Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime review
Theimmediate follow-up question is usually a bit less thrilling: can it beat thereigning champion of Android tablets, the super-slim and light Samsung GalaxyTab 10.1?
We'llexplore both questions in depth, but for those whole don't like to wait aroundfor the punch line, we'll say that the super-thin and light Asus Eee PadTransformer Prime might just be the best tablet ever made.
Butfirst, the basics - in the UK, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime will go onsale in January 2012. There's only going to be one version over here, which isa 32GB SKU bundled with the keyboard,a charger, cleaning cloth, USB cable andearbuds.
Thisbundle will cost you £499, which is £70 more than the 16GB tablet-keyboardbundle that the original Eee Pad Transformer came in when it launched earlierin 2011.
Themost important spec on the new Transformer is the Nvidia Tegra 3 processor.Everything amazing about the Prime tablet rests on this quad-core, 1.3GHz chip.
HDvideos play smoother (and longer, with up to 12 hours of battery use for video)than ever before. Games suddenly look fluid and dynamic, with water rippleeffects, smoke, fog and explosions that mimic what you'd normally find in a PCgame.Asus eee pad transformer prime review
Thesuper-crisp IPS display, which is similar to the one used on the iPad 2, isrefreshingly easy on the eyes even in outdoor locations or with incandescentbulbs blazing around you.
Therear 8MP camera is a wonder of engineering. In several tests, HD videosrecorded at 1080p looked smooth and clear, unlike the grainier results from theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Even the 1.2MP front-facing camera worked well forvideo chats, without the typical fuzziness of other tablets.
TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime also includes a free intuitive Asus webstorageapp for offloading your files, and you can pop in a microSD card in a left-sideslot up to 32GB each.
Allof the typical connection options are here: Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, a3.5mm headphone jack on the right and a micro HDMI port (also on the left) forconnecting to an HD TV.
The263 x 180.8 x 8.3mm tablet is wider than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, althoughthe screen, at 1280 x 800p resolution and 10.1 inches, is the same size.
At586g, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is lighter than the iPad 2 but a touchheavier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, although nobody will notice a fewgrams.It'salso the thinnest tablet on the market today, bar none.
The25Wh lithium-polymer battery lasts for about nine hours on a charge for normaluse. Asus claims a battery life of 12 hours if you watch mostly videos, becauseof the way the Tegra 3 manages power.
Thetablet comes running Android 3.2 Honeycomb, but Asus says it's compatible withAndroid 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, if you wish to upgrade when the update becomesavailable next year.
Features
Wesaid up front that we will answer questions about whether the Asus Eee PadTransformer Prime beats the Apple iPad 2 and the leading Android tablet, theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Truth be told, some of the factors that will help youdecide between the three similar tablets are subtle, yet important.
Let'sstart with the hardware design. All three tablets look remarkably similar. Anuntrained eye wouldn't know the difference between them.
Turnthe Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime over on its back, and there's a silver backcover that looks much more durable than the white plastic back of the SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1 and grey back of the iPad 2. The front IPS screen, made withGorilla Glass, is also durable and sharp.There'sa proprietary charge port below the main horizontal screen on the Asus Eee PadTransformer Prime. This is the same port you use to pop the device into thelaptop dock.
Thereare two extra ports that secure the tablet to the dock, and when housed thatway, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime works reliably as a touchscreen laptop.
Thedock isn't ideal for long typing sessions, and matches the quality of otherlapdocks such as the one for the Motorola Atrix 2. In other words, they arefunctional and provide a mouse pad, quick access function keys, a USB port andan SD memory card slot. But otherwise it doesn't match the responsive typing ofa regular full notebook computer.
Someof the port covers on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime's dock are a bit hardto remove. For example, the one that covers the USB port might require someprying loose with a knife.
Overall,the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is easy to handle. It's wider than theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, so is easier to grip, with a slightly wider bezel. Butit seems a bit less portable for that reason as well.
Theback is metallic and durable, but not exactly scratch or smudge-resistant, aswe found out. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a bit more of a pick-up and gofeel to it only because the Asus is wider and felt just a hair wider andlonger.
