Asus PadFone Infinity phone turns into a tablet

Image via CrunchBase

We knew last week that Asus was planning a refresh of its PadFone Infinity and now it’s official. The package consists of a powerful 5-inch Android 4.2.2 smartphone that slides into a 10.1-inch tablet display; both of which are full HD resolution. This a truly modular approach as the tablet display has no processor of its own. Instead, the phone powers the tablet, while at the same time getting a re-charge from the tablet’s internal battery.

Engadget already got some hands-on time with the device to show the updates, the main one being a processor boost to a 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 800 chip. Take a look at this video to see how quickly an app on the docked phone appears on the tablet. (Jump to the 4:27 mark to specifically see that)

The modular implementation looks well done and brings a number of benefits. You don’t have to sync data between your phone and tablet since everything is stored in one place, for example. You’re also getting a cost benefit since you don’t have to buy two unique devices that both have similar internals. And your phone can run longer on a charge without being plugged in: Just dock it to the tablet to get more juice.

Engadget says the PadFone Infinity handset will cost around $640 off-contract while the tablet display shell adds another $240 to the package. Those prices are converted so it’s possible the actual prices will vary by country.

This is a better implementation than the Motorola Atrix….but beware as it might just fail for the same set of reasons and folks will be left with useless hardware.