ASUS Zenpad 7.0 Review

The ASUS Zenpad tablet series was recently launched in the Philippines and it set to replace the ASUS MeMopad and Fonepad series of tablets. Compared to their previous tablets, the ASUS Zenpad series not only focus on the hardware inside but they also give importance to the design of the tablet. If you’re interested with this tablet, just read on and check out my review of the ASUS Zenpad 7.0

Design

The ASUS Zenpad 7.0 is affordable but that doesn’t mean that the tablet should have a cheap design. This tablet looks fashionable with its inspiration from fashion items such as the clutch bag. At the back, you’ll see the textured back cover that looks like leather in a form that looks like a bag. The back cover is also replaceable with other colored back covers and there are also some accessories that are compatible on the ASUS Zenpad 7.0 like the Audio Cover which will give you 5.1 channel surround sound with just a cover.

The tablet is made up of plastic but it doesn’t feel cheap and I really like the feel of the tablet and it is very handy too thanks to its thin bezels and a more curvy back. Actually, holding this tablet in your hand still feels comfortable and it can even fit on my side pockets.

Removing the back cover will also reveal the sim card slots and the microSD card slot if you feel that the tablet needs more storage. Again, the back is really sexy and I’m pretty sure that a lot of people especially women, would love the design of the ASUS Zenpad 7.0

Since there’s phone functionality on this tablet, you can also enjoy texting and calling on this one. This one also comes with HSPA+ and unfortunately, its chipset doesn’t support LTE yet. But if this tablet would support LTE, I’m pretty sure that this tablet would have a more expensive price tag.

Compared to its bigger brother, the ASUS Zenpad S 8.0 that packs a USB Type-C (Yes it does come with the latest USB Type-C) , the ASUS Zenpad 7.0 only supports MicroUSB and unfortunately, this one doesn’t support fast charging. But don’t worry, filling the juice of this tablet is still pretty fast.

Display

The ASUS Zenpad 7.0 obviously got a responsive 7-inch display with a resolution of 1280×800. A size that works perfectly well for an Android tablet and a resolution that’s satisfying and acceptable for me.

Actually, the display is bright and the colors are really vivid however I noticed that the contrasts doesn’t look right sometimes. It isn’t the best display for a 7-inch but for a tablet with an affordable price and hardware like this, I wouldn’t complain.

Software and performance

The ASUS Zenpad 7.0 got a new Intel Atom X3-C3230 processor with 2GB of RAM. There’s a big chance that you haven’t heard this processor yet. It’s part of the SoFIA mobile chips of Intel, the SoFIA chips like this one are the affordable processors that aims to bring affordable devices with Intel processors inside.

Compared to its predecessors, there’s a decent 2GB of RAM inside it and you can open more apps simultaneously on this one compared to the Fonepad 7. After the first update of the ASUS Zenpad 7.0, I notice a performance upgrade and it is now smoother than expected.

The tablet is a breeze to use and the ZenUI is really fast and smooth despite having an entry-level processor from Intel. The UI is very similar to the one on the ASUS Zenfone 2 that’s why if you already used that phone, you won’t probably have a hard time using this one. Oh and there’s the very useful double tap to wake on this tablet too.

ZenUI uses a vivid set of colors and you could customize its homescreen such as its fonts, icons, and scroll effects. There are also some bloatwares that are included in the Zenpad 7.0 but some of them are really such as PC Link that lets you view your display on your computer, Share Link that lets you transfer files to another device using Wi-Fi, Power Saver, and Photocollage. The rest? I think ASUS should remove those applications.

There might be a new processor and a bigger 2GB of RAM inside it but it doesn’t mean that you can run all of the games that you wanted on this tablet. Yes, it is more powerful than the previous Intel processors running on the Fonepad but it isn’t powerful as the one on the Zenfone 2 ZE551ML which is a 2.3GHz Intel Atom Z3580 Quad-Core processor.

I’ve tried some light games such as Clash of Clans and they were smooth, responsive and I had no problems with it while UFC is playable but it is not so smooth and you can clearly see the drop in frame rates. In Asphalt 8, I was able to play it nicely but I notice that there were some drop in framerates. Most of the games would run on this game but don’t expect smooth framerates on heavy games. On Antutu, I was able to get a score of 19928.

Camera

The ASUS Zenpad 7.0 got an 8-Megapixel Rear camera and there’s no LED flash. This isn’t really made for shooting but there’s the lowlight mode that you can see on the Zenfone 2. Even at well-lit conditions, I could notice some grainy shots and darker colors. But hey, c’mon guys. This is a tablet not a smartphone.

Battery

Before the first update of this tablet, the battery life was terrible and sometimes, it really drains out fast. But after that, I was able to use this tablet for a whole day. An 8 hour of continuous use of this tablet would drain this tablet from 100 to 0.

Verdict

The ASUS Zenpad 7.0 not only features an upgrade in performance but also in aesthetics. The design is something to flaunt about but you can also do more with its faster Intel Atom X3-C3230 processor with 2GB of RAM but mobile gamers should wary that not all heavy games could run smoothly on this tablet. The tablet is now available for an affordable price of P7,995.