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Earlier, i’ve just showed you here 2 new-gen tablets from Asus. And they both are released under the flag Asus Padfone series.
They were Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone. Both devices are equally great in my reviews, but the real flagship here is of course Asus Padfone S as it has a more powerful but efficient Snapdragon 801 processor.
(Asus Padfone S vs Asus Padfone X Specs Comparison)
And it's shown clearly on their battery life, with Asus Padfone S lasting much longer than Asus Padfone X, in both stand-by and talk time (multimedia) battery life comparison.
Right now, just like what i’ve been doing on 4 Nexus devices in the past few days, today i also want to make another tablet battle - or comparison review if you would - of these 2 Asus Padfone tablets.
But of course, i will put more focus on their performance and gaming capability.
Meanwhile the other sectors like UI or design will also get their place in this review.
Okay then, if you’re interested to see how these 2 Asus hybrid devices fare against each other, including how they perform when playing games, then here you go, my comparison review between Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X. Enjoy!
Introduction
When it comes to spec sheet, these 2 devices are actually not that different entirely. As a matter of fact, they both share some identical specs on their hardware.
However, as the real flagship in this next-gen series, it’s really obvious that Asus will put more priority and the best treatment on Asus Padfone.
And it’s shown clearly on the processors that power both devices - Asus Padfone X got the so-last-year Snapdragon 800 processor, while Asus Padfone S receives the latest and greatest Snapdragon 801 processor.
Besides on the processor, Asus actually also does something different with Asus Padfone S, compared to the Asus Padfone X. And Asus does that on the design of both devices.
On Asus Padfone S, the metal trim surrounding the bezels look much shinier than on the Asus Padfone X, which looks much darker in gray.
So that probably makes Asus Padfone S look more premium and more expensive than Asus Padfone X, although not significantly.
But despite all that, both devices are still equally powerful and great on many sectors.
They are great for watching HD movies, browsing the web, reading books, taking photos/videos and even playing games.
But of course, as the real flagship here, there should be something that put Asus Padfone S on the higher level than its sibling.
And that’s its battery life, which is capable to last much longer than the battery life of Asus Padfone X, despite using the same 2300mAh on the smartphone and 4990mAh battery on the Padfone Station.
But the questions remain, with all of these goodies and not to mention, a more powerful processor, does any of these Asus Padfone tablets have all what it takes to be an iPad Air 2 killer?
Do these tablets deserve to be positioned alongside other flagship tablets on the market right now?
Which one should you get between Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X?
Design
On the sector of design, there’s actually no significant difference between Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X. They both run on the same design concept, either on their smartphones or the Padfone Station devices.
However, there is still something that that makes Asus Padfone S look different than its sibling.
One of them is actually the metal trim on both devices.
The metal trim around the bezels of Asus Padfone S looks much shinier than on the Asus Padfone X, which looks much darker.
The other thing that sets them apart is their homescreen wallpaper, which is probably not very prominent given that wallpapers are just images that can be applied to any kind devices.
However, apart from those 2 different elements, both Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X actually bear striking resemblance one to another.
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Even their Padfone Stations also look pretty similar.
So if you pick either Asus Padfone S or Asus Padfone X, you probably won’t notice any difference between these 2 devices, with the exception of their metal trim of course, and processor as well.
Back to Top
When releasing these 2 devices, it’s pretty obvious that Asus has an intention to make Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X both as its latest flagships in this series.
And that’s true because both of these 2 devices are packing almost identical spec sheet.
They both share the same 5-inch screen on the smartphone (1920x1080 pixels), 9-inch display on Padfone Station (1920x1200 pixels), 13MP rear-facing camera, 2GB of RAM, Adreno 330 GPU, 2300mAh power battery and many other similar sectors.
However, there is one thing that puts Asus Padfone S up ahead of its sibling. And that is its processor.
