CES 2014: Asus overview

Asus PadFone X

Asus has introduced an updated version of its popular PadFone device. It will be exclusive to AT&T but, luckily, it brings almost no changes over the latest PadFone Infinity 2.

The new PadFone X smartphone features the same 5" IPS 1080p display and is powered by Snapdragon 800. It has a tad smaller 2,300mAh battery compared to the 2,400 mAh unit inside the PadFone Infinity 2. It will run on Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box.

The showcased Asus PadFone X for AT&T

The PadFone dock is where the major difference is. It comes with a smaller 9" 1920x1200 pixel IPS display instead of the 10.1" unit we saw on the PadFone Infinity 2. Due to the smaller body the external battery has been reduced to 4900mAh (down from 5,000 mAh).

The PadFone X will become available on AT&T very soon, but there is no info on the pricing just yet.

Asus Transformer Book Duet hands-on

The last device Asus announced at CES in Las Vegas was the innovative Asus Transformer Book Duet. It’s a dual-boot slate with a detachable keyboard dock that looks a bit like a MacBook Air and can run both Android 4.2 and Windows 8.1 in both tablet and laptop modes.

The slate is based on Intel i3/i5/i7 with the latest Intel’s dual OS platform that allows running Android and Windows on a single device and supports seamless one-click switching between them. Asus claims switching time of about 4s and it's about right when trying it for real.

Asus Transformer Book Duet

The Transformer Book Duet will have two options for its 13.3″ touchscreen display – 768p regular TFT or a 13.3″ IPS unit. You will be also able to pick between the latest Core i3, i5 and i7 Intel processors, 64 or 128GB SSD, while the amount of RAM is fixed at 4GB.

The dock has lots of ports, a secondary HDD and, of course, a keyboard. But first things first.

The Asus Transformer Book Duet's entire front is occupied by the 13.3-inch display of your choice – either an HD TFT or a Full HD IPS unit. There is nothing on the black frame but the video-call camera above the display.

Asus Transformer Book Duet front

The left side of the tablet has some cooling vents plus the full-sized SD slot. The right one is completely bare.

Asus Transformer Book Duet left and right sides

The bottom is quite crowded – there you can find the mandatory Win key, the docking ports, a 3.5mm audio jack and the small charging port.

Asus Transformer Book Duet crowded bottom and bare top

The aluminum dock offers a keyboard with a dedicated dual-boot key. In case you are not using the dock, both operating systems offer a virtual key. Switching between Windows 8.1 and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean (or vice versa) takes about 4 seconds. The dock also packs a huge multi-touch pad.

Asus Transformer Book Duet keyboard dock

The dock offers Ethernet, HDMI, USB and a 3.5mm audio ports on the left side.

Asus Transformer Book Duet keyboard dock • the virtual keys for switching between Windows and Android

As far as we understood, there is no extended battery within the docking station, but you can get it with a 320, 500, 750 GB or 1 TB additional HDD for expanding your storage space.

The slate and the keyboard dock weigh 1.9 kilos. Pricing starts at $599 for the base version, but upgrades haven’t been detailed just yet. Availability hasn’t been confirmed either.