The focus of this review will primarily about the smartphone, though its tablet dock will be touched on.

The dfone X, while on the chunkier side of the spectrum, features some great specs across the board. Featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB RAM, 13 megapixel camera, a hful of other specs that would easily send this smartphone into ‘flagship’ status, it has a lot going for it, that’s just the phone.

As the name suggests, the dfone X isn’t a one trick pony — it can turn into a tablet with the 9 inch dock. The dock itself has enough bezel on it that it looks like it cover the entire display if it was placed over it. I’m talking a lot of bezel, which isn’t something to applaud when we’re talking about an already-hefty phone counterpart.

Nonetheless, one has to be a little forgiving when it comes to such a novel product. int blank, the dfone X is going to be a very niche product I have my doubts that someone walking into an AT&T store with the intention of buying a smartphone is going to walk out with the dfone X. The people who are buying this product are the enthusiasts that have researched it when it was announced likely already have another tablet anyway.

Nice specs wrapped in a not so nice package

The display on the phone itself is solid. Nice bright, I was able to easily see the display in direct sunlight, which is still an issue some smartphone displays suffer from today. 

The face of the dfone X is simple to the point. Beyond the large 5-inch display, you’ll find the expected ear piece, front-facing camera, sensors for proximity ambient light above the Asus logo below.

ning the sides of the phone is a metallic strip, which adds a sense of sturdiness to it when being held. The top houses the 3.5mm headphone jack a noise cancelling microphone, on the bottom is the micro B port for charging port, flanked by the dock connectors. The left side is left bare, the right side is where the volume rocker power button are located.

The back side of the phone holds no surprises, giving you the 13 megapixel camera, single D flash, loud speaker, AT&T, dfone logos.

Design is nothing special

The dfone X’s unassuming design is neither interesting or ugly, though the understated design aesthetic is noticed. ile there aren’t many phones in the world that can do what the dfone X can, it’s physical appearance isn’t what makes it interesting. th a footprint that’s almost as large as the G3, the design of the this phone leaves a lot to be desired.

Surprisingly nice software

Given the clunky hardware design of the dfone X, one might assume that it would share an equally disappointing software experience. That isn’t the case at all. Again, Asus goes with an understated design approach with the software, making it a nice, sometimes delightful experience.

ile some hset manufacturers have gone the extra mile to separate itself from the stard look feel of stock Android, Asus looks to have embraced it. This isn’t terribly surprising, given it’s some the same with its older products. It’s not without its own tweaked icons themes elements throughout, but if you’ve used Android before, there’s little thats keeping you from picking it up jumping right in with no worries.

I’m a sucker for a nice notification panel, as it’s something I look at many, many times a day. It’s easy to see the similarities between the Galaxy S5’s the dfone X’s, but it still looks rather nice, especially the quick settings menu.

Other nice software features come in the form of Reading Mode, which calibrates the otherwise cold tone of the display to warmer colors for reading.

Solid camera experience

In a nutshell, the dfone X takes some very nice photos. 13 megapixel cameras have seemingly become a stard in Android smartphones today, even with the likes of Samsung Sony bringing 16 20.7 megapixel shooters.

Asus has chosen to leave no stone unturned for its camera software, offering up a plethora of tweaks throughout. 

Features like beautification, smart remove, GIF animation offer up some nifty options for photos, with the expected HDR Night modes also available for photos. On the video recording front, the dfone X offers up High speed, Slow motion, e lapse modes. 

Battery offers the best of both worlds

As far as the phone itself goes, the dfone X’s 2300 mAh battery managed to squeeze out 7 hours of continuous HD video playback. en docked into the tablet shell, the extra 4,990 mAh battery can more than double use time. Another benefit of having the tablet dock with its own battery is that it will charge the phone at the same time if it’s in need of juice. 

A concept that needs more time to evolve

At the core, the idea of a hybrid between a phone a tablet is an interesting one, but the dfone X still needed to be on the drawing board a little longer. For the hardcore enthusiasts out there, it could be good enough in its final form, but for the general consumer, it misses the mark. 

rsonally, I’d need the dfone X to be significantly thinner to consider the purchase. Add to the fact that when the phone is dock, it doesn’t sit flush to a surface, it’s hard to recommend. Ideally, I’d like to see Sony take a stab at this type of product, given the sleekness it’s Xperia phone tablet lineup. 

In any case, the dfone X certainly has powerful internal hardware going on for it, but it’s overall design clunky form factor ultimately makes it less approachable.