As mentioned above, Asus Padfone S is powered by the latest and greatest Snapdragon 801 processor, as opposed to slightly-less-powerful Snapdragon 800 processor on Asus Padfone X.
These 2 processors are equally great and powerful in performance, even for playing games, no doubt about that.
But there are still some benefits that Snapdragon 801 offers that its predecessor don’t. And one of them is its more efficient use of battery.
Even with the same 2300mAh and 4990mAh power battery on each smartphone and Padfone Station, Asus Padfone S proved could last much longer than Asus Padfone X, in both stand-by and talk time.
So besides being capable to deliver much faster performance, Snapdragon 801 processor inside Asus Padfone S is certainly more efficient than on Snapdragon 800 processor of Asus Padfone X.
| Asus Padfone X | Asus Padfone S |
|---|---|
4G LTE Micro-SIM Released July 2014 5.0 inch Super IPS+ LCD capacitive touchscreen, 1080 x 1920 pixels, (~441 ppi pixel density) Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Chipset Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 CPU Adreno 330 GPU 2 GB RAM Android OS 4.4.2 KitKat 13 MP rear-facing camera LED flash 2 MP front-facing camera, 1080p@25fps microSD memory Card slot for up to 64 GB 16 GB Internal storage GPRS NFC Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass Sensors No Radio Java MIDP emulator Non-removable Li-Po 2300 mAh battery Stand-by Battery life for up to 456 hours Talk time Battery life for up to 20 hours * Padfone Station with 9-inch IPS display, 1920 x 1200 pixels, 4990 mAh battery, front camera *Exclusive only for AT&T | 4G LTE SIM Micro-SIM Released 2014, July Weight 150 g (5.29 oz) 5.0 inch Super IPS+ LCD capacitive touchscreen, 1080 x 1920 pixels, (~441 ppi) Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 Qualcomm MSM8974AB Snapdragon 801 Chipset Adreno 330 GPU 2 GB RAM Android OS 4.4.2 KitKat 13 MP rear-facing camera, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash 2 MP front-facing camera, 1080p@30fps microSD memory card slot for up to 64 GB 16 GB Internal storage GPRS NFC microUSB v2.0 (SlimPort) TBC Radio Java MIDP emulator Non-removable Li-Po 2300 mAh battery Stand-by Battery life for up to 417 hours Talk time Battery life for up to 22 hours * Padfone Station with 9-inch IPS display, 1920 x 1200 pixels, 4990 mAh battery, front camera |
Screen
On the department of screen, both Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X remain untouched by Asus.
Both devices share the same 5-inch display sporting the 1920x1080 pixels (on the smartphone) and 9-inch display with 1920x1200 pixels (on Padfone Station).
So when it comes to sharpness and clarity, it’s no brainer that both devices are equally great in those terms.
Even if you pick any of these devices randomly, you will still get a sharp looking display on your chosen Asus Padfone device.
Watching HD movies will be awesome, reading books or magazines will be enjoying to do, browsing the web will be pleasing and playing games will be a lot more fun, thanks to their sharp 1080p display.
User Interface
On both Asus Padfone S and X, this manufacturer uses the same exact software build of Android with Asus’ customized UI.
So there will be more features, newer icons, better design layout and cooler visual presentations than on the stock Android UI.
The great thing is, even with this Asus’ heavy Android software, this tablet still screams in performance and flies in experience.
And that’s thanks to the Snapdragon 801 and Snapdragon 800 processors found inside the Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X respectively.
Back to Top
Given that Snapdragon 801 processor is a newer-generation processor than Snapdragon 800 processor, then there should be some noticeable difference in performance between these Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X.
But it’s probably not really significant because Snapdragon 800 processor is already a powerful and top-end processor on the market right now, alongside Tegra 4/K1, Apple A8 chipset, Samsung Exynos 5 Octa processor and of course its sibling, Snapdragon 801.
So they both will perform smoothly with no lag especially for doing some basic daily tasks.
