CES is one of the most important technology shows of the year. Thousands of tech reporters from around the world trek out to the Las Vegas convention center to report on some of the first electronics announced of the year. Some people might say that CES is dying, but there are a few companies that would say otherwise. Huawei, Sony, LG, Nvidia, and ASUS release some of their most important products every year at CES. Numerous smaller companies and start-ups also release hundreds of products at CES. Some of these, like Pebble and Oculus Rift, actually make real world advances outside of CES. With so much news happening all at once, we are here to bring you a wrap-up of each company's news and unveilings.
Mobile
Zenphone(s)
More and more companies are starting to make cheap, unlocked smart phones that you might actually want to use. Blu has made some decent and inexpensive handsets, but Motorola made the first very good cheap unlocked handset with their Moto G. ASUS has taken a crack at it with their new Zenphone line. The Zenphones are priced at $99, $149, and $199 for the 4, 5, and 6 models. They all have a similar design, Android 4.3 with ASUS's Zen UI, and dual-core Intel Atom processors, but those are the only similarities between the three phones. The Zenphone 4, the lowest end device, has a four inch 800 x 480 WVGA display, dual-core 1.2GHZ Intel Atom processor, VGA front-facing camera, and a five megapixel rear-facing camera. It has a cheaper build than the other models, the WVGA display is a bit disappointing, and the performance is a little slow. The 4 is geared towards people in emerging markets with very small budgets, so they might ignore these small problems with it.
The Zenphone 5 is the more midrange device of the Zenphone trio. It has a larger and higher-resolution five inch 720p display than the 4, and a faster 2GHZ dual-core Atom processor. It also has improved eight megapixel and two megapixel front and rear-facing camera compared to the Zenphone 4. It also has a 2,050mAH battery and is very similar to the Zenphone 6. The Zenphone 5 and 6 are the higher-end handsets of the Zenphone trio, so they both have good build quality. They also both have super sensitive screens for using them with gloves on. The Zenphone 5 does have a higher pixel density than the Zenphone 6 because of the smaller size, but the Zenphone 6 has other improved specs. At $149, the Zenphone 5 is a great option if you want an inexpensive handset with decent specs.
Finally we reach the most high-end handset of the Zenphone line, the Zenphone 6. It does share the same 720p glove enabled screen as the Zenphone 5, but it has been increased to six inches and also has pen/pencil use technology in it. You can use a pen or pencil as a stylus for the Zenphone 6 instead of having to buy a stylus. Spec-wise it has the same 2GHZ dual-core Intel Atom processor as the 5, but it has 1GB of RAM more than the 5. There is also an improved thirteen megapixel rear-facing camera. The Zenphone 5 and 6 have brisk performance, with the 6 being slightly faster, and their bright and colorful frames also have good build quality. There might be other unlocked handsets that you might want at $199, but the Zenphone 6 is still a great handset.
Engadget: ASUS Zenphone, Engadget: ASUS Zenphone (2), The Verge: ASUS Zenphone
PadFone Mini
The PadFone Mini is the cheaper, smaller version of ASUS's higher-end ASUS PadFone Infinity. At $249, ASUS did have to cut some corners to keep the costs down. The smartphone segment of the PadFone Mini has an 800 x 480 WVGA display, and the tablet has a 1,280 x 800 display. These relatively low-res screens are not very recent or spectacular, but it is somewhat forgivable for the low price. A 1.6GHZ Intel Atom processor and Android 4.3 are running the show here. It will not be a blazingly fast experience, but there shouldn't be any big performance issues. ASUS has also put its new Zen UI on the PadFone Mini. We do not know much about the details of Zen UI, but it does look promising. Zen UI has larger icons, cleaner fonts, and softer UI elements. From what we have seen, Zen UI is a clean and beautiful looking skin over Android. Most skins are very ugly and no improvement over Android, but Zen UI is an exception. The PadFone Mini is not the most premium tablet or smartphone, but its low price will definitely attract some buyers.
Engadget: ASUS PadFone Mini, The Verge: ASUS PadFone Mini
PadFone X
The ASUS PadFone X is just like the previous PadFone Infinity. The full specs have not been disclosed yet, but we can expect it to have probably a Snapdragon 800 processor and a thirteen megapixel camera with improved optics. ASUS has told us that the tablet dock and the phone itself will have full HD displays and Android 4.4 KitKat. What is surprising, though, is that the PadFone X will come to AT&T with Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and LTE-Advanced. AT&T usually does not bring interesting foreign handsets to its network, and the PadFone X is a great addition. LTE-advanced and VoLTE capabilities might say that AT&T will start to roll out the two services. More specs on the PadFone X will be released sometime in the near future, but we are sure it will be a good device.
Engadget: ASUS PadFone X, The Verge: ASUS PadFone X
VivoTab Note 8
ASUS's VivoTab Note 8 is very similar to most other eight inch Windows 8 tablets. It has a mid-range 1,280 x 800 IPS display, 1.86GHZ Bay Trail Intel Atom processor, 2GB of RAM, five megapixel camera, and either 32GB or 64GB of storage. The VivoTab Note 8 does have full Wacom digitizer and includes a Wacom stylus. Most competing tablets have just gone with optional pen input, but ASUS went all out. At $299 and $349 for the 32GB and 64GB versions, the ASUS VivoTab Note 8 is not too dissimilar against other eight inch Windows 8 tablets. Dell's Venue 8 Pro is almost the exact same device, but it only has optional pen input and does not have a Wacom digitizer or stylus. The newly announced Lenovo Thinkpad 8 is $100 more at $399, but it has higher end specs than the VivoTab Note 8. Lenovo's Thinkpad 8 has a incredibly better 1,900 x 1,200 display and more business friendly ports. ASUS's VivoTab Note 8 is the best tablet if you need great pen input at a relatively low price.
Engadget: ASUS VivoTab Note 8, The Verge: ASUS VivoTab Note 8
Computer
Transformer Book Duet
ASUS's Transformer series of tablets has been very successful. Its tablet and keyboard dock form factor somewhat brought back netbook devices, and it made many people think that they could use a tablet as their laptop replacement. ASUS never really said that, but they have made it known that you could do more work on a tablet with a keyboard. The company released their newest hybrid device today, the Transformer Book Duet. It is a 13.3 inch, Haswell Intel Core i7 processor device that dual-boots Android 4.2 and Windows 8.1. It's top of the line specs also include a 128GB SSD, up to 1080p display, and up to one terabyte of storage in the laptop dock. You can flip between Windows 8.1 and Android 4.2 at the press of a button, but it is not exactly instantaneous. The keyboard looks like it has nice build quality, and it has ethernet, USB, and full size HDMI ports. The Transformer Book Duet starts at $599 with a Core i3 processor and 1,366 x 768 display, and the $699 model has the 1080p display. The device does not seem too practical in all modes ASUS is wanting you to put it in, but we can see people buying this. Instead of using Android in laptop mode or Windows 8.1 in tablet mode, you could get a lot of productivity out of using it as an Android tablet and Windows 8.1 in laptop mode. A 13.3 inch tablet would be very heavy, so the Transformer Book Duet would probably be more of a coffee table device. The ASUS Transformer Book Duet is one of the company's most promising devices of CES, and we hope ASUS can execute the product right. The Transformer Book Duet will definitely attract the eyes, and wallets, of many consumers.
Engadget: ASUS Transformer Book Duet, The Verge: ASUS Transformer Book Duet
That's our wrap-up of ASUS's CES products. Stay tuned all week for our stories on Sony, Samsung, Pebble, and many more companies.
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