Asus ZenPad 8.0 (Z380KL) Review: Flying the Android Tablet Flag

Asus ZenPad 8.0 (Z380KL) Review: Flying the Android Tablet Flag

Asus ZenPad Eight.zero

Asus has been one of many earliest proponents of Android tablets, producing the wonderful Transformer vary in addition to two generations of Nexus tablets. The corporate additionally tried its hand with the FonePad and MemoPad collection, though a few of these merchandise such because the FonePad 7 (FE171CG) (Evaluate | Footage) did not fairly impress us.

That hasn’t stopped Asus from persisting, and the Taiwanese firm has now introduced its ‘Zen’ branding to tablets. Hoping to duplicate the success of the ZenFone vary, the ZenPad tablets had been launched earlier this month. Right now, we have now the ZenPad Eight.zero for assessment, which is the top-end mannequin. Working on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC, the ZenPad Eight.zero goals to supply the ZenFone expertise with a bigger display. We go into the small print in our assessment.

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Feel and appear

Though the Asus ZenPad Eight.zero goes by the Zen branding that Asus has been utilizing for its smartphone lineup, the pill itself bears no similarities to the smartphones. There aren’t any off-screen Android soft-keys, and the everyday concentric-circles sample on the chin can also be absent. As a substitute, the display occupies a major 76.5 p.c of the entrance, with slim borders on all sides. The pill’s main speaker is on the prime, and doubles up because the earpiece for calls.

The ZenPad Eight.zero has a skinny metallic strip across the display which gives the look that the gadget is metallic, though the precise body and rear are plastic. The ability and quantity buttons are on the best edge, whereas the USB and three.5mm ports are on the prime. The rear has a detachable plastic panel with a tough end that seems to be leather-based from afar. The digicam sits within the left nook. The gadget is Eight.5mm thick and weighs 350g, which is pretty comfy so far as tablets go.

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The ZenPad Eight.zero has a 1280×800-pixel display, with a facet ratio of 16:10. For an Eight-inch display, it is a bit too low-resolution for our liking, with simply 189 pixels per inch. The dearth of element reveals, and it could have made much more sense for Asus to make use of a full-HD display, contemplating the worth and supposedly premium positioning of the ZenPad vary. Colors and brightness seem a bit boring at instances, however as such the display is on par with the standard of Asus’ smartphone screens.

Below the rear panel are the micro-SIM and microSD slots, in addition to a connector for the Audio Cowl accent. The battery just isn’t user-accessible, so there is not a lot else you are able to do underneath the hood. The panel itself is replaceable, so it is potential to accessorise your pill utilizing non-compulsory panels.

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The Audio Cowl accent is bought individually for an extra Rs. three,000 over the Rs. 14,999 price ticket for the pill, and features as a protecting cowl and add-on speaker. It requires no pairing, due to the direct connector pins which route audio to the DTS-tuned speaker. The quilt itself is a bit cumbersome and makes the pill really feel extra like a diary, due to the battery and speaker it accommodates. Nonetheless it has a superb end and texture, and even a magnetic sensor that unlocks the pill whenever you flip it open. It is positively price investing within the cowl in the event you’re trying to purchase a very good case for the ZenPad Eight.zero anyway.

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Specs and Software program

The important thing distinction between the Asus ZenPad Eight.zero (Z380KL) and the ZenPad 7.zero that was launched alongside it’s that the previous runs on a 1.4GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC, whereas the latter runs on an Intel Atom SoC. The ZenPad Eight.zero is the top-spec pill within the vary, with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of inside storage, and LTE connectivity on Indian bands. All different specs are customary, together with Bluetooth four.zero, Wi-Fi, expandable storage as much as 128GB, a 4000mAh battery, an Eight-megapixel main digicam, and a 2-megapixel secondary digicam, each with out flashes.

The Asus ZenPad Eight.zero runs on Android 5.zero, with the ZenUI overlay on prime. The interface is precisely the identical because the one utilized in Asus’ smartphones, with no particular tweaks for tablets. Android Lollipop does nevertheless require some format changes, permitting for the additional display real-estate for use correctly. This reveals within the settings menu as nicely.

