Asus FonePad 7

Entry-level 7 inch smartphone

Asus is expanding its FonePad line of big smartphones (or small tablets) with a new FonePad 7 (FE170CG). It’s a 7 inch Android tablet which you can use to make phone calls or surf the web over 2G and 3G networks.

The new model popped up on the Asus website recently, and while there’s no word on the price, the spec-sheet paints a picture of an entry-level device. The new FonePad has a lower-resolution display and a slower processor than the FonePad 7 Asus launched in 2013.
 
 
The Asus FonePad 7 (FE170CG) features a 1.2 GHz Intel Atom Z2520 Clover Trail+ processor, a 7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB to 8GB of built-in storage, depending on the model. There’s also a microSD card slot for up to 64GB of additional storage.

It runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean software, although Asus says an Android 4.4 KitKat update is on the way.

The FonePad has a 2MP rear camera, 0.3MP front-facing camera, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, Miracast wireless display support, GPS, and support for HSPA+ networks.

Asus will offer models with single SIM or dual SIM support. The Dual SIM model will be available in black, white, red, or blue, while the single SIM phone/tablet will come in white only.
 

The device measures 7.6″ x 4.3″ x 0.4″ and weighs 10.2 ounces.

While most of the specs are pretty underwhelming, the new Asus FonePad 7 has a few things going for it including up to 10 hours of battery life, a front-facing speaker, and the ability to use one device as both your phone and tablet, which could potentially save you some money. And if you don’t want to hold a 7 inch tablet up to your head to make calls, you could always use a Bluetooth or wired headset.

Asus will also offers accessories including a magnetic smart cover that can function as a kickstand.

Nokia Lumia 630

The Lumia 630 running Windows Phone 8.1 won't be available in the United States, but the very similar Lumia 635 will.

Nokia introduced three new Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone 8.1 on the main stage of Microsoft's Build developer conference this week. At a more intimate evening event, the Finnish handset maker offered PCMag and other media outlets a closer look at the Lumia 630, Lumia 635, and Lumia 930. 




Of the three, only the Lumia 635 will be available in the United States. Nokia, however, only appeared to have the Lumia 630 and Lumia 930 on hand for reporters to test drive, which seems odd for an event held in San Francisco. 

Still, the Lumia 930 ($599 before carrier subsidies) is essentially the same phone, albeit one that will run Windows Phone 8.1 when it's released in a few month, as the Lumia Icon, a device that was made available in the U.S. back in February. If you want to get an idea of what the Lumia 930 can do, check out our full review of the Lumia Icon. 

Meanwhile, the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 are also very similar smartphones, so what I'm able to report from my hands on with the former should give you a decent idea of what the latter is like. The Lumia 635 will be a bit pricier at $189 than the standard Lumia 630, which will cost just $159 when it appears in May, but the 635 is a 4G LTE device whereas the 630 is 3G. 

The Lumia 635 apparently has some more colorful, changeable case options than the Lumia 630. But the 635 doesn't have a dual-SIM variant like the 630, which will be available in a version supporting dual SIMs priced at $169. 

At any rate, the Lumia 630 is a light, well put together device with a 4.5-inch touch screen, and gentle, rounded edges that give it a softer, more playful look than the larger, blockier Lumia 930, which is set to become Nokia's new trophy phone. Nokia has extended the colorful case of the Lumia 630 to the sides of the phone, further giving the device a fun and sporty appeal much as Apple did with the iPhone 5c. 





Nokia has also gone minimal with external buttons for this phone—there's just a power/lock button and a volume rocker on the right side of the Lumia 630. What's more, the buttons are the same bright color as the phone's shell.
 
Aside from their radios and the dual-SIM variant, the hardware inside the Nokia 630 and Nokia 635 is the same. Both phones sport a quad-core, 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor from Qualcomm, 512MB of memory, and 8GB of onboard storage with additional microSD card support for 128GB. 

There's only one camera on these phones, a 5-megapixel rear-facing shooter that pales in comparison with the 20-megapixel unit in the Lumia 930, but hey, you get what you pay for. Nokia said it built in better sensors to the Lumia 630 and 635 to improve things like fitness apps, as well as some new photo-editing options and the ability to send photos directly to social media sites like Instagram.  
But the really big deal with the newest Lumia phones is Windows Phone 8.1. PCMag's Michael Muchmore had a chance to tool around with Microsoft's new mobile OS earlier this week, and I also enjoyed my brief time testing it out on the Lumia 630, courtesy of Nokia. 

If you've heard one thing about Windows Phone 8.1, it's likely you've heard about Cortana. Microsoft's new personal assistant for WP 8.1 uses a natural language interface to perform tasks for you, much like Apple's Siri and Google Now do on rival platforms. 


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