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  • Introduction

  • Front

  • Back

  • Sides

  • Size Comparisons

  • In the Box

  • Handling

  • Screen

  • Indoor & Outdoor Use

  • Controls

  • Connectivity

  • Battery Life

  • Reading Books

  • Buying Books

  • eBook Formats

  • Newspapers & Magazines

  • eBook Battery Life

  • Music & Audio Controls

  • Music & Audio Management

  • Music & Audio Formats

  • Music & Audio Battery Life

  • Video Controls

  • Video Management

  • Video Formats

  • Internet Video

  • Video Battery Life

  • Email

  • Web Browsing

  • Internet Apps

  • Other Internet Features

  • Device & Specs

  • Screen

  • Battery

  • eReader

  • Internet

  • Device & Specs

  • Screen

  • Battery

  • eReader

  • Internet

  • Device & Specs

  • Screen

  • Battery

  • eReader

  • Internet

  • Conclusion

  • Introduction
  • Front
  • Back
  • Sides
  • Size Comparisons
  • In the Box
  • Handling
  • Screen
  • Indoor & Outdoor Use
  • Controls
  • Connectivity
  • Battery Life
  • Reading Books
  • Buying Books
  • eBook Formats
  • Newspapers & Magazines
  • eBook Battery Life
  • Music & Audio Controls
  • Music & Audio Management
  • Music & Audio Formats
  • Music & Audio Battery Life
  • Video Controls
  • Video Management
  • Video Formats
  • Internet Video
  • Video Battery Life
  • Email
  • Web Browsing
  • Internet Apps
  • Other Internet Features
  • Device & Specs
  • Screen
  • Battery
  • eReader
  • Internet
  • Device & Specs
  • Screen
  • Battery
  • eReader
  • Internet
  • Device & Specs
  • Screen
  • Battery
  • eReader
  • Internet
  • Conclusion

Introduction

Front

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Back

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Sides

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Size Comparisons

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In the Box

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Included in the packaging for the {{product.name}} is a USB cable, a wall charger, and assorted documentation.

Handling

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Because of its large size, for most people the {{product.name}} will feel a bit clunky in their hands, and the weight of the {{product.model}} will quickly tire you if you only hold it with one hand. The balance when held at extremes is also a bit bad due to the weight distribution of the tablet. We can see why the optional keyboard accessory to make this tablet more of a laptop is popular.

Screen

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The {{product.name}} is built around an 8.5 x 5.325 inch IPS display with a capacitive touchscreen that serves as the main interface of the {{product.model}}. The screen is very responsive and easy to use as a control interface, and is very accurate. While the backlight doesn't seem to impress, keep in mind that tablets are a strange sort of device that has to balance power efficiency with the need to have an unreasonably bright display for outdoor viewing, so many of the larger screens top out at ~350cd/m2 as a compromise measure.

Indoor & Outdoor Use

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Because the screen of the {{product.name}} is so reflective, and the screen somewhat on the dim side for a tablet, outdoor use of the {{product.model}} is probably going to be fairly frustrating. Typically, we see that LCD screens on tablets don't fare so well outdoors because they need a strong backlight for their picture to be shown, and that backlight is often overpowered easily by ambient daylight or even direct sunlight.

Controls

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Because there are only physical controls for volume and power, the rest of the controls are all accessed via the capacitive touchscreen. Because of this, though a failure of the screen would be disastrous, the controls are all intuitive, and based on the very well-polished Android mold. The multiouch capability and natural-feeling layout should satisfy anyone looking for controls similar to the iPad.

The controls on the top right side of the iPad body: volume, lock and power.

Connectivity

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This is the section we've been waiting to write, because honestly, the connectivity is the coolest thing about the {{product.name}}. It's not the HDMI port, or the fact that with accessories you can extend the battery life and give the {{product.model}} a keyboard, or that it has an easily accessible microSD card slot. No, possibly the best thing about the {{product.name}} is that you can stream content over your local area network to your TV, PC or other viewing station. Very cool.

Here we see a Lightning dock in its natural habitat.

As previously mentioned, you can also employ the {{product.name}}'s HDMI port to export video or other media to your TV. You can also load up a microSD card with media you'd like to take with you, or even connect bluetooth devices. This tablet has few shortcomings, and connectivity is not one of them.

Battery Life

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The battery life of the {{product.name}} is humdrum at best, clocking in at ~6 hours watching video or eReading with all other applications, WiFi, and location services turned off, and the backlight cranked to maximum. That being said, your mileage may vary by altering the settings, as enabled WiFi will truncate your battery life, and turning the backlight down might make it last a bit longer.

Reading Books

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Because the Android market gives you access to jsut about any eReader software you'd like, you don't have to compromise or accept what's given to you on your machine. If you'd rather use the Kindle app, or the Nook app, or really any other application, you can; nothing's stopping you. If you decide to load up the market-leading Kindle app, you'll find that you get very much the same experience reading an eBook as you would on any other 10-inch Android tablet.