Interface
Asuspacked some choice extras onto the Eee Pad Transformer Prime, but generallystuck to the basic Android 3.2 Honeycomb user interface. In fact, there arejust a few extra widgets for quickly reading your emails, seeing the weatherforecast and controlling music tracks.
There'sa goofy app called MyZine that automatically adds your photos into amagazine-like layout, but it has a limited purpose and might be the first oneyou drag to the trash.Thereare no extra app widgets like there are on the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet foradding favorites to an app wheel or an app launcher. Frankly, these additionsoffer a nebulous value beyond the stock operating system.
Asusused a slightly modified treatment for the bottom row of icons. There's a backbutton, a home button and a pop-up multitasking button that shows you open appsand enables you to switch between them. Here you can also click a small X thatshuts down any open app to save memory.
There'snot too much more to say about the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime's interface,because Asus kept things simple. There are no extra tools for storing apps likethere is on the Toshiba AT100 (known as the Toshiba Thrive in the US), but someof those enhancements don't really add to the value anyway. The simple coreAndroid OS makes the Prime easy to use.
Android Market and Apps
TheAndroid Market included on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime has been upgradedwith a new interface that is surpassingly easy to use. Following the lead ofthe well-designed HP TouchPad app store, there are panels with rich photos thatdraw your eye and make you want to purchase more apps. The new look also mimicsthe Windows Phone 7 look, in that it is image-centric to draw the eye.
Ofcourse, once you drill into the Market a bit you will realise that this glossymagazine-like front-end interface is just icing on the old cake - the Marketworks about the same as always. You can rent movies and television showsthrough the Market as you can on other recent tablets.
WhereAsus scores extra points is with the included apps. It has quite outdone itselffor this model.
First,there's a MyLibrary app for ebooks, magazines and newspapers. Then not quite asextensive as the Amazon Kindle Store (OK, far less extensive), the Asus @Vibestore, which is really just a portal to Versent Books, lets you buy majorbestsellers such as John Grisham's The Litigators.
Pricingis suspiciously the same as most Amazon Kindle store bestsellers. Some bookswere noticeably missing, including the latest Michael Lewis book calledBoomerang, which is featured prominently in the Kindle store.
Asus@Vibe Music is a welcome addition. With functionally similar to the GoogleMusic app, this music app works like Last.fm in that you can search for anartist and play their songs.
Each"station" lets you play random songs by that artist. The @Vibe storealso lets you play songs you have purchased from the Asusvibe.com store, aslong as you have used a supported Asus laptop or netbook.
AsusMyCloud is a handy cloud storage portal similar to Dropbox. You can use 2GB ofstorage for free, or pay about US$9 for three months of unlimited storage. Keepin mind, though, that the service limits file size to 500MB per file for thefree account.
Also,while the app lets you offload files to the cloud, you can also access files onone computer that is sharing files through the service.
TheAsus MyNet app works exactly like the Samsung Allshare service, in that you canset up a connection to and from another computer on the same router network toshare music, photos and videos. We tested the app with a Sony all-in-onedesktop PC and could easily share files between the tablet and the desktopcomputer.
TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime we tested also came pre-loaded with a wideselection of pre-release Tegra 3 games, including BladeSlinger, ShadowGun andDavinci THD. These titles will be available through an app portal called theTegraZone, and generally cost about the same as normal Android games.
Oneimportant point to make about gaming on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime isthat the games look astounding - the best we have seen on any tablet. ShadowGunin particular uses water effects that look ultra-realistic for a portabledevice (although nothing like, say, Battlefield 3 on a console).
Themost interesting comparison we discovered was between the Samsung Galaxy Tab10.1 and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime playing the same game, Riptide. Onthe Prime, the water effects were much more convincing, with waves flowing backand forth and whitecaps that change as you drive your jet ski.
Atthe same time, the Apple iPad 2 may not play games as smoothly, but there is amuch wider selection of games, and many are arguably more in-depth. Forexample, the gameplay for Infinity Blade II on the iPad 2 is far more advanced,with magic ring power-ups, duel-wielding options and collectible gems.
Manyof the games on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime are more like visual effectsdemos, with limited gameplay value.
