The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity
provides the best of both worlds. Game with the powerful quad-core processor,
or enjoy a movie on the crisp full HD screen, while the keyboard dock is perfect
for bashing out emails and documents
ASUS shook up the tablet world with its
Transformer series, a range of Android tabs that convert into mini laptops
thanks to a bundled keyboard dock. The Transformer Prime was an excellent
recent entry to the series, and we’re looking forward to seeing Asus’ upcoming
dockable Windows 8 tablets, but first we have the Transformer Pad Infinity - an
upgrade on the Transformer Prime, coming with a steeper price tag.
So, what’s changed and is the Transformer
Pad Infinity worth the price hike?
The
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity
Design
The Transformer Pad Infinity looks almost
identical to the Transformer Prime at first glance. We actually thought we’d
been sent the wrong model for review, until we stuck it side-by-side with our
Prime: only a slightly darker finish differentiates the two, along with some
tiny changes to the edge of the tablet. That great-looking spiral brushed
finish is still present, a flourish we can’t get enough of.
The Infinity may have a large 10.1-inch
screen, but it’s impressively slim at just 8.5mm (more slender than rivals such
as Acer and Apple), and weighs a shade under 600g. This makes it comfortable to
clutch one handed in portrait mode, for browsing the web or messing with apps
on your commute, but it’s best held with two hands when watching a movie in
landscape mode. Every inch of it is reassuringly solid, and the HDMI port,
power and volume buttons are well spread across the edges.
The
Infinity may have a large 10.1-inch screen, but it’s impressively slim at just
8.5mm (more slender than rivals such as Acer and Apple), and weighs a shade
under 600g
Android
While the Prime started life on Android
Gingerbread before an upgrade to the excellent Ice Cream Sandwich, the
Transformer Pad Infinity comes with Ice Cream Sandwich already installed. We’re
hoping this will be bumped up to Jelly Bean real soon, but it’s no great
shakes. After all, Jelly Bean’s major improvement was smoother navigation and
performance, and Ice Cream Sandwich runs like an electro-charged Usain Bolt on
the Infinity.
This is partly down to the insanely
powerful Nvidia Tegra 3 processor packed away inside the slender Infinity
chassis. The Transformer Prime also rocked nVidia’s quad-core chipset, but the
Infinity’s processor runs at 1.6GHz compared to the Prime’s 1.3GHz. We blasted
through some of the latest action games such as Dead Trigger, with almost no
stuttering to mar the experience (the only judder we noticed was a tiny freeze
each time we started a level). This being an nVidia machine, you get the
TegraZone app for downloading the latest I games as well as full I Google Play
access for all of your app needs. As for Android itself, Asus hasn’t meddled
much with the original Google design. You get five desktops to populate with
apps, shortcuts and widgets, and our only real complaint is that the widget
selection is rather limited. We did appreciate the Asus Battery widget, which
shows you how much charge remains in the tablet and the dock, and also the Asus
Task Manager. Aside from that, it’s your standard weather, mail and clock
efforts.
This
is partly down to the insanely powerful Nvidia Tegra 3 processor packed away
inside the slender Infinity chassis.
Media
The major difference between the
Transformer Prime and the Transformer Pad Infinity is the screen. We liked the
Prime’s crisp and colorful display, but the Infinity boosts the resolution from
1280x800 to Full HD 1920x1200, making it ideal for watching High Definition
movies. We streamed some HD video online and the results were special.
The lifelike images were rendered with
super-sharp clarity, and nicely understated colors. Our only complaint is that
it could do with being brighter, as it’s difficult to use with sunlight or
other glare reflecting off the screen.
Movie fans can carry around plenty of films
on the 64GB of built-in storage, as well as music, apps and all the other good
stuff. Don’t worry if you’re off on a lengthy journey either, as you’ll get six
hours of battery life from a single charge (and even longer if you limit
yourself to apps and web browsing).
The 10.1-inch touch-screen is also an
excellent tool for surfing the web. Your swipes register immediately, as do
your pinches and prods, and the speed at which the screen scrolls is perfectly
weighted against the ferocity of your swiping.
The dock
One of the big USPs of the Transformer Pad
Infinity is that detachable keyboard dock, which adds extra functionality as
well as a smart means of bashing out emails and essays on the go. The tablet
simply slides into the connector and locks solidly in place, giving you instant
automatic access to the keyboard.
Granted, it’ll take you some time to get
used to the shallow travel of the keys and the compact design. Give it an hour
or so and you’ll be bashing out lengthy diatribes as fast as your fingers can
dance across the keyboard, and there are plenty of Android-specific keys for
toggling features and opening apps and menus. A mediocre touchpad is included,
but we prefer stabbing the screen with our fingers. The only issue comes when
the screen is tilted right back, as prodding it knocks the Infinity off
balance.
As well as the keyboard, docking the
Infinity gives you double the battery life thanks to the secondary battery
inside the dock. You also get a USB port for attaching compatible peripherals
and memory sticks.
Camera
As usual you get a rear-facing camera for
taking snaps on the move. The Infinity’s eight-megapixel lens captures bright,
sharp, realistic images that can be viewed back on a full-sized television or
PC screen without much graininess. The f2.2 aperture takes in plenty of light,
so indoor shots look as bright as outdoor snaps. You also get a flash for dingy
interiors and night shots.
The
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity may look just like the Transformer Prime, but
it’s a worthy upgrade thanks to its beautifully crisp full HD screen
The auto-focus snaps on to your subject
quickly and photos are taken within a second of hitting the shutter button. You
get a handful of options and settings to play around with and tweak your
photos, and you can also capture a panorama and Full HD video, which looks
impressively sharp when viewed back. Last of all is the two-megapixel
front-facing lens, which is perfect for Skyping.
The verdict
The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity may look
just like the Transformer Prime, but it’s a worthy upgrade thanks to its
beautifully crisp full HD screen. An even more powerful nVidia quad-core
processor will keep gamers and media fans happy, and the keyboard dock will
keep you productive when you’re not blasting your way through the latest
TegraZone titles.
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The Asus
Transformer Pad Infinity specs
·
Web: http://eee.asus.com
·
Price: $720
·
Size: 263x181x8.5mm
·
Weight: 598g
·
Display: 10.1-inch Full HD IPS+
·
Resolution: 1920x1200 pixels
·
Camera: 8 megapixels f2.2
·
Front camera: 2 megapixels
·
Video: 1080p HD
·
Processor: Qualcomm SnapDragon S4 1.6GHz
dual-core with nVidia Tegra 3 graphics
·
RAM: 1GB
·
Storage: 32GB/64GB
·
Internet: Wi-Fi
·
GPS: Yes
·
Browser: Android
·
Email: Push
·
Music player: Yes
·
Video player: Yes
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