The ASUS Fonepad 8 is one of the largest and most affordable phablet on the market. At only S$299, it provides you with all the features and functionality that you need out of a tablet/phone combo.
ASUS designed the Fonepad series with affordability in mind. The Fonepad 6 and Fonepad 7 were released in 2013, while the Fonepad 8 were launched in late 2014.
The dual-SIM gives you much needed flexibility especially when you’re travelling and wants to slot in a cheap local SIM, but still wants to remain contactable on your regular number.
It is easy to slot in/out the two micro-SIM cards as both slots are in a special compartment on the left side of the phablet, along with the microSD card slot, that allows you to expand the 8 or 16GB internal storage of the Fonepad 8 by up to another 64GB.
Top right corner of the Fonepad 8.
The phone supports 3G for both SIM cards but not 4G/LTE.
I found usage of dual SIM straightforward like in other dual-SIM Android phones.
The internal, non-removable 4,000mAh battery provided long hours of usage without worry of running dry.
Even with intense usage and video viewing, the Fonepad 8 easily lasted an entire day and then some.
On my more typical day, there was usually at least 20-30 percent battery left at the end of the day.
Fonepad 8 is available in four colours—black, white, red and gold. White and gold models include white bezels, while the black and red models feature a black fascia. Out of the box, the pre-loaded ZenUI color scheme matches the device’s back cover color, which is plastic and features a non-slip diamond-pattern coating.
ASUS rates the battery life to 14.2 hours of Wi-Fi Web browsing, 12 hours of HD video playback, and 21 hours of 3G talk time.