It goes the same with the gaming performance of these 2 devices. Asus Padfone S may have the latest and greatest Snapdragon 801 processor compared to its sibling.
However, when it comes to playing games, both devices are equally great and more than capable to execute even the latest graphics intense games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, GTA San Andreas or even Modern Combat 5.
Not only do these games perform smoothly on both devices, but they also run in full highest graphics without any lag whatsoever.
The awesome thing about these Asus Padfone devices is actually their gaming experience. Their gaming performance are obviously great equally.
But the experience of playing games with these 2 devices is probably unmatched by any tablet or smartphone on the market now.
And that’s because these 2 Asus Padfone S and X consist in 2 devices – the 5-inch smartphone and the 9-inch Padfone Station.
So if you’re in mood of playing games on a small screen, you can just open any of your favorite games you on the smartphone.
On the other hand, playing games on the Padfone Station can also be a lot more fun and convenient to do because pressing the virtual buttons is really easy to do, thanks to its larger screen real estate.
Battery Life
One interesting fact about these 2 devices is actually their battery life. Both Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X are powered by the same exact 2300mAh battery on the smartphone and 4990mAh battery on the Padfone Station.
However, according to GSMarena, Asus Padfone S is able to deliver a much longer battery life than Asus Padfone X, in both stand-by and talk time (multimedia).
This obviously happens probably because Snapdragon 801 processor inside Asus Padfone S is not only capable to perform much faster and smoother than its predecessor, but it’s also more efficient especially in squeezing the battery of Asus Padfone S.
But even so, i think both tablets are still equally great and long lasting in one solid day especially if you’re type of moderate user who only uses this device for doing some basic daily tasks.
However, if you’re a power user and you’re gonna use this device for doing some heavy tasks intensively without resting the screen at all – like watching HD movies in marathon or playing games in the row -, you’re probably gonna get around 4 to 6 hours of battery life from these devices, probably longer on Asus Padfone S – given its more efficient Snapdragon 801 processor.
The good thing is, both of these devices only sport 1080p resolution on their screens, which is not as power hungry as 2.5k display on its rivals.
So their battery life is relatively good, especially as media-consumption devices.
My Personal Opinions
So my final impression of these 2 Asus Padfone devices is, i think it’s just no brainer that both Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X are just equally great.
And this is not very surprising given that both devices are equipped with almost identical spec sheet.
They both share the same 5-inch screen on the smartphone, 9-inch screen on the Padfone Station, 13MP rear-facing camera with LED flash, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 2300mAh power battery and 4990mAh battery and many other similar specs.
But of course, Asus Padfone S is definitely the real flagship here because it’s powered by Qualcomm’s latest and greatest Snapdragon 801 processor, which is currently the top-class processor on the market today, alongside Tegra K1, Apple A8X or Samsung Exynos 5 Octa processors.
However, despite having 2 different-gen processors, the performance of both devices is still equally great and fast, especially for doing some basic daily tasks.
And thanks to 2GB of RAM, as the owner, you’ll be able to get a smooth multitasking experience on both devices, even when opening many apps at once in the background.
So to sum this up, Asus Padfone X may have an old-gen Snapdragon 800 processor, as opposed to the Snapdragon 801 on Asus Padfone S.
But for doing some media-consumption tasks and even for playing games, both Asus Padfone S and Asus Padfone X perform equally fast and smooth without any lag whatsoever. No doubt about that.
Bottom line, both devices are great and it will come down to your personal preference actually.
If you really care about how your device should have the latest and greatest processor, then go ahead, choose the Asus Padfone S.
But if you’re okay having any processor as long as it is a flagship processor, then Asus Padfone X is definitely your best shot here.
Both devices are great for watching movies, reading books/magazines, making phone calls, sending text messages, browsing the web, taking photos/videos, editing documents, checking emails, listening to music and even playing the latest graphically demanding games like Modern Combat 5, GTA San Andreas or Asphalt 8: Airborne.
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