The last Asus tablet released was the ZenPad S 8.0 last year. It was Summer last year but this time, Asus is introducing the new products earlier than usual. The ZenPad line is getting an addition in the form of the Asus ZenPad 10 (Z300M) and Asus ZenPad 8 (Z380M). These tablets already run the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. These are only mid-range tablets so expect the two to be affordable.
Both ZenPads are equipped with MediaTek MT8163 quad-core chipsets. That’s interesting because earlier models of the ZenPad use Intel Atom. Other specs of the tablets include 1280 x 800 pixel displays, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, 2MP front-facing camera, 5MP rear camera, microSD card readers, micro USB ports, and headset jacks.
The two differ in display size. The ZenPad 8 features an 8.2-inch screen while the ZenPad 10 has a 9.9-inch screen. They also differ in their weight as obviously, the 10-inch is heavier at 1.1 pounds while the smaller tablet is only 12.3 ounces. Batteries are also different. The bigger ZenPad has the 18 Wh battery while the smaller one only has a 15.2 Wh batt.
When it comes to storage capacity, the Asus ZenPad 10 will be available in 16GB or 32GB model with 2GB RAM while the ZenPad 8 will be offered with 8GB or 16GB onboard storage plus 1GB OR 2GB RAM. Pricing starts at $178 for the smaller ZenPad while the 10-inch tablet is $223. Note that these are mid-rangers only. If you prefer one with a higher resolution and display, get the Asus ZenPad S 8.0 (Z580CA) instead.
VIA: Lilliputing
Good move of Asus ditching intel for mediatek, better battery life and performance
Intel dropped their contra-revenue model, so for Asus it was either pay significantly more for the SOC, or move to a more affordable SOC. Mediatek is far from great, this had nothing to do with performance or battery life and far more to do with cost. Mediatek SOC’s are notorious for having poor HW acceleration and DSPs, so I’m not so sure this is something to celebrate.
nah, if you have handled an intel powered tablet like the last zenpad 7 vs a low end mediatek equipped tablet like lenovo a7-30, i guess you’ll keep the a7-30. zenpad 7 sucks battery and sometimes chokes on some games while the mtk handles it better. the atom line for android sucks.
Depends on what your usage is. If you just game then yes any arm sans the a7 is probably better, but Intel blows away most arm processors in compute. It’s not like the GPU is mediatek ip anyway, but most of their SOCs have been power hogs. Prior gen atoms did have poor batter life but it looked like the most recent gen corrected that. Intel is basically pulling out of mobile anyway, but the reason Asus chose mediatek over Qualcomm or Samsung had everything to do with price.
Yep they chose it for the price, the atoms are a bit powerful but it still isn’t that good when it comes to android powered devices. and I was talking about the atoms’ X-series, the last version of it . They can’t even run most 3d games properly and lags. Although they work pretty well with windows OS.
Best Buy’s website does not list ANY Asus tablets, so I’m not sure where the author found it.