ASUS has announced a product refresh for its Padfone Infinity docking smartphone. While many aspects of the smartphone and its tablet dock look the same there’s been quite a bit of massaging of the internal specifications on the smartphone side. A new faster processor, spec bumped cameras and more storage options are all now on offer.
One of the headline changes to the ASUS Padfone is the upgrading of the Snapdragon 600 processor to one of the hugely popular Snapdragon 800 SoCs, running at 2.2GHz. From all the design wins it definitely seems like Qualcomm has a hit on its hands with that processor.
Another upgrade takes aim at the potential customer’s desire for better photographs from their mobile device. The new Padfone Infinity packs in a 13-megapixel, f/2.0 rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing video chat camera. ASUS has chosen to employ a technology called ‘PixelMaster’ on the main camera, which can squeeze the 13-megapixel sensor output into a 3-megapixel file. Pocket Lint reports that it uses a similar image processing method to the HTC One Ultrapixel to get good low-noise results in low light situations. Using ‘PixelMaster’ is optional, a Padfone user can just take 13-megapixel shots if they wish - perhaps a good choice in better lighting situations.
Turning to the new device storage capacities ASUS has provided new flexibility, in the shape of a microSD card slot. However, counterbalancing this improvement, the 64GB built-in storage option is gone, the new Padfone Infinity is only purchasable in 16GB or 32GB versions.
Rounding off the device specifications, it comes with Android Jelly Bean 4.2 pre-installed. Pocket Lint notes that the free Garmin navigation software that came with previous Padfones has now been dropped.
The new Padfone Infinity will be made available in Titanium Black and Platinum White. In Taiwan it is priced at 18,990 NTD (£400) for the 16GB version and 20,990 NTD (£445) for the 32GB version. The tablet dock is priced at 7,000 NTD (£150).
