Asus Transformer Pad 300 Review

Introduction:

In the Android sphere, the Asus Transformer Prime is regarded by many as the best tablet, mainly because it flaunts some cutting-edge hardware and a killer industrial design. Well, if you prefer something a bit more easy on the wallet, you won’t need to look that far – that’s because the Asus Transformer Pad 300 catches our eyes with its $399.99 price point. With the $100 difference in price over its renowned sibling, we’re not getting a tablet that’s skimping out on the goods, as the Transformer Pad 300 still features a mighty quad-core processor under the hood.

Design:

For the most part, the Asus Transformer Pad 300 doesn’t deviate from previous offerings, as it continues to employ the same design principles akin to Asus’ line of tablets. Overall, it looks almost exactly like the Transformer Prime, but it utilizes a lower quality textured plastic casing (available in blue, red, and white). Although it manages to retain a very similar streamlined construction (0.39” thick), its weight has been bumped up to 635 grams. Despite its all-too conventional appearance, we’re comforted by its comfortable feel in the hand and solid construction.




Tucked in its usual spot above the display, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera is there for all our self-portrait snapshots and video chatting sessions.

Along the left edge of the tablet, we find a handful of things such the microphone, microSD slot, and volume control. Meanwhile, the only things found on the top side are the narrow sized power button and secondary microphone. All by its lonesome self, the tablet’s 3.5mm headset jack is found on the right side of the tablet. Lastly, the proprietary charging power and dock connection slots are lining the bottom portion.

Flip it around, there’s an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera that’s outlined with a chrome trim, while a narrow looking speaker grill is located not too far away.


Display:

After being mesmerized by the stunning displays found with the new iPad (3) and Asus Transformer Prime, we find ourselves just being content with the one on the Transformer Pad 300. Specifically, it features a 10.1” WXGA (1280 x 800) IPS display, which is actually the same one used by the original Eee Pad Transformer. By today’s standards, its resolution is common amongst 10-inch sized tablets – thus, allowing us to make out fine text with little issues. Moreover, since it’s an IPS panel that we’re talking about, it exhibits all the pleasing qualities we expect to find, like having good viewing angles, a high-contrast appearance, and neutral looking colors.

Interface and Functionality:

So what can we say about the experience? For starters, it’s actually the same one we already saw with the Transformer Prime, since it’s running a stock Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich experience out of the box. Knowing that, we’re treated with all of the wonderful features associated with the most up-to-date version of the platform – like access to the camera right from the lock screen. As much as some people will love the experience, especially with its wealth of personalization, it’s just beginning to be a bit boring as it lacks that fresh aspect.


Spacious by nature thanks to the 10.1-inches of real estate that we have to work with, there’s not much of a problem when it comes to typing messages with its on-screen keyboards – mainly because they’re responsive. Between the Asus and stock one, we actually prefer using the latter, since the Asus one feels more cramped, though, it employs some familiar Swype-like features.


There’s nothing out of the ordinary with the email experience on the Asus Transformer Pad 300, as we find that practical two-panel layout with both the Email and Gmail apps. Setup, as always is a painless process, since it only requires our email address and password.


Preloaded third-party apps are kept to a minimum with the tablet, as we only find apps like Amazon Kindle, Glowball, Polaris Office, and Zinio. For those cautious about what’s saved onto the tablet, you’ll be glad to know that 8GB of free cloud storage is available with the MyCloud app.

Processor and Memory:

Emphasizing the fact that it doesn’t skimp out with the muscle power, despite being priced $100 less than the indomitable Transformer Prime, there’s a quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor with 1GB of RAM found stuffed inside of the Transformer Pad 300. As we’ve come to expect and actually witness, it enables the tablet to move almost flawlessly with most operations, as it seems untested with processor intensive tasks. Putting it through the paces, it’s still able to maintain an instantaneous performance while navigating across the homescreen with a live wallpaper. For those of you that aren’t sold just yet, the benchmark results paint a story of why it’s still a speed demon on its own.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	NenaMark 2
Asus Trasnsformer Pad 300	3872	9551	47,1
Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1	2341	5167	20,6
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0)	2750	5144	30,2

In an era where 1080p video recordings can eat up storage quickly, we’re humble to find that the Asus Transformer Pad 300 is packing 32GB of internal storage – albeit, it’s technically 27.51GB out of the box. Nonetheless, it can be supplemented thanks to its microSD card slot.