The iBooks program offers a range of controls for font and text size

For the Kindle app, you can tap or swipe your finger to turn pages, change font size or even background color. Should you find that some of your eBooks are in the incorrect format, you can always convert them on your mac or PC, or you can simply download an app which will work with them.

Buying Books

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Buying books with the major eBook reader applications is very simple. Once you've created an account with the appropriate vendor complete with billing information, you can search their main bookstore page, and tap "buy" to purchase your eBook. After you've done that, the title will begin downloading via the 802.11/n wireless connection.

Books can be purchased on the iPad through the iTunes store

eBook Formats

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Because the {{product.name}} is a Google-blessed Android device with full access to the Android market, eBook formats are limited only by whichever applications you download to read them. Though the tablet comes with only Google Books and Zinio Reader pre-loaded onto the device, those applications are versatile enough on their own for the casual reader. Out of the box, the {{product.name}} supports EPUB, PDF, and TXT files.

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Newspapers & Magazines

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Much like eBooks, you can buy periodicals through the eBook stores you decide to frequent via their apps. Also possible is to set up the native app, the Zinio Reader, to manage your subscriptions, but keep in mind that some can be had for cheaper by using the Kindle app or the Nook app. The same controls as eBook reading come into play here as well.

The New York Times is available on the iPad through their own app

eBook Battery Life

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Music & Audio Controls

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The {{product.name}} has the very same music player native to most Android-running tablets, which is a good thing. The basic controls are laid out to be easily seen, and the scrub bar is responsive. If you're looking to create a playlist, you can easily do so from the main audio screen.

The iPod app shows the cover art while playing music

Music & Audio Management

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There are several options to sort your music on the {{product.name}}, including a touch-responsive cover flow, or list format. While it may take a little getting used to, the sorting options are intuitive. If you notice that some files are missing that should be there, try checking to see if they're of a supported format.

Audio files can be sorted by title, artist, album, genre or composer

Music & Audio Formats

Music & Audio Battery Life

Video Controls

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The video controls for the {{product.name}} are the same as they are on many other Android 3 tablets, very much resembling the audio controls, except for the fact that they disappear after a second or two of the user not fiddling with them. On the bottom of the screen is a play/pause button and a scrub bar, allowing you decent control of audio playback.

Video Management

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Videos are managed through the "gallery" function on the apps page, allowing you to tap and browse through your pictures and video. Nothing too exciting here, but it does work fairly well for those looking for specific files on the go.

The gallery is used to navigate videos, and only offers thumbnails

Video Formats

Internet Video

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One of the more rewarding things about having a Google-blessed Android tablet is the access they have to the myriad of Google applications and services. Probably the highest-profile service, YouTube, comes installed on the machine right from the first time you start the machine up, allowing you to stream your favorite video clips straight from the web. Should you want to expand your horizons, there are competing apps in the market, and the {{product.name}}'s support of flash allows them to run without any additional software downloads or rooting your machine.

Video Battery Life

Email

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Included in the Android 3.2 OS is a Gmail application, as well as another email client for POP/IMAP inboxes if you choose to manage them outside of your browser. Both interfaces are well-laid out, allowing you to read incoming emails, or compose and send your own. It does waste quite a bit of white space, though, and you really don't need that kind of screen area for many of the functions, but we've yet to see a client on a 10-inch screen that we're fans of aesthetically speaking.

The iPad email app is basic, but adequate for most users

Web Browsing

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Browsing the web on the {{product.name}} is about as simple a process as you can ask for on a tablet, as Android 3's browser is very minimalistic and streamlined, while retaining many of the more popular features like bookmarking and recording page history. In addition, the {{product.name}} supports flash (while Apple still has yet to embrace the ubiquitous file format), and allows you almost unfettered access to popular online media.

The iPad boasts a fully featured Safari web browser

Internet Apps

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Because the {{product.name}} runs on an iteration of Android 3 (upgradeable to 4.x), it has unlimited access to the Android Market, one of the top contenders in the portable device app markets today. While some maintain the fanboyish fantasy that Apps are largely "Apple or nothing," Google has recently made a strong case for respect in this field, as its market is ever-expanding.

Other Internet Features

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Along with the content-streaming capabilities, the {{product.name}} has "unlimited" Asus-backed cloud storage. We haven't put that claim to the test, but you're more than welcome to do that on your own time.

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Device & Specs

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By the numbers, the {{product.name}} takes this one, weighing in with more RAM, a very similar display, and Nvidia's Tegra 2 processor. While the {{product.name}} is impressive by a hardware standpoint, for some, the expanded battery life of the iPad 2 will be a deterrent to buying something else.

Screen

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Both have extremely similar IPS LCD displays with capacitive touchscreen, but the iPad 2 has a higher peak brightness and better gamut, but the {{product.name}} has a better contrast ratio and deepest black. What does this mean for you? Simply that you'll maintain more detail in shadow with the {{product.name}}, and that the iPad 2 is marginally better at going outside.

