At a glance, the Asus FonePad looks just like many of 7-inch Android tablets out there. However, this is one major difference. Almost all of those tablets run on ARM-based processor but the Asus FonePad is powered by an X86-based Intel Atom processor instead.

Revealed to the world at the recent Mobile World Congress, the Intel Atom Z2420 SoC processor that is equipped into the Asus FonePad is actually designed for smartphones in emerging markets and it is the same processor that powers the upcoming Acer Liquid C1 smartphone. So far, it is the only tablet that features the new processor.

Another highlight of the new Asus FonePad is its telephony ability. Users are able to answer and make calls through the tablet using the same posture as per normal phone. That being said, we have to say that doing that in public might attract some attention – both positive and outright negative. Additionally, folks that are in the market for LTE devices might have to look elsewhere as this tablet only supports up to HSPA+ connection.

Oh, hello there phone dialer. 

Other features that are packed into the tablet include Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800, 1.2-megapixels front-facing camera, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal storage and 4270mAh battery. The APAC version will also come with a 3-megapixels camera, complete with 720p HD video recording capability.

Listed at RM 774 (USD 249) during its launch at MWC, the tablet is rumored to arrive in Malaysia sometime in May 2013. For the meantime, click on the Read More link below to take a closer look at the new Asus FonePad.

There are only two buttons on Asus FonePad – power and volume rocker while the 3.5mm audio and micro-USB ports are located at the bottom part of the tablet.

Pop-up the top rear cover and you shall see the micro SIM as well as microSD card slots.

The tablet’s interface looks pretty vanilla which is not surprising though given that this particular unit is most probably still in pre-production state.

In case you didn’t know, we did a quick benchmark run on the unit using Epic Citadel. Check it out over here.

Yup, this how it looks like answering or making phone call with an Asus FonePad.