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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Subyman - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
Yeah, that is a huge omission. $800 TN, hell no. I had a 28" TN panel before. Once the panel gets so large on a TN display, the terrible view angle disrupts the picture even when sitting directly in front of it. No thanks. I could definitely do a PLS though. I'll cross my fingers.chizow - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
It really depends on the quality of the panel, I have a 27" VG278H TN and it really isn't any worst in terms of color shifting than a 24" P-MVA Gateway and Dell U2410 I have in the same room. All 3 are MUCH better than the a 23" Dell Alienware AW2310 I have. Definitely something you need to see in person before buying though to make sure it's something you can live with.Razorbak86 - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
Looks like it is a TN panel...http://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/CES-2014-AS...
chizow - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
It still means something, maybe not to the die hard IPS fans, but there's certainly plenty in the market for high-res, high refresh, G-Sync capable monitors that would prefer the crisp frame transitions and lack of motion blur on this TN compared to a 60Hz IPS panel.MrSpadge - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
Agreed: "1 ms response time" is very very likely TN and hence worthless for me. Well, Asus thinks it needs this "super gamer" tag, so anything else than TN is out.Actually with GSync you shouldn't need 120 Hz at all. And it could not only be used for games: I would love to use GSync with an IPS panel to get rid of stutter due to frame rate mismatch in videos (files, streaming.. everything).
MrSpadge - Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - link
Edit: some will say they want 120+ Hz for snappier input response. But this really a dumb brute force solution: just decouple inputs processing from display refresh in software and you're done!evonitzer - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
Ah, no mention of the Fonepad? I was hoping that product could get a few more iterations and thinner bezels. Maybe I'll have to pick up the current one to play with.Hrel - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
Too bad it doesn't have HMDI on the monitor, strange.dylan522p - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
HDMI is useless. It couldn't drive this monitor at 120+ HZ. Using HDMI would make this monitor worse.chizow - Monday, January 6, 2014 - link
Not useless, it's good for using as an HDTV in an office or whatever from a cable box set top box or if you want to hook up your console to it. Adapters are hit or miss, in my experience.