Asus has unveiled a new ZenPad tablet for the premium crowd.
The ZenPad S 8.0 is the company’s flagship tablet. Featuring an Intel Atom Z3580 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, and a 7.9-inch 2048×1536 pixel IPS LCD display, Asus is banking on laptop-like specs and a metal body to win over the skeptics.
The company hasn’t been shy about its relationship with Intel, putting the company’s flagship Atom chip in its recently-released ZenFone 2, which has proven to be quite a hit with the unlocked crowd.
At 298 grams and 6.6mm thick, the ZenPad S 8.0 is a relatively lithe slab of tablet, and may benefit from its vertical orientation, since Android is lacking in numerous high-quality tablet apps. The slate has a 5MP front-facing camera and 8MP rear shooter, along with a 15.2Wh battery cell that promises up to eight hours of battery life from a charge. It also runs Android 5.0 with the company’s messy and bloated ZenUI.
The company is using a lot of grand home-grown branding, too: TruLife+ makes sure every pixel is rendered with the right colour and contrast settings; TruVivid improves clarity and brightness and touch responsiveness; and DTS’s Sound Studio promises to give 5.1-like sound to the small stereo speakers.
At $399 CAD, the ZenPad S 8.0 isn’t cheap, but it appears to be one of the better iPad mini competitors on the market. Unfortunately, the tablet’s website is a blatant ripoff of Apple’s iPad product page, down to the grandiose language and Helvetica Neue font choice.
The device is available now at Canada Computers, London Drugs, Memory Express, NCIX, Newegg.ca and Visions.
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