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DEAL WATCH: Keurig K-Express | 22% off $69.99

Keurig has changed the face of coffee, and snagging one of these for less than $70 is a solid deal. Read Review

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  • Introduction

  • Design & Usability

  • Performance

  • Conclusion

  • Science Introduction

  • Screen Performance

  • Battery Life

  • Introduction
  • Design & Usability
  • Performance
  • Conclusion
  • Science Introduction
  • Screen Performance
  • Battery Life

Introduction

Design & Usability

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All the fun of a Transformer tablet, only $100 less.

Compared to the other members of the Asus Transformer family, the {{product.model}} fits in the crook of your hand slightly better, and with a few grams shaved off of the Transformer Prime's weight. The plastic on the back has a bit of give to it, but ultimately does not feel like it would snap under normal pressure.

Gestures and controls are very natural and responsive.

Because the {{product.name}} has a capacitive touchscreen and only a power button and volume rocker, most of the commands are issued through the screen. Gestures and controls are very natural and responsive, and follow the standard convention of tap to click, pinch to zoom, and swipe to move the screen's viewing area/pages. Should you elect to do so, there is a keyboard/battery attachment sold by Asus for the {{product.model}} to turn the tablet into a laptop-type device.

While the Transformer Pad doesn't exactly beat the high-end tablets on the market, it does offer some standard options that should be available on higher-priced models. Not only can you add battery life by buying the snap-in dock for the {{product.name}}, but you can also make use of its internal 802.11n wireless card, Bluetooth connection, and GPS with just the tablet itself.

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Performance

Fair performance, especially for the price

The {{ products(50fa302b96ab5860160c7920).name }} is constructed around a 8.5625 x 5.325-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, and an LED backlighting system. While the screen itself is reflective, it's fair screen brightness should overpower a few reflections in lower light. That being said, it does struggle outdoors.

In terms of app support, you will find that the Play Store gives you access to a long list of apps that you can explore. While they aren't as numerous or popular as some of what you can find on Apple's App Store, the Play Store holds its own by offering some quality apps to allow users to edit documents on the go, stream media, and play games.

For a tablet its size, this is _fantastic_ battery life.

If you were to disable all additional processes, crank the backlight to maximum (on high performance mode), and disable Wi-Fi, you can watch just over 9 hours of video continuously, or read an eBook for 6 hours and 38 minutes. For a tablet its size, this is fantastic battery life. To boot, there are other modes available that promise better battery life should you choose them. This is a great tablet if you need to bring it on long trips.

Conclusion

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A lot of tablet for a little less.

For someone looking to save a couple bucks and still get a fairly well-performing tablet, the {{product.name}} is probably the best choice you can make if you like Android devices. With all of the features of Android 4 and only a few cut corners like the casing, the {{product.name}} is a solid tablet at an attractive price.

That's not to say that it is a strong contender for performance points like screen resolution or color gamut, but if you're just looking for a basic tablet that won't frustrate the heck out of you, the more affordable Transformer Pad is a good bet. If you elect to buy the keyboard accessory, you can treat it more like a laptop as well as enjoy better battery life.

Despite our praise, the {{product.name}} still suffers from many of the common maladies that tablets are subject to, like low screen performance, high reflectivity, and low durability. Still, compared to its closest competitors, the {{product.name}} holds its own.

Science Introduction

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Even though you're paying less, you're getting a decent return on your investment.

Screen Performance

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Great contrast ratio, terrible reflectivity

As previously stated, the {{product.name}} has an 8.5625 x 5.325-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, netting it a dots-per-inch (DPI) of 150. While this is about standard for a 10-inch tablet, you stand a greater likelihood that you'll be able to see the individual pixels than say, the third-generation iPad.

In terms of contrast performance, the Transformer Pad actually has one of the better screens we've seen, as it has a very low black level of 0.29 cd/m2, and a peak brightness of 320.3 cd/m2. With points like these, the Transformer Pad nets a contrast ratio of 1104:1—not all that great for a television, but one of the best ratios among tablets.

While the {{product.name}} certainly did a bit better than most Android tablets in terms of color performance, it still shows the same undersaturation of reds and greens, as well as a wild shift in blues towards cyan. We're not sure why this is such a ubiquitous problem, but it is.

Because the {{product.name}} reflects about 24% of all light shone on the screen, you'll often notice how much ambient light sources will cause consternation in regards to the screen visibility. In cases of direct sunlight, your screen will act much like a mirror.

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Battery Life

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Strong battery life, even on full brightness.

Tablets generally do not last very long reading an eBook with a mostly white screen at a high brightness, and the {{product.name}} is no different: It lasts about 6 hours, 38 minutes with all wireless and additional processes terminated, and the screen brightness cranked to maximum. For the newest generation of tablets, this is fairly good, but not the best we've seen.

The {{product.model}} manages to last an impressive 9 hours and 2 minutes while playing back video, but keep in mind your mileage may vary if you do something like turn down the brightness, turn on Wi-Fi, or have a litany of programs running in the background.

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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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