AT&T has announced pre-orders beginning June 6 for the critical darling hybrid gadget, the ASUS PadFone X. Here's a look at the tablet/smartphone mashup, which is an AT&T exclusive for a no-money-down pre-order, online and in stores.

"We are proud to add the innovative ASUS PadFone X to AT&T's leading device portfolio," said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president of devices for AT&T in the company's news release. "PadFone X provides tremendous value and flexibility to consumers. It combines a powerful smartphone with a 9-inch PadFone station and runs on the network that covers more than 99 percent of all Americans."

The PadFone X was announced by AT&T and ASUS back in January, and fans of innovative hybrid devices in the U.S. have been hotly anticipating a chance to get their hands on it. The several versions of the ASUS PadFone have been available outside the U.S. so far, and the devices have largely won critical acclaim.

The PadFone X is basically both a smartphone and a tablet in one. But unlike "phablets" like the Samsung Galaxy Note series, HTC's "Max" variants and others, ASUS's PadFone X doesn't try to simply cram tablet features and a larger screen onto your smartphone.

Instead, the PadFone X has a 5-inch full HD screen (1080p) with top-of-the-line smartphone features like a 13-megapixel camera and a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 2.3GHz chip. But the PadFone X smartphone component slides into the back of a tablet-sized device with a 9-inch 1900 x 1200p screen, which ASUS calls the PadFone Station, to seamlessly become a tablet.

It's an answer to a problem device manufacturers have been trying to conquer for a while now: People want their smartphones to not be too bulky, and they like tablets too, but they'd like the smartphone and tablet to seamlessly integrate with each other. Even with sharing linked accounts on Android or Apple phones and tablets, you still have a transition to make (syncing and updating) in order to continue your work from one device to the other. And, of course, while your Google-connected apps or Office 365 account will keep current between two different devices, there are going to be other parts of the smartphone experience and services that don't translate as quickly and seamlessly -- the tablet/smartphone sync is almost always incomplete. And, if you want cellular data service with your tablet as well, most carriers require an extra charge or a completely different data account.

But not with ASUS's PadFone X, which decided to avoid the account linking, syncing, and data allotment hassles by just making a tablet and smartphone fit together -- physically. Dock your PadFone X into the station, and that's it. You can go right on with what you were doing on your smartphone, but with a tablet. The only disadvantage with ASUS's system is that the combined tablet is heavier than stand-alones, weighing almost a pound and a half (which only makes sense).

There are other advantages to a physically-linked smartphone/tablet combination. For one, while the PadFone X has a capable 2300 mAh battery (it's also got wireless charging capabilities), the PadFone Station has a 4990 mAh battery that can also charge your smartphone when docked.

Not hybrid-crazy enough for you? The PadFone X also has an optional Mobile Dock with a Bluetooth 3.0 keyboard and touchpad to make your docked PadFone smartphone/tablet hybrid into something closer to a Surface-style tablet/laptop hybrid. As we previously mentioned, while U.S. companies are still babystepping into the hybrid device space, ASUS has gone full steam ahead, offering several different iterations of laptop/tablet/smartphone hybrid devices, though many of those devices haven't been available in the U.S. so far.

AT&T's PadFone X offering is one of ASUS's first major entries into the U.S. market, besides being the manufacturer for Google's (also acclaimed) Nexus 7 tablet. With a zero down or no contract pre-order offering by AT&T, which is also available for $22.92 per month with AT&T Next 18 or $29.80 with AT&T Next 12 (18 or 12 month terms) -- and only $199 on a two-year contract -- ASUS is now getting a strong start.

Pre-orders will open on June 6 at AT&T online.

Specs

Display:

Super IPS+ LCD with 1080p Full HD (phone), IPS LCD with 1920 x 1200p (Station)

Cameras:

13 Megapixel, LED Flash, Autofocus, 1080p video @ 30fps

2 Megapixel front-facing (also on PadFone Station), 1080p video @ 30fps

OS:

Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Memory:

16 GB internal, microSD expansion of 64 GB

2GB RAM

Connectivity:

LTE, HSDPA, Dual-band WiFi, NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, microUSB, FM Radio