Office
TheTransformer Prime also includes the Polaris Office app for opening and editingword processing and spreadsheet documents. It's completely compatible withMicrosoft Office.
Theapp does add value, especially since competing office apps like Openoffice cost£9.99 or more.
Screen
The1280 x 800 resolution, 10.1-inch screen on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Primeis sharp and easy to read.
Wehad no complaints reading an entire ebook on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Primeand browsing dozens of websites. Finger swipes and presses registeredaccurately, and typing was fast and responsive.
Asuschose to use a Super IPS display for the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, andthere are pros and cons with this.
TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is not as bright, colourful, or crisp as theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, so if you plan to watch movies and view photosroutinely, the Samsung is the better tablet.
Incomparing the exact same videos and photos on both devices, the Asus Eee PadTransformer Prime has a slightly dull and washed out look. The Apple iPad 2looks marginally better than the Prime (they both use IPS displays) but not asvivid as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.Clearly,Asus decided to make functionality a higher priority than superior colourreproduction.
TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime works better than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 ina variety of lighting conditions. There's even a super-bright outdoor mode thatmakes the display easier to read.
Thereis much less glare on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime than the SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1, which means the screen works better, for reading emails and booksand for browsing the web.
Unlikesome recent tablets, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime doesn't use hapticfeedback for the keyboard or for any parts of the touchscreen. Presumably thisis a trade-off with the IPS screen tech that makes it easier to view the tabletfrom an angle or to view the screen in bright sunlight or by a lamp.Itdidn't hamper the experience of using the tablet, though some users might findthat haptic feedback on other tablets gives you a tactile sense that the tablethas registered your finger press.
Onesurprise is that the screen uses an oleophobic fingerprint-resistant coating.Even more surprising is that it actually works. The chemical agent reducedgrime and finger print build-up. We found that movie-watching was moreenjoyable when there wasn't a thin residue coating parts of the screen.
Usability
Thethinnest Android tablet on the market, but can it beat the iPad 2?
OurScore 4.5
TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is one of the most user-friendly tablets we'vetested, and matches up easily with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Apple iPad 2in terms of portability, user interface and media playback.
Betweenthe three tablets, the only major difference is that the Asus Eee PadTransformer Prime is just a little wider and longer, even though the screensare all the same size. That's not a negative pronouncement, and in fact meansthe Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a bit easier to grasp for long webbrowsing sessions or for watching movies.Theoriginal Asus Eee Pad Transformer felt bulky, overly thick and designed from abygone age of Windows slates.
Asusskipped any dramatic interface enhancements and sticks to the basic Android3.2.1 Honeycomb user interface. That means three buttons for navigating back,home, and to a pop-up app list on the lower left.
Thenewly designed pop-up menu on the lower left (which shows a taskbar for time,app downloads and open apps) is a pleasant departure, though. You can quicklysee the Wi-Fi network you are using, your battery level and access settings.
Thereare three icons you can use to set the power level - eco mode, balanced andperformance. You can also enable screen rotation, check Wi-Fi level and enableBluetooth connections. There's an option for setting the brightness level, orusing auto, and enabling the outdoor brightness.
Otherwise,this pop-up then shows notifications about recent downloads, schedule remindersand email alerts. You can also view Gmail chat messages here. In general, thenew design for this pop-up works remarkably well for controlling basicfunctions on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. The pop-up is well-designed aswell.Onegripe, though, has to do with accessories. Sure, there is a lapdock included asa bundle for the UK version. However, the Apple iPad 2 offers many more choicesfor docking stations, covers, cases and even microphones you plug into the30-pin connector.
Theoriginal Asus Eee Pad Transformer didn't become iconic in the sense thathardware accessory companies started making add-on devices for it. The Asus EeePad Transformer Prime may catch on, but we doubt it will develop the widespreadthird-party support that the iPad 2 enjoys, or even come close.
Thekeyboard dock is helpful for a few purposes, though. For one, it adds another 8hours to the total battery life (the dock itself can take a charge, and thencharge the tablet.) The dock has a USB port and an SD port. Measuring 263 x180.8 x 8 to 10.4mm, and weighing 537 grams, the dock is small enough to fitinto a laptop bag, but is like carrying another tablet around all day.
