ASUS ZenPad 10

ASUS ZenPad 10 ( Z301MF ) Tablet PC Fingerprint Recognition

The world of tablets is a lottery: there are expensive and functional, cheap and limited, other mid-range and acceptable, but also brands that promise good quality and offer a disappointing user experience.

The Taiwanese of ASUS have managed to establish with ZenPad range a set of tablets that, without being technical portents, they do offer a wise balance between good level services and an adequate price to enter this world as one of the main options to consider by the consumer.

The ASUS Zenpad 10 Z301MF is an evolution of the tablet of the same name that was launched a year ago, and that involves a series of technical changes that take it one step further in terms of performance with a continuity of its design, and without practically changing its price for sale in the market.

In this way the processor is changed and a functional MediaTek is adopted, the screen interface is improved, the cameras are shoved and, in short, this new iteration of the company is justified in this middle segment of the tablet market. We have our opinion along the lines that make up the analysis of the Asus Zenpad 10.

In this analysis of the Asus Zenpad 10 we highlight the design , which in its new version shows few changes compared to the previous model, but follows that line of visual elegance betting on cheaper plastic elements that, at first glance, look much more Premium. This means that the ASUS Zenpad 10 looks good, is beautiful, and matures in the eyes.

In this way we have a tablet composed almost entirely of plastic, and with a metal band that surrounds the body and that gives it that distinctive touch for people who want to have something of value in their hands. Although undoubtedly in what stands out is in its rear area of ​​plastic smooth in a proportion, but seasoned by a plastic that simulates skin and that is really beautiful. This plastic that imitates the skin is rougher, with texture that does not allow marks to be marked.

To all the above, it must be said that the ASUS Zenpad 10 has rounded edges that give life to a terminal that on one side is a virgin of entries and on the other account with most of them. Thus, the upper front area of ​​the tablet shows us that double stereo speaker that makes the multimedia section one of the most important features of the device, and there is also the front camera for 2MP selfies.

The rest of this central area is composed of the screen, black on its edges, and perhaps with too many bevels that could have been reduced somewhat to give a greater sense of immersion when using the tablet.

The rear area has a very interesting design that we have already talked about, with the main 5MP camera in the upper right area, the ASUS logo in silver in the central area and in the lower area an almost imperceptible name of the tablet that It looks beautiful, and it is not understood that it can hardly be seen.

Focusing now on the most lateral areas we have the relevant inputs and characteristic buttons. The right lateral zone is virgin and no entry or button is found. The left side zone has the one-piece volume button, the classic headphone input and the microUSB.

The upper side of the tablet has the on / off button that barely protrudes, which sometimes creates doubts about whether it has been pressed or not and is an element that feels strange and invalid if you want, for example, to make a Capture the screen.

Finally, the lower side area has the microSD slot and a connector to attach a load base or additional accessory. The ASUS Zenpad 10 does not have any type of certification for protection against water and dust, which is common in economic models.

ASUS is characterized for not including a layer (ZenUI) too intrusive in Android systems, with what in Zenpad 10 we will see an Android 6 Marshmallow that closely approaches a pure Android. The problem with ASUS is the amount of bloatware (preinstalled apps) that they usually include in their devices, and that here is no exception. We can find several folders with applications already installed and as many apps for travel, games or productivity already in memory and that may not interest us.

The tablet does not have physical screen buttons and are all virtual with the classic Back, Home and Applications, in any case in the options we are enabled to perform a customization of the interface for the style of the folders, in the animations, or in the design of the main page.

The Task button allows you to view all open apps in the form of a deck of cards, each one of which can be closed by dragging it to the end of the screen. What we find interesting is that there is a task manager that allows us to access the resources consumed by each app.

As we said, there are already different pre-installed serial applications that can end up being intrusive. In this way we find a Google folder with applications such as Gmail, YouTube, Maps or Hangouts, among others, that not all the user will need and that occupy a vital space if you have the 16GB model.

Similar to what happens with the ASUS folder with the Administrator, Time, DoItLater, or Supernote, which lack meaning because there are many better and more popular ones.

There are also own applications such as Gallery ; the automatic startup manager app that denies permissions to the apps that run at the start of the tablet’s startup; the Backup Copy app that makes personalized copies according to what we select; or an interesting Kids Mode where you can select the apps that interest us that can be opened, limiting the access of the tablet to children with access code included.

One of the sections that we liked the ASUS Zenpad 10 is its multimedia section, and part of its fault is the stereo speakers located on the front of the screen.

These speakers have DTS Premium Sound and a Sonic Master technology that improves aspects such as volume and bass. The options include an audio assistant that allows you to choose several sound modes. With the advanced mode we are allowed to modify the bass and treble, with the presence of a 5-band equalizer.

In connectivity we are with a tablet compatible with WiFi 802.11 b / g / n (in the 2.4Ghz band), Bluetooth 4.0 and Miracast . The model we analyzed does not have LTE / 4G and is only WiFi. With all these features we will not have any problem when it comes to connecting the tablet to any router or compatible device.

However, during all our test usage with the ASUS Zenpad 10, we have never experienced any drop in the WiFi connection despite using it with a large volume of data.

Taking advantage of the possibilities offered by the tablet we can incorporate a series of accessories that make the ASUS Zenpad 10 much more efficient and productive . Among the previous highlights an ideal keyboard to improve our productivity with the tablet, offering up to 10 meters of alacande when using bluetooth. It is a keyboard with elegant design and a skin texture that works well to give the device a different and premium touch.

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