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Criteria
Comments
Rating
- Features Very little bloatware; simple and clean version of Android 4.0.3 out of the box. Great physical keyboard. Default software keyboard was terrible, unusable.
- Display This is no iPad Retina display but colours and detail are solid. It isn't as bright as the TF Prime's 600nits iPS+ display. The TF300 only offers 350nits.
- Battery life Not as good as my iPad. Keyboard battery life depletes a little too quickly for my liking.
- Ease of use Android's gotten a great deal better and Asus was smart to add little clutter and let the OS's native features shine through.
- Storage capacity I bought the 32GB model. Upgradable by Micro SD. There is also an SD slot on the keyboard attachment.
- Design and form factor The plastic feel of the tablet isn't too bad but the keyboard attachment really isn't sturdy. Being lighter than the tablet, it often tips over.
- Portability (size / weight) It is considerably heavier than the iPad and competing Android tablets.
- Durability Nothing's shaky or about to fall off, but I don't think it'll take much of a beating. Hard to keep even the matte body of the device fingerprint free.
Detailed review
A great, affordable Android tablet, with keyboard dock. Asus did a good job in keeping bloatware to a minimum and letting Android's native features shine through.
The physical keyboard attachment and trackpad work very well with the Android OS, making it one of the best netbooks I've ever used. This is just as well though as the software keyboard bundled with the system is virtually unusable and one of the worst I've seen. The keys are long and thin, forcing you to finger-type, instead of using it the way you would the iPad's software keyboard. I ended up buying and installing the tablet edition of the Thumb Keyboard, which has a full-sized mode that works better for natural typing.
I have some issues with the build quality of the keyboard attachment. The matte plastic does feel cheap and, even though not glossy, attracts fingerprints. It reminds me a lot of the HP Mini 1000. The tablet is also a great deal heavier than the keyboard, causing the device to tip over if you're using the device on a couch or bed. Even on a table, you have to avoid pushing the screen too far back.
I purchased this device because it was the only quad-core tablet available that came with ICS (Android 4.0) out of the box. It works well and would recommend it to another early adopter. To the rest, I'd recommend waiting for other devices with better build quality.
The physical keyboard attachment and trackpad work very well with the Android OS, making it one of the best netbooks I've ever used. This is just as well though as the software keyboard bundled with the system is virtually unusable and one of the worst I've seen. The keys are long and thin, forcing you to finger-type, instead of using it the way you would the iPad's software keyboard. I ended up buying and installing the tablet edition of the Thumb Keyboard, which has a full-sized mode that works better for natural typing.
I have some issues with the build quality of the keyboard attachment. The matte plastic does feel cheap and, even though not glossy, attracts fingerprints. It reminds me a lot of the HP Mini 1000. The tablet is also a great deal heavier than the keyboard, causing the device to tip over if you're using the device on a couch or bed. Even on a table, you have to avoid pushing the screen too far back.
I purchased this device because it was the only quad-core tablet available that came with ICS (Android 4.0) out of the box. It works well and would recommend it to another early adopter. To the rest, I'd recommend waiting for other devices with better build quality.
good review!
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