Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10 Review

Name: Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10
Brand: Asus

By John Velasco

Updated: Oct 07, 2013, 2:37 AM

7comments

Android Tablets

Introduction:

Never afraid to experiment with different form factors and styles, we’ve seen Taiwan based manufacturer Asus frequently delivering a wide range of tablets that fit different lifestyles and models. At one extreme, they’re renowned for coming to up with fantastic and memorable slates like the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, while on the other, they never shy away from going with something more modest – like the Asus Transformer Pad 300. Going back to the latter premise, the recently available 10.1-inch slate in the Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10 aims to win over people with its ample hardware and affordable price point.

The package contains:

microUSB cable
Wall Charger
Quick Start Guide
Product Safety and Warranty Guide

Design:

By no means is the MeMO Pad Smart 10 a premium slate, especially when you factor in its average price point of $300, since its design language follows similarly to what we’ve seen in the Transformer Pad 300 already. Employing a 9.9mm thin all-plastic casing, which strangely gets dirtied very easily, we’re humbled by its light weight (580 gr) and rounded edges – making it very comfortable to grasp with both hands. Overall, it chooses to stick with a cookie cutter approach with its design, which makes it all too conventional, but at least it doesn’t entirely come off as being cheapo.

Much like the other Android slates from its stable, the MeMO Pad Smart 10 maintains a very clean appearance on the surface, as the only thing evident from up front are the “Asus” logo and front-facing 1.2-megapixel camera.

Around the edges of the tablet, we’re thankful to know that it doesn’t skimp out on the usual ports that are typically akin to higher end models – like its microSD card slot and microHDMI port. In addition, we spot its tactile and distinctive power button and volume control, microphone, 3.5mm headset jack, and microUSB port for charging/data connectivity.

Flipping it onto its back, there’s a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera there enabled for 1080p video recording, but lacks an LED flash. Along the left and right edges, the tablet’s left/right speaker grills are slightly recessed – giving it stereo output.

Display:

Indeed, it’s not something galvanizing amongst other things, but the 10.1-inch WXGA 1280 x 800 IPS LCD panel of the MeMO Pad Smart 10 is still pleasant enough to accept. For most people viewing the tablet from a normal distance, they shouldn’t find much trouble making out certain things – and that’s despite having a pixel density of 149 ppi. On the color reproduction side, it lacks the delicious iridescent tones seen with other panels, but at least it doesn’t exhibit too much distortion, which is attributed to its 170-degree wide viewing angles. Using it outdoors though, we find the need to shield it from the sun in order to view things properly. All in all, we’re totally not blown away by it, of course, but like we said, it’s ample enough for us to like.

Interface and Functionality:

Peering at the software running on the Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10, it’s nothing more than the usual fanfare we’ve been seeing with other recent Android slates from Asus. Running a mostly stock Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean experience, the typical stock experience is broken up by Asus’ set of specific widgets. Beyond that, there isn’t anything entirely new with this fella, but it at least adheres to the foundational properties we’re familiar with Android as a whole – so there’s plenty of personalization with it.

Checking out the tablet’s organizer apps, they stick firmly to provide us with the stock experience – so there’s no change with their layouts and functions. Out of the box, there isn’t a whole lot of bloatware found with it, but the few third party apps worth noting that are preloaded include Amazon Kindle, PinPal, MyBitCast, Press Reader, and Zinio.

When it comes to email, we’re quite productive in using the standard Email and Gmail apps that are staples within the platform. Unfortunately though, the messaging experience proves to be a challenging one – even with this spacious 10.1-inch tablet. Specifically, it’s the cramped nature of the on-screen keyboard that makes it tough. Sure, we appreciate that a row is dedicated to numbers, but the compromise is made in having a more cramped layout.

Processor and Memory:

By no means is it a slouch, but quad-cores are increasingly cropping up in the entry-level segment nowadays. Armed with a quad-core 1.2GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM, the hardware tandem is effective enough to offer us a likeable performance, but it’s still not without its faults. In fact, it doesn’t surprise us to find occasions when sluggishness creeps in with more processor intensive tasks, but as a whole, it’s never to the point downright unusable.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	NenaMark 2
*Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10*	3281	12457	56,8
*Asus Transformer Pad 300*	3872	9551	47,1
*Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1)*	2711	4995	18,7
*Sony Xperia Tablet S*	4231	11543	57,3

Out of the box, the 16GB of internal storage actually translates into 11.7GB of free memory, which should be a sufficient tally. Always putting a smile on our face, it’s nice to see that there’s a useful microSD card slot to supplement its capacity.

Internet and Connectivity:

Knowing what’s running under the hood, it doesn’t shock us to find the Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10 is quite effective in the web browsing department. In general, its smooth performance is consistent with page loads, rendering, and navigational controls. Moreover, it doesn’t strain under the pressure with sites that are more demanding with multimedia content.

Camera:

Brandishing a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera in its rear, it’s simply there as a last resort option to capture the moment. Sure, we’d be hard pressed to use the Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10, but nevertheless, it somehow manages to get the job done with its average results. Frankly, it’s not the sharpest with its quality, as its handling of dynamic range isn’t perfect, but for what it delivers in the end, some people will still appreciate it.

Likewise, we can’t mock its 1080p video recording quality, seeing that it produces very pleasing ones that beat out even some respectable tablets on the market. In reality, there’s a lot to like about its quality, seeing that we’re treated to average details, gradual exposure, clear audio recording, and a neutral color reproduction. Well, the only minor distraction is the light amount of artifacting that’s seen when panning. Aside from that, we can’t complain!

Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10 Sample Video:

Multimedia:

Relying on the usual Google Play Music app, there’s nothing different about the experience. Pumping out tunes through its two speaker, we can certainly say that its output reverbs strongly – at the expense of some strain though. However, we’re better able to enhance its quality by selecting the appropriate option with Asus’ AudioWizard settings.

Even though our eyes aren’t totally wowed by its display, the tablet is nevertheless decent enough to run high definition videos without much fluff. On top of that, it has support for a video array of video codecs out of the box to please movie buffs.

Battery:

Setting it to automatic brightness and lightly using the tablet mostly for surfing the web and reading emails, we’re able to get at least 1.5 days of usage from a full battery charge. Although it’s not ground breaking per se, it’s ample enough to get us through most working days without the fear of it being depleted.

Conclusion:

In all fairness, the Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10 is a wonderful option if you’re on a tight budget for a 10” tablet; It has enough of a well-rounded performance to propel it over other comparable models, and the $300 price point that’s attached to it is absolutely dreamy for something that’s targeting the full-sized tablet segment of the market, which is undeniably competitive in many aspects. Frankly speaking, the MeMO Pad Smart 10 might not be blessed with the same notoriety as some of the other renowned models that Asus is known to concoct, but heck, it’s undoubtedly a good option for consumers who don’t want to shell out a whole lot on a very GOOD performing tablet.

Software version of the review unit:
Android Version: 4.1.1
Build Number: JRO03C
Kernel Version: 3.1.10-00007

Asus MeMO Pad Smart 10 Video Review: