Review: ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime
- 25 January, 2012 14:02
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime Android tablet
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is the world's first quad-core Android tablet and includes a detachable keyboard dock that transforms it from a tablet into a notebook-style device. It also has an ultra-slim design, and promises up to 18 hours of battery life with the dock attached.
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ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime: Design and display
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime sounds like it belongs in a Transformers movie, but the device obviously gets its name from the keyboard dock which can be detached from the tablet itself. In Australia, ASUS sells the tablet and the keyboard dock together as a bundle, so unlike other markets, you can't purchase the Transformer Prime without the dock. Although this adds plenty of functionality, including a physical keyboard and a built-in battery, it does significantly raise the cost of the unit.
The Transformer Prime's dock is one of its key features but there is plenty to like about this tablet without it. For starters, the Transformer Prime is just 8.33mm thin and weighs only 586g. Yes, that's thinner and lighter than the market leading iPad 2 and even thinner than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The latter is admittedly 21g lighter, but this doesn't make a huge amount of difference in day-to-day use.
ASUS deserves plenty of plaudits for the Transformer Prime's build quality. The back of the tablet is constructed from sturdy feeling aluminum and has an attractive swirl design (Australian models of the tablet are available in a "Champagne Gold" colour). This design is borrowed directly from the company's ZenBook ultrabook notebook. Unlike the original Transformer, the aluminium backing exhibits little to no flex when some force is applied and it doesn't creak or rattle. The bezel surrounding the screen is rather large and does quickly become a fingerprint magnet, however, and the metal edges can dig into your fingers. Our only other complaint with the design is the position of the speaker — when holding the tablet with two hands your right hand covers it almost entirely, effectively muffling the sound.
At 10.1in, the Eee Pad Transformer Prime's screen is the same size as most Android tablets, though ASUS has opted for what it calls a Super IPS+ (In Plane Switching) LCD panel. The screen is bright, crisp and clear and feels smooth to swipe. It also has very impressive viewing angles. At full brightness ASUS claims the Transformer Prime is ideal for outdoor use: we found it significantly brighter than most other tablets on the market. To save battery life when using the Transformer Prime indoors, you can disable the Super IPS+ mode to extend the battery life. This is a handy, one-touch option in the quick settings menu.
Without the dock, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime doesn't have a full-sized USB port or a micro USB connector. On the left side you'll find a volume rocker, a micro-HDMI port, and a microSD card slot, while the top edge houses a small power/lock button and the right side a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. The proprietary ASUS dock connection may be an annoyance, but it offers two benefits: it connects the tablet to the keyboard dock, and charges much faster (around an hour and a half) than a regular micro USB charger would. Either side of the dock are two holes that attach to the dock: they come with rubber inserts, so you'll need to remove these before you attempt to dock the tablet.
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime: Keyboard dock
Like it's predecessor, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime really comes into its own when it's connected to the included keyboard dock. The dock adds a full-sized USB port, a full-sized SD card slot and a trackpad, as well as its own built-in battery. ASUS says the battery offers an additional six hours of use. If both the tablet and the keyboard dock batteries are fully charged, the Transformer Prime draws power from the keyboard dock first in order to preserve power for tablet-only use.
When connected, the Eee Pad Transformer Prime folds over onto the keyboard dock and acts like a regular notebook. Connecting the two does feel a little clunky, though the arrows on both the dock and the tablet are a nice touch: line them up to ensure a smooth and hassle-free connection.
The Transformer Prime's keyboard makes typing easier and more effective than any touchscreen, but it's not without faults. The keys aren't backlit, which makes typing at night time rather difficult, and they are also pretty small and cramped. We did like the travel on them though, and tactility is better than many netbooks of similar size. We love the addition of dedicated Android shortcuts including home, back, search and settings keys, along with a wealth of quick toggles for the trackpad, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, brightness, Browser, screen shot and media controls. There's also a button on the keyboard to lock the screen, which is handy if you want to keep the Transformer Prime in its open position.
The Transformer Prime's keyboard dock also has a touchpad, and you can use two fingers on it to scroll up and down on Web pages. It's very easy to accidentally bump when typing though, so we suggest turning it off via the shortcut button when you aren't using it. We would have appreciated an automatic setting that disabled the trackpad when you type. You can't use gestures on the Transformer Prime's trackpad, so pinching to zoom, for example, can only be performed on the screen.
Unfortunately, the Eee Pad Transformer Prime is very top-heavy, so it's almost impossible to position it on your lap without it toppling over. It's fine for use on a desk or table, but trying to sit it on your lap is a delicate process.