Internet and Connectivity:

Knowing that it’s packing a powerful quad-core processor under the hood, we’re puzzled to find the web browsing performance to be less than stellar. Actually, we’re most annoyed by its randomized delayed response, as it seemingly comes and goes whenever it pleases. When it works find, we’re greeted with fluid navigational controls – even when Adobe Flash content is present. Conversely, when those bouts of delays chime in unexpectedly, we’re simply soured by the experience.


Being a Wi-Fi only model, it maintains a solid connection to a hotspot that’s located 30 feet away in another room. Thankfully, we didn’t experience any fluctuation or disconnects during our testing. In addition to Wi-Fi, it offers other connectivity features like aGPS and Bluetooth 3.0.

Camera:

With its 8-megapixel auto-focus camera, the Asus Transformer Pad 300 takes some pleasant macro and outdoor scenery shots that look good from a quick glance. However, its details are a bit too soft to allow us to crop or blow them up for printouts. Unfortunately, low lighting performance stutters tremendously, as we’re repulsed by its grainy appearance, heavy instances of noise, and bland colors. Naturally, it doesn’t help when it lacks a flash to counteract its deficiencies.



Nothing gets better in the 1080p video recording front, since it produces the same results as its still shot quality. Meaning, details appear to be muddy at times, but overall, it’s decent to use for situations when lighting is optimal. Oppositely, we can’t recommend using it for low lighting scenarios because the results are pretty horrendous with its prevalent artifacting, pixilated looks, and noise.

Asus Transformer Pad 300 Video Sample:



Multimedia:

Much like all other stock ICS tablets, we’re presented with that characteristic music player that’s been a staple with the platform since Honeycomb. Frankly, we’re still appeased by the nifty looking 3D carousel that it has to offer, even despite being a standard thing. As for the audio quality, it’s undoubtedly deafening at the loudest setting with a hint of strain, but brining it down a couple notches, combined with the correct equalizer settings, produces some pleasant tones.


Hardly a surprise, the Asus Transformer Pad 300 handles high definition videos with no fluff whatsoever. In fact, it’s able to maintain a steady rate of playback with our test video that’s encoded in DivX 1920 x 1080. It might not be as charming looking versus other top-shelf offerings, but heck, we’re content by it nonetheless.


Luckily, there’s a microHDMI port on the tablet that allows us to quickly and easily share multimedia content – while also enabling us to get a mirrored experience on a high-def television.

Performance:

Interestingly enough, even with its non-stop always on quad-core processor, we’re smitten by the battery life we’re able to get out of the Transformer Pad 300 on a full charge. Setting its brightness on automatic, it’s able to get us through two days of normal usage – so yeah, even heavy users will be pleased by it.

Conclusion:

Obviously, we like that the Asus Transformer Pad 300 boasts a price point that’s $100 less than the cream of the crop Transformer Prime – without sacrificing on the hardware. Frankly, many people will find some value in that, especially when it packs the same Android experience and quad-core processor as its fully equipped sibling. However, if money isn’t a concern with your budget, we’d still recommend picking up the Transformer Prime either way, primarily for its impeccable design, and the fact that it’s still the benchmark Android tablet to beat.

Software version of the reviewed unit:
Android Version: 4.0.3
Kernel Version: 2.6.39.4-00002-g29d1dfa
Build Number: IML74K.US_epad-9.4.3.26-20120416

Asus Transformer Pad 300 Review: