ASUS PadFone X

The PadFone X is a flagship level Android smartphone with a 5" full HD IPS display, 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core CPU, 2 gigs of RAM and a 13 megapixel camera. On paper, it's in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8, both in terms of specs and size. The tablet dock has a 9", 1920 x 1200 IPS display with the biggest bezels we've seen since 2005.

The other big bonus of having a “PadFone Station” tablet attachment is that it also doubles as a 4,990mAh battery, pretty much tripling the battery life of the PadFone. By default, the tablet will charge your phone, and when they’re docked, you can charge both together with a standard Micro USB port. It’s not a bad setup.

Considering the whole point of buying a Padfone X is to have a hot-swappable duo of displays, ASUS gets kudos for not skimping on those Super IPS+ LCD panels. That said, it's earned itself a few demerits for some depressing speaker quality.

If you're in want of top-of-the-line specs from either your smartphone or your tablet, you won't find it in the Asus PadFone X. For those looking for a high-end handset, you'll find the specs falling behind current flagships, and the tablet component superfluous. For $200 with contract, it's best then to go ahead and get a current marquee smartphone.