Andthen there is the quality of the keyboard. If you've used a netbook before, youalready know what this dock is like – typing speed suffers from the slightlycramped confines of the lapdock, but you get used to it after a while and it'sstill easier than typing on the screen.
Thereare dedicated keys for changing brightness level, volume, and wireless, whichmakes it easier to control the tablet. When docked, you can use the mousepad orfinger input on the tab. One helpful software change would have been to disablethe mousepad when you type because the small size of the keyboard makes it easyto inadvertently brush the mousepad. In a pinch, the keyboard helps you type uplonger docs but it in no way competes with a full notebook keyboard.Battery life
Forbattery life, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime lasted about nine hours on acharge but of course with the extra 8 hours provided by the keyboard dock,that's a battery span of 17 hours which is phenomenal.
Media
Thethinnest Android tablet on the market, but can it beat the iPad 2?
Ourfirst experience with media files was a bit of a letdown. We download the movieConanthrough the Android Market and were greeted by an error message. Asus saidit must be a Google problem, but the same file and same Android version on theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 worked fine.
Otherwise,all of our media tests were blazingly fast, smooth and played without anyproblems. One of the most impressive tests was for the Battleship trailer,which used a high frame rate, looked colourful and clear, and played in full1080p resolution. Every video we tested played smooth and fast.
Musicplayback on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime also worked reliably and soundquality was excellent.
Likemost tablets, the speaker on the Prime isn't exactly state-of-the-art quality,and is only serviceable in a pinch when you absolutely can't use headphones.Yes that is just the one speaker, instead of the two speakers we saw on theside of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Thatsaid, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is just a bit louder than both theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Apple iPad 2 when we cranked up the volume,even if the sound quality wasn't that great and sounded a bit distorted attimes.
Notablet on the market has really exceptional sound, though, and the Asus Eee PadTransformer Prime is in the same league.
Wetested both H.264 movie files and those encoded as MPEG as they workedsmoothly. This tablet does not support Quicktime, but the Tegra 3 does supportH.264 1080p30/60i (HP @ 40Mbps), VC1-AP 1080p30, MPEG2 1080p30/60i, MPEG41080p/30, DivX 4/5/6 1080p30, XviD HT 1080p30, H.263 4CIF/30, Theora, and VP8720p30.
Audiofiles like MP3 and AAC played without any problems. For audio, the Tegra 3supports AAC-LC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, MP3 VBR, WAV/PCM, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, BSAC,MPEG-2 Audio, Vorbis, WMA 9, WMA, Lossless, WMA Pro, G.729a, G.711, QCELP,EVRC.
Camera
Photoswe took with the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime looked clear and colourful.
In afew cases, the colours weren't as vivid as those taken with the Samsung GalaxyTab 10.1, but they were always sharper than the somewhat blurry images we tookwith the Apple iPad 2. All three tablets were used for the same photocomparisons below.Asusdoesn't offer any extended features for taking photos on the Eee PadTransformer Prime, but you can change basic settings such as white balance andchoose from a few scene modes including Indoors or Night.
Noneof the settings really add to the value of the camera or compete with a morepowerful smartphone or digital camera. Photos, like the Asus Eee PadTransformer Prime's screen, tended to look a bit washed out but still useable.
TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime has a much faster shutter release than theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. However, the focus wasn't always as reliable. TheSamsung tablet tends to focus slowly, but the results are sharper Asus.
Oneinitial complaint when shooting video with the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Primewas that, when we recorded a 1080p video with the tablet, we noticed a fewstuttering problems during recording. But playback of this file was smooth anddidn't have any stuttering.
Asusrecommended we try again without any apps running in the background, and thetest recording didn't stutter at all when doing this, with smooth-as-butterplayback.
Recordedvideos also looked super-crisp, which is an important finding compared to theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which tends to film grainy and almost unusable videos.As itstands, no tablet is ideal for shooting photos or recording video, because youcan't hold the device in a way that makes it easy to capture stills or video -there is often a shaky-cam look no matter how you hold them. The Asus Eee PadTransformer Prime is no different, although the somewhat more rigid design andwider bezel makes it a hair easier to grip.