The UI is comfy to make use of, with apps categorized and sorted into teams. ZenUI additionally has a good quantity of customisability and tweaks, which make it potential to set the ZenPad Eight.zero up as per your wants and preferences. Sadly, the extremely excessive quantity of bloatware that ZenUI is thought for comes as a part of the bundle and loads of it can’t be uninstalled. It will occupy area that you just might need needed to utilise in different methods.

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Efficiency

The Asus ZenPad Eight.zero is sort of on par with most Snapdragon 615-powered smartphones by way of efficiency, helped alongside by the widely environment friendly ZenUI. Apps and video games ran nicely, though we did encounter minor slowdowns and frame-rate points when taking part in graphically-intensive video games resembling Lifeless Set off 2 and Indignant Birds 2. There was additionally a little bit of heating close to the highest of the again after we had been gaming on the pill. Our HD check movies ran nicely, though not fairly as easily as we’re used to seeing from similarly-specified smartphones.

Benchmark scores had been a little bit bit underneath what we’re used to seeing from this SoC, with AnTuTu and Quadrant returning scores of 29,747 and 19,606 respectively. Name high quality and basic performance are respectable as nicely, though the in-built speaker is weak and tinny. In the event you’re epda shopping for the pill, we’d advocate investing within the audio cowl for a greater media expertise.

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Battery life is respectable as nicely, due to the 4000mAh battery powering the gadget. The Asus ZenPad Eight.zero (Z380KL) ran for 12 hours, 5 minutes in our video loop check, which is respectable for pill. In the event you intend to make use of this as a smartphone, or with information companies working, it’s best to comfortably get a full day’s use out of it. Purely as a pill, it is not unreasonable to count on shut to 2 days between prices.

The Audio Cowl matches onto the again of the pill, changing the common plastic panel. The speaker on the audio cowl is DTS-tuned, and might simulate 5.1 encompass sound. Audio output is closely boosted, and utilizing the speaker cowl makes the pill a superb media gadget for each audio and video. It may be used for watching films and TV reveals, but additionally works nicely as a conveyable speaker. The sound high quality itself is extra geared for films, nevertheless it works nicely even for music.

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The first digicam of the Asus ZenPad Eight.zero is an Eight-megapixel shooter, whereas the entrance digicam is a 2-megapixel one. Pill customers aren’t anticipated to make use of these cameras fairly often, and they’re predictably appropriate solely as backups. Footage taken lack element and brighter shades undergo from washing out. The entrance digicam is barely acceptable for selfies, and may solely suffice for video chatting. The digicam software program is great, nevertheless. It is the identical because the digicam app utilized in Asus smartphones, and has loads of modes and settings for simple tweaks. The first digicam information video at 1080p, whereas the secondary digicam information at as much as 720p.

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Verdict Asus ZenPad Eight.zero

With smartphones getting bigger and extra highly effective, there is a rising notion that tablets are a dying product class. phablet at the moment has practically all some great benefits of a pill, and is extra more likely to be conveniently accessible. Regardless of this, Asus continues to push the expertise, and the ZenPad Eight.zero (Z380KL) reveals that the Taiwanese firm is not prepared to surrender on tablets simply but. It is a respectable gadget with sufficient muscle and magnificence to fulfill mid-range customers. Even those that use tablets as their main smartphones will likely be completely happy.

The gadget itself is supplemented admirably by the Audio Cowl, an adjunct that not solely protects the pill, but additionally boosts sound quantity and high quality significantly, making the ZenPad Eight.zero a incredible media gadget. The one actual weak point – and a major one at that – is the low-resolution display. Asus produces smartphones with full-HD screens for lower than the asking worth of the ZenPad Eight.zero (Z380KL), so sticking to 1280×800 is a reasonably main downside for us. Nonetheless, in the event you’re in search of a very good mid-sized, mid-priced Android pill, this could supply the Xiaomi Mi Pad some competitors.

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