 with it's *amazing* black levels(which are more important than color accuracy for media viewing and gaming, I would argue) at 2560x1440 is what we want.
althaz - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
This *VA panels are better for gaming and video playback, IMO. IPS/PLS monitors have worse contrast and are slower (but I still have one for graphics work).r3loaded - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
I've never seen a 2560x1440 TN panel out in the wild and I doubt a panel manufacturer would make one for a niche monitor. So I'm still hopeful that it won't be TN.Tha Blob - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
No mate it is a TN pannel. Altough Asus have stated that it will be a premium TN pannel.Tha Blob - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
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