A promising mini tablet at a low price
When Apple first launched the iPad in 2010, it was years ahead of the competition, and it’s managed to stay ahead of the pack not just at the high end, but at the low end of the price range too. Every year, a new crop of iPads arrive with hugely improved specifications, and still-capable older models are reduced to a budget price.
When Asus stepped back into the ring with the ZenPad S 8.0, it must have hoped Apple would finally put the iPad mini 2 out to pasture in its autumn product refresh. Instead, Apple has cut its price again, to just £219. Even so, the ZenPad is still a few pounds cheaper. So can it fight back?
Yes and no. The screen is the same size, shape and resolution as Apple’s, which is a plus point: it’s lovely and sharp, and more comfortable to hold than widescreen tablets. Its colour reproduction is far from great, but then neither is the iPad mini’s. Apple gets the points, though, for its more accurate colour balance, with our pictures on the ZenPad looking far from impressive.
Nor can Asus match Apple’s aluminium ‘unibody’ design. The ZenPad is a fraction lighter than the iPad mini 2, but it’s plastic. A leather-effect strip along the back makes it look a bit like a handbag, which not everyone will appreciate, and contradicts the design of the front, which leaves little room for your fingers to grip its edge. The front and back cameras have more megapixels than Apple’s but, as we’ve often mentioned, that doesn’t always make for better pictures.
Inside, the Atom processor may be newer than the iPad mini 2’s A7, but it’s from the bottom of Intel’s range and isn’t as capable. The PowerVR G6430 graphics processor, on the other hand, is the same chip Apple incorporated into the A7 – the ZenPad doesn’t feel slow and can handle most games. While the iPad mini 2 claims to have a 10-hour battery life, the ZenPad played nearly 14 hours of videos in our tests before needing to be plugged in, though that was partly thanks to the screen’s trick of turning off its backlighting during dark scenes. Browsing the web, you’ll get less time between charges than with an iPad.
The ZenPad does score hits elsewhere, however. Its modern USB Type-C socket supports a wider range of peripherals than Apple’s Lightning, though both require adaptors.
While the cheapest iPad mini 2 only has 16GB of storage, the ZenPad comes with 32GB and has a microSD slot that lets you double that for under a tenner. And it has 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 on board, compared to the iPad mini 2’s slower 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0. There’s no mistaking that this is the more up-to-date device.
Confusingly, there are two different tablets both called the ZenPad S 8.0, so you’ll need to confirm the model number to tell the difference: the one we tested was the Z580CA, with 2GB of memory, 32GB of storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel webcam. For around £170 you can get the Z580C, with 1GB, 16GB, five and two megapixels respectively. The cheaper model might in fact be the better deal: less memory will mean delays when switching between apps and web pages, but the iPad mini 2 does fine with only 1GB.
To get a better Android tablet, you’d have to look at something like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4, at around £270 with 16GB. But the iPad mini 2 is sturdier, has Apple’s superior operating system and beautiful apps instead of the slew of rubbish Asus installs. The ZenPad S 8.0 is undeniably good value. It just isn’t an iPad.
VERDICT
An excellent low-cost Android tablet, but the competition prevents it being the class of the field.
VERDICT
An excellent low-cost Android tablet, but the competition prevents it being the class of the field.
SPECIFICATIONS
1.83GHz Intel Atom Z3560 processor • 32GB flash storage • 7.9in 2048x1536-pixel screen • 8-megapixel rear camera • 5-megapixel webcam • microSD slot • 802.11n Wi-Fi • Bluetooth 4.1 • Android 5.0 • 203x135x6.6mm (HxWxD) • 298g • One-year warranty