We go hands-on with Asus’ recently announced Transformer Book V!
Every time COMPUTEX rolls around, ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih manages to surprise us with a product that’s so different to all the other devices that other companies you have no other choice but to stop and look. This year, it’s the company’s Transformer Book V, a gadget that blurs the line between tablet, smartphone and notebook.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to keep in mind that the Transformer Book V is still in development. While the company has managed to nail down the general look and feel of the product, ASUS reps told us that there’s still room in improvement both in the externals and internals of the device.
Aesthetically, the Transformer Book V diverges a bit from the design of other Asus notebooks. The lid of the Transformer Book V is a bit thick, which is mainly because of the dock for the phone. Without the phone attached to the lid of the device, the Transformer Book V isn’t the prettiest device around because there’s an obvious gaping hole where the phone attaches to. It’s not a major real breaker, but it’ not the nicest looking thing either.
When you attach the phone to the back of the Transformer Book V, you’re able to access the contents of the smartphone from your Windows desktop. In our hands-on, there was an emulated image of the smartphone’s Android display on the desktop, which gives you full access to your smartphone and its content. With the phone attached, there’s a button on the keyboard that allows you to switch to Android mode if you feel like it.
When you take out the 12.5-inch display of the Transformer Book V from the keyboard, it transforms into a 12.5-inch Windows tablet. Attach the Android-powered smartphone, and it transforms into an Android tablet.
All of the important bits for both the Android and Windows component for the Transformer Book V are located in the smartphone and the lid, respectively. Unlike Asus’ other Transformer products, the keyboard of the Transformer Book V does not have a battery in it, only additional storage.
As far as specs go, Asus hasn’t really released anything about the processor of the Windows tablet component, though they did say that it will at least have 4GB of RAM and a battery that will provide at least 10 hours of usable battery life. On the phone side of the equation, you’re looking at a 5-inch display that’s powered by Intel’s latest 64-bit quad-core Atom processor (Moorefield) with LTE and 2GB of RAM, packed with a 2500mAh battery. Camera optics are what you’d expect, rear 8-megapixel camera complimented with a 2-megapixel front camera.
With everything installed, the Transformer Book V is a bit hefty, which is understandable considering everything that’s inside it. We do think that the phone component of the device is too thick – hopefully the company will revise the design of the smartphone to something that closely resembles the design of the ZenFone.
