Asus Padfone Mini launched as 4.3in smartphone and 7in tablet pair

Asus has officially revealed the Padfone Mini, a smaller take on the Padfone smartphone and tablet combination, at a launch event in the company’s native Taiwan.

The announcement confirmed leaked images seen earlier this week were accurate, with a 4.3in smartphone paired to a 7in tablet, but unlike the high-end Padfone 2, the Padfone Mini has decidedly mid-range specifications.

The tablet, which uses the same slide-in locking mechanism to hold the accompanying handset, has a 1,280×800 resolution display and 2,200mAh battery. The smartphone has a 960×540 resolution screen, 1,500mAh battery, 1.4GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 CPU and 1GB of RAM. Beyond 16GB of internal storage, it also has a microSD card slot for adding extra capacity later.

An 8-megapixel rear camera can be used when the handset is docked with the tablet. The backside illuminated (BSI) sensor is paired with an f/2.0 aperture lens and is capable of 16fps burst shooting.

It’s a 3G-only device, with no support for super-fast LTE networks, but includes dual SIM card slots along with 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS/GLONASS.

The Padfone Mini will be launching in three colour choices; cherry pink, black and white, with the black model going on sale first. The pair will be available for NT$ 11,990 in Taiwan, which is roughly £300. Asus has so far only confirmed the Padfone Mini for China, Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia, with no word on whether it will come to the UK.