Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/7627/asus-at-ces-2014
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 ESTThis year at the Consumer Electronics Show, ASUS are attacking mobile in more ways than one. We have bodies/editors on the ground to get hands on with all the equipment on display, but ASUS provided a few apt press releases in advance for us. They include the PadFone Mini, the Transformer Book Duet TD300, the ZenFone 4, ZenFone 5, ZenFone 6, the VivoTab Note 8, the Padfone X and the ROG 27” Gaming Monitor, all with specifications, images, details and for a few, release date and pricing.
New at CES: The ROG SWIFT PG278Q – a 27” 1400p 120Hz Monitor for $800 with G-SYNC
Several months ago I was looking at new monitors, deciding whether I wanted a 1440p or 120 Hz panel. No one panel I could find would offer both, but ASUS have jumped that barrier today by announcing the ROG SWIFT PG278Q, fully equipped with G-SYNC.
The PG278Q, along with the 2560x1440 resolution, 120 Hz refresh rate, 1 ms response time and G-SYNC, also comes with ASUS GamePlus, an OSD overlay that puts crosshairs and a timer function on the monitor display, allowing users to hone their skills (or aid in various gameplay environments). The monitor has a single DP1.2 port for native WQHD, dual USB 3.0 ports and VESA wall mount capability, along with a 6mm bezel to minimize overlap in multi-monitor setups.
Pricing should start at $799, with availability in APAC, EU and NA markets in early Q2.
New at CES: The PadFone X on AT&T
ASUS have partnered with AT&T for their PadFone X – an LTE enabled 5” 1080p smartphone that slots into a 9” 1080p tablet when docked. The PadFone X will come shipped with Android 4.4, and is designed to be a top premium product, using brushed metal frame and soft-touch back cover as well as supporting VoLTE and NFC along with Isis Mobile Wallet.
Much like the other PadFones, one of the good things about the design is the tablet offers that extended battery – the dock for the PadFoneX will also charge the phone battery while it is in use.
Pricing and availability should be announced later today.
New at CES: Transformer Book Duet TD300
The TD300 is being advertised as the world’s first quad-mode, dual-OS laptop that combines an Android tablet and Windows 8.1 laptop into the transformer form factor with up to a Core i7 processor under the hood. The quad-mode implies two ways to use Android (tablet or notebook) and two ways to use Windows (tablet or notebook) – switching between them is designed to be as simple as pressing the Instant Switch button.
The tablet/screen of the device will be a 13.3” 1080p IPS touchscreen with multi-touch display features and responsiveness, with audio supplied by ASUS SonicMaster technology. The front-facing HD camera is paired with a microphone, along with 128GB of storage that can be boosted with a microSD card while the keyboard dock can house a 1TB hard disk drive (unsure whether this is 2.5”, mSATA, PCIe or proprietary yet). The dock also has increased functionality (USB 2.0, USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI 1.4) and the tablet segment comes fitted with 802.11ac dual band WiFi and 4GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM.
In terms of dimensions, the tablet measures 342.7 x 216.3 x 12.9mm and the dock is 340.9 x 217.6 x 16mm, suggesting a potential overall of 342.7 x 217.6 x 28.9mm (over an inch thick at the widest point) with a total weight of 1.9 kg.
The TD300 will be available in the EU/APAC in late Q1, with North America in Late Q2. Pricing will start at $599 for the i3/HD Display combination, whereas the i3/1080p will start at $699. No word on the i7 editions as of yet.
New at CES: VivoTab Note 8
As the name suggests, the VivoTab Note 8 is an 8” tablet running Windows 8.1 with a professional Wacom digitizer stylus in tow, with the aim of making this device suitable for productivity or creativity. The VivoTab Note 8 will come bundled with Microsoft Office Home and Student for this purpose, and ASUS like to point out the thin bezels and high definition display, to go along with the ability to use it one handed, as serious plus points.
Specification wise we are looking at an Intel Atom Z3740 (quad core 1.33 GHz, turbo up to 1.86 GHz) with 2GB LPDDR3 and up to 64GB of internal storage, with space for a microSD card and 1 year of unlimited ASUS WebStorage. The screen puts the VivoTab Note 8 in the mid-range specification pile, being only 1280x800 on an eight inch device, along with only 802.11 a/b/g/n support (not 802.11ac). It will feature a 15.5 Whr battery however, and weigh in at 380g.
Prices will start at $299 for the 32GB model and $349 for the 64GB model (making 32GB of storage only $50 – other companies could learn from this). Projected release dates is late Q1, early Q2.
New 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 |