Hands-On: Asus PadFone Mini Is a Stylish 4.3-Inch Smartphone and 7-Inch Tablet Hybrid

Asus fans have been long used with their favorite company's hybrids involving the bundle of a smartphone and tablet in the same package.

The smaller hybrid in the series is called Asus PadFone Mini and has been announced by the handset maker earlier this year at CES 2014. However, the device is not yet available on the market, though Asus claims the PadFone Mini might hits shelves by the end of Q1.

Just like many of its predecessors, the PadFone Mini sports a 4.3-inch capacitive touchscreen display, but the tag Mini has been added to this particular model because it come bundled with a 7-inch tablet.

The said tablet is called PadFone Station and serves as a docking station for the smaller smartphone, but also as a larger screen in case of need.

Speaking of which, we have found the PadFone Mini's 4.3-inch Super IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display quite impressive even if it's rather small in comparison with other high-tier handsets.

While visiting Asus' booth at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014 we have been able to try out the PadFone Mini hybrid in two colors, black and white.

Asus PadFone Mini hands-on

Both versions look very stylish, but the white-themed PadFone Mini seemed more appealing to us. The hybrid is quite the looker and really stands out from other mid-range smartphones. However, what makes the PadFone Mini unique is the fact that you can carry it inside a 7-inch tablet.

The smartphone automatically detects when it's connected to the PadFone Station or when the user disconnects it so no additional set ups are required unless it's something more complex.

The tablet's 7-inch display is of Super IPS LCD quality and supports 800 x 1280 pixels resolution and performs decent enough. The only downside of the hybrid is the fact that the the smartphone's 4.3-inch display only supports qHD (540 x 960 pixels) resolution.

We've noticed from the phone's specs sheet the smartphone packs a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8226 processor inside, along with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory.

Asus PadFone Mini hands-on

We felt that this was enough for the average user, as we noticed no lags or hiccups while operating the 4.3-inch smartphone.

Keep in mind that although the 4.3-inch smartphone is powered by a 1500 mAh Li-Polymer, while it's docked it will be able to take advantage by the tablet's 2200 mAh battery.

Overall we believe Asus PadFone hybrid is a good choice for those who always wanted to own such a device, but did not have the money to get one.