Asus FonePad vs Samsung Galaxy Tab 3: 7 Inch Jelly Bean 3G Voice Calling Fight Stirs Up

It looks like Google's Android OS has had a bumper first quarter in terms of tablet sales. Well, the platform is now closing in on the tablet market dominator Apple as far as a report from Strategy Analytics is concerned.

For the quarter ended March 2013, the Android tablet shipments have shot up by 177% totalling 17.6 million units as compared to the same quarter last year. With this, the Android tablet market share now stands at 43.4% as compared to 34.2% in Q1 2012. Moreover, the firm has estimated that Android tablet market share will be 52%, while Apple iOS share will slip to 41%.

Click here for more Asus FonePad images...

Click here for more Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 images...

One of the main reasons for the shoot up of the Android tablet market share is due to a variety of tablets that have been launched with the OS. Further, these tablets are available at a lesser price as compared to the iPad and hence, they have become a bizarre fashion in the consumer market.

Apple has tried a different approach to compete with the Android tablets and hence, the Cupertino tech titan came up with a small one called iPad Mini. At the same time, the Android tablets have started adopting different tactics including 3G voice calling, dual SIM and more.

Two such recent tablet offerings from renowned vendors include Asus FonePad and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3. Taiwanese tech giant Asus has already released its voice calling 3G tablet in many countries including India at Rs 15,999. At the same time, Samsung has taken the wraps off its voice calling 3G tablet - Galaxy Tab 3 with a 7 inch display and amazing software features. The WI-Fi version of Galaxy Tab 3 will be released in May and the 3G variant in June and it is estimated to be priced below Rs 20,000. This means that, both FonePad and Galaxy Tab 3 will be trailing in the same price range.

Hence, both GizBot has come up with a comparison between Asus FonePad and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.

Design and Aesthetics

Asus FonePad measures 196.4 x 120.1 x 10.4 mm in dimension and weighs in at 340 grams, whereas, Galaxy Tab 3 carries a dimension of 111.1 x 188.0 x 9.9 mm and weighs around 306 grams. Obviously, the Samsung tablet is lightweight and comes with thinner bezels.

Display

FonePad boasts a 7 inch IPS LCD 10 point multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and 216 ppi pixel density. On the other hand, Galaxy Tab 3 packs a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels and a pixel density of 169 ppi.

Processor

Asus FonePad is equipped with a 1.2GHz Intel Atom Z2420 processor and Galaxy Tab 3 packs a 1.2GHz dual core processor under its hood. The Intel Atom processor in FonePad comes with a hyper threading technology and offers impressive performance when it comes to quick web browsing and multimedia uses.

Operating System

Both Asus FonePad and Galaxy Tab 3 comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and hence, they will come with features such as Google Now, Project Butter, on-screen navigation buttons, expandable and contractible Android notifications, resizable App Widgets functionality, high resolution contact photos, Android Beam app and more.

Camera

In the imagery segment, FonePad has a 3.2MP rear camera with autofocus and 1.2MP front camera for video calling. At the same time, Galaxy Tab 3 has a 3MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front camera. Hence, both the tablets feature more or less the same.

Storage

FonePad has 8GB internal storage, 1GB RAM and a micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage. On the other hand, Galaxy Tab 3 comes with 8GB/16GB internal storage, 1GB RAM and a micro SD card slot supporting up to 64GB.

Internet Connectivity

FonePad and Galaxy Tab 3 are 3G voice calling tablets with SIM card slot and come with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and micro USB 2.0.

Battery

Asus FonePad is equipped with a 4,270 mAh battery that is claimed to deliver up to 9 hours backup. At the same time, Galaxy Tab 3 is loaded with a 4,000 mAh battery.

Software Aspects

Asus FonePad comes with SonicMaster Audio Technology with the award winning Maxx Audio processor by Waves to ensure clear and well rounded sound quality. Also, FonePad offers 50GB lifetime Asus WebStore storage for free. On the other hand, Galaxy Tab 3 has with software features including Samsung Hub, ChatON, Kies, Google Apps, Google Now and more.

Conclusion

Finally, Asus FonePad and Galaxy Tab 3 boast many similar traits, but the FonePad is readily available in India from today at Rs 15,999 and for the Galaxy Tab 3, consumers will have to wait until June.