Battery

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The iPad 2 takes this one, beating the {{product.name}} by hours on video and eBook reading. While you can buy the keyboard for the Transformer that adds some battery life, the iPad 2 has the better in-tablet battery.

eReader

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As eReaders, both devices are very similarly matched (having access to the same applications), but the iPad 2 is a bit easier to handle for long periods of time as its contoured edges fit in your hand easier.

Internet

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Though both can connect to the internet and are given an impressive array of apps to begin with, only the Transformer can stream content to WiFi enabled devices like TVs or your PC without adding additional software.

Device & Specs

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With a nearly identical screen size and very similar hardware, these are two very similar devices. Out of the box there isn't a huge difference, but the accessories are what make the {{product.name}} special. Should you pick up the Asus-made keyboard attachment for the {{product.model}}, you can switch back and forth between having a laptop and a tablet, which is very useful for those who like a physical keyboard to type.

Screen

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As previously mentioned, the two tablets share a very similar screen, right down to size and resolution. While this is true, the performance of each screen is a bit different in that the {{product.name}} has a better contrast ratio, but is more reflective than the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Battery

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The Samsung wins this one by providing users with longer video and eReader sessions, by up to 2 hours in teh case of eBook reading.

eReader

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As eReaders, it's very hard to highlight differences between two Android 3 tablets, as they have virtually identical functionality in this regard. The main difference comes down to which is easier to hold with one hand or for extended periods of time, and for both, that's the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Internet

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Both have virtually identical internet features, but the {{product.name}} is pre-loaded with software to stream your media to different devices on your network, whereas the Galaxy Tab is not.

Device & Specs

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Even from outward appearances, these are two very different tablets. Where the Kindle Fire is a compact black brick, the {{product.name}} is a stylized brown metal beast with a 10" screen and the ability to be turned into a laptop (for a modest fee, of course). The Kindle Fire doesn't exactly have the hardware to compete directly, having half the RAM of the {{product.name}} and a smaller screen size, but it was designed to be a bargain tablet, unlike the {{product.model}}.

Screen

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As previously stated, the Kindle Fire's 7" screen is far smaller than that of the {{product.name}}, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in power. With a very high peak brightness, this tablet is more suited to travel with users into the sunlight. It still isn't great, but it's a lot better at dealing with bright light than the {{product.name}} is.

Battery

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The Kindle Fire barely edges out the {{product.name}}, providing an extra hour of video watching. This comparison is more of a wash, but the Kindle Fire has the better battery it seems.

eReader

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Amazon equipped its Kindle Fire with unprecedented levels of online support and unlocked features for Kindle devices like the User Lending Library and partnerships with local libraries to lend books in Kindle format. Despite the {{product.name}}'s access to the Kindle reader app, the Fire is by far the better eReader.

Internet

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Surprisingly, this is an area that is make-or-break for some consumers, as there is a huge difference between the two. Though the Kindle Fire runs on an operating system that is based on Android, it isn't what we call a Google-blessed tablet, and therefore it does not have the same market support, or support for Google apps as a true android tablet would. On the other hand, the {{product.name}} does not suffer this handicap, though it does not share the same support of the Kindle lending library. It all depends on what you want more.

Conclusion

The {{product.name}} certainly is an interesting take on the tablet. While we didn't spring to buy all the accessories that the {{product.name}} is meant to be used with, and instead treated the unit as a tablet and nothing else, the novelty of a physical keyboard is enough to turn heads. Even if it's solely to see the reactions of people when rip your "laptop" in half in a crowded area, the added physical keys, USB ports, and battery life gained by picking up this accessory certainly makes the {{product.name}} more word processor friendly.

It's a bit of a pain that you have to spend so much money to unlock all the features of the {{product.name}}, because as a standalone tablet, it's a high-average performer at best, with only a few special features (we admit the content streaming application is very cool). Still, the promise of added battery life and connectivity is a huge plus over other tablets, especially considering there is already one HDMI port and a microSD card on the tablet itself.

Despite its bright spots of screen performance and connectivity, the anemic battery life and general awkwardness of the unit is enough to give many users pause before buying the {{product.name}}. For some, the ability to make the tablet a laptop is too useful to ignore, but from a pure performance standpoint, you can do better in terms of raw performance for the money, but you probably can't from a connectivity standpoint.

If versatility is your vice, you would do well to pick up the {{product.name}}. With its content streaming application and its fair screen performance, this is a solid buy, but for those looking for more battery life or USB ports, they are available: at a cost. Though it doesn't take the top of the hill, the {{product.name}} is a serious contender for the more work-minded of tablet consumers.

Meet the tester

Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas

Staff Writer, Imaging

@cthomas8888

A seasoned writer and professional photographer, Chris reviews cameras, headphones, smartphones, laptops, and lenses. Educated in Political Science and Linguistics, Chris can often be found building a robot army, snowboarding, or getting ink.

See all of Chris Thomas's reviews

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