Inone case, while shooting a video, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime suddenlywent in and out of focus sporadically, trying to focus on the subject. Theproblem never happened again, though.
Isthere any reason not to rush right out and get the Asus Eee Pad TransformerPrime when it starts shipping in January?
Notreally. The Prime is an outstanding Android 3.2 tablet.
It isalso the first tablet to use the Nvidia Tegra 3 processor for faster gaming,better movie playback, and long battery life.TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is light and thin, with a durable design thatwill withstand a few spills, and even a drop or two. The device uses anunderstated slim design with a metallic back cover that seems durable.
Theincluded Asus first-party apps add to the value: they enable you to store filesin the cloud, buy music and books, and stream content from a desktop or laptopcomputer on the same network.
Thetwo major reasons we would avoid this model are relatively minor.
Oneis that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 does have a brighter, more colourfulscreen. Games and movies tend to pop off the screen in a more vivid way thanthey do on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. This is a trade-off though,because the Prime is also easier to view in direct light or from a side angle.
That'sall well and good, but the Apple iPad 2 is still a better choice if you preferquality apps that offer unique features. For example, many of the games on theiPad are superior to the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime in terms of gameplayoptions and variety.
We liked
Morethan any other spec, we liked the Tegra 3 processor on this tablet. It's fastand nimble, pumping new life into apps we've used for the past nine months andspeeding up the operating system overall. HD movies played smooth and fast,without the typical stuttering (for the most part) of other tablets.
TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is one light and thin tablet. In fact, it's thethinnest tablet available. Any thinner and we'd start wondering aboutdurability.
Batterylife was good, at about nine hours, and video playback lasts up to 12 hours.
Gameswere visually superior to every other tablet. Smoke and water effects lookedconvincing, and frame rates were exceptionally high. Most apps ran faster thanwe've seen on any other Android tablet, without any stuttering, memory pauses,or crashes of any kind.
Thelapdock, which is included in a bundle for the UK and sold separately in theUS, is a smart addition. It turns the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime into anotebook for typing longer documents in a pinch, and has a built-in mouse padand USB port.We disliked
We'refans of the IPS display tech, because it means getting more use out of tabletsin a variety of lighting conditions and at a side viewing angle, but the AsusEee Pad Transformer Prime's screen is still just slightly less colourful thanthe Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Totest this theory, we asked various people in the office to give us their firstresponse to the same photo on both tablets, and everyone said they preferredthe Samsung's screen.
There'salso still a lingering question about apps compared to those available for theiPad 2. We just can't get around the fact that the iPad has superior apps - onecalled Djay that works like a real DJ turntable, the Apple first-party appssuch as GarageBand and Keynote, games such as Infinity Blade II that offer deepergameplay and so on.
Asuscan't do too much about this problem, but if you want to have the best apps fora tablet, the iPad 2 is a better choice.
Ofcourse, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime won't attract nearly as manythird-party hardware companies to make add-ons for the device, even if Asusdoes offer a handy lapdock accessory. That's not a ding against the Transformerper se, but a praise for how popular the iPad has become.Cameraand video quality were good, but we ran into a few snags here and there. Theresulting photos were usually sharp and focused, but not as colourful as thosetaken with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Finalverdict
There'sa nagging sense with the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime that holds us back fromdeclaring a sweeping victory compared to the Apple iPad 2 and the SamsungGalaxy Tab 10.1.
Overall,when you consider the specs, we know the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is thebetter tablet. For hardcore tech enthusiasts, this is the tablet you want,because it has the latest next-gen processor and supports true HD movierecording and playback.
Forthe masses, and just for the overall top spot in the tablet market, the AsusEee Pad Transformer Prime can't compete with the iPad 2 for app selection andquality.
Andwe have to give the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 the nod for a superior screen.That's hugely important: the screen is what you look at all day.TheAsus Eee Pad Transformer Prime is faster than any tablet, and matches theSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Apple iPad 2 for size and weight.
Butwe can't quite declare the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime the winner overall.The iPad 2 still has that honour.
ForAndroid tablets, we'll say that the faster, lighter Asus Eee Pad TransformerPrime ties with the excellent-screened Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
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