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ASUS Eee Pad Transformer: Software and performance
ASUS initially ships the Eee Pad Transformer Prime with Google's Android 3.2 "Honeycomb" operating system, but an over-the-air update to Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" is now available. It's a shame that the tablet doesn't come standard with the latest version of Android out of the box, but its obvious it was well in the works before Ice Cream Sandwich was unveiled.
The over-the-air (OTA) software update on our Transformer Prime took about 10 minutes to install and we had no hiccups during or after the installation. The Ice Cream Sandwich software (version 4.0.3) is largely a 'vanilla' version of the OS, though ASUS includes a number of exclusive apps. Additions include a file manager, a MyCloud storage app with 8GB of free storage, a MyLibrary books app, and a MyNet app for streaming multimedia content via DLNA. The MyCloud app offers one year of unlimited cloud storage and works similarly to the popular Dropbox client. ASUS also includes handy e-mail, clock and weather widgets, along with a battery indicator that displays two separate percentages for the tablet and the dock battery.
Of much more interest than ASUS apps is the Ice Cream Sandwich update on the whole. This was our first experience using ICS on a tablet device and the results were pleasing. Performance is significantly improved over the previous Honeycomb version — apps open quicker, home screens are no longer choppy to scroll through, and the entire user experience feels much more refined and slick. The Web browser is much smoother and pages no longer default to mobile versions. Page loading times are noticeably quicker than most Honeycomb Android tablets we've tested. This is due to a combination of NVIDIA's quad-core processor that powers the Transformer Prime, as well as Google's Ice Cream Sandwich software itself.
Ice Cream Sandwich adds plenty of new features including a new camera UI with panorama photo mode, live effects and backgrounds, and basic photo editor. There's also offline browsing, a Wi-Fi Direct feature to transfer files between Wi-Fi enabled devices, a new Roboto font, as well as the ability to create folders on the home screen by dragging one app on top of another.
Ice Cream Sandwich hasn't resolved all of Android's issues on a tablet, however. Flash video performance remains hit and miss, and there were various times when the Transformer Prime slightly lagged, even if these instances have been significantly reduced. Scrolling in the Web browser is smoother than ever, but still not up to the standard set by Apple's iOS on the iPad 2.
Android's most significant tablet issue — third-party apps — also remains unresolved. There are minimal apps in the Android Marketplace that are specifically designed for tablets, so most of them simply expand to fit the screen. To be fair, default Google apps like Maps, Gmail and YouTube work excellently, and there are a few popular apps like Angry Birds, Pulse News Reader and Evernote that filled the Transformer Prime's screen perfectly. However, on the whole the tablet apps on offer remain well behind the iPad, and there is also no easy way to determine if an app in the Android Market is designed to work on a tablet. We feel Google needs to create a filter in the market that only shows apps specifically designed for tablets in order to create a better user experience.
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime: Other features
We're still not sure that a camera on a tablet is a high priority, but if you do want to lug around a 10in tablet to use as a snapper, then the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is one of the best on the market. The 8.1-megapixel rear camera shoots good quality images with reasonable detail levels. Auto-focus can be slow at times and colour reproduction isn't always natural looking, but the Transformer Prime's camera is certainly light years ahead of the one on the iPad 2. It also does a fine job of recording full HD 1080p video, too.
Disappointingly, the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime doesn't have 3G connectivity, so its a Wi-Fi-only tablet. ASUS has also announced it has no plans to build a 3G version of the device, so if you're hanging out for a 3G Android tablet you'll need to look elsewhere.
Many users of the Transformer Prime in other markets have reported issues regarding Wi-Fi and GPS reception on the device. During our testing we found Wi-Fi reception a non-issue: we connected to multiple devices including a home cable network, a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, and a tethered smartphone and Wi-Fi worked perfectly. GPS reception on the other hand, is abysmal. With Wi-Fi switched off, we could not get the Transformer Prime to lock onto a GPS signal and show us our location in Google Maps. With Wi-Fi on, the tablet managed to lock onto a signal effectively, though it took longer than we expected to do so: often more than 20 seconds. Clearly there is an issue with GPS performance, and it's something we can only hope ASUS will fix with a software update.
ASUS claims the Eee Pad Transformer Prime's battery will last for up to 12 hours on its own, or 18 hours when connected to a fully charged dock connector. During testing, we recorded best figures of just under 11 hours without the dock, and about 16 and a half hours with the keyboard dock connected. Though this is less than ASUS claims, it is still a fantastic result and almost brings the Transformer Prime in line with the iPad 2's outstanding battery performance.
Keep in mind that there are three "power profiles" available use on the Eee Pad Transformer Prime: power saving, balanced, and performance. We ran all our tests in balanced mode, which is the default setting. You should be able to push better battery life out of the Transformer Prime using power saving mode, though this limits performance to do so.
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is now available in 32GB ($799) and 64GB ($899) models through major Australian retailers including Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys.