Asus ZenPad 3S
By The Asus ZenPad 3S 10 is a 9.7-inch tablet made for Android users who don’t want to compromise on performance or design. The slate’s aluminum shell and metallic, beveled edges may look straight out of Cupertino, but it runs a lightly skinned version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The ZenPad 3S 10 is lightning fast, and its bright, brilliant display and luxe design make this tablet a strong choice — that is, if you’re willing to live with its unimpressive cameras.
iPad-esque
The Asus ZenPad 3S 10 comes in two color
palettes: titanium gray with a black bezel, and glacier silver with a
white bezel. We tested the gray model, which looks quite attractive. The
black on its bezel is so close to the color of the screen that, when
it’s asleep, the front looks like a solid-black panel.
The ZenPad’s shell and face feature diamond-cut, metallic, chamfered edges that shine in direct light. The tablet’s aluminum back gives it a slick, premium look that resembles the backs of Apple’s “space gray” iPads. The slightly protruding rear camera is another design touch that might cause some people to mistake this tablet for an iDevice.
The home button features a fingerprint reader that allows you to register up to five prints. The digit recognition is so speedy that I found myself unlocking the tablet before I could read the notifications on the screen.
Asus placed the ZenPad’s SD memory slot on the top-left corner, its headphone jack on its top, and the volume and lock buttons on the right side. The company set the slate’s USB Type-C port and speakers on the bottom edge.
Way colorful
The ZenPad’s 9.7-inch, 2048 x 1536-pixel,
bright display presents crisp pictures and rich, almost-too-vivid
colors. As I watched the teaser for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, I
noted that greens and blues of Gamora’s and Yondu’s skin looked
incredibly vibrant, and that the red eyes of Star-Lord’s goggles bore a
strong glow. The high-res screen also let the 1080p trailer stream
clearly, as I could make out slight details of Drax’s scales and the
moving parts of Star-Lord’s retractable helmet.
In the Settings app, you can adjust the display to a Vivid preset, though I’d recommend you stick with the default Balance preset for the most accurate output. There’s also a Bluelight filter setting to shift to the warmer colors that some believe make it easier to fall asleep.
The ZenPad’s panel produces 113 percent of the sRGB gamut, making it more colorful than the G Pad F 8.0 (79 percent), the iPad Air 2 (100 percent) and the average for tablets (94 percent). The MediaPad M3 (123 percent) emits even more colors.
The ZenPad’s 4.2 score on the Delta-E test isn’t great (lower scores are better). The G Pad F 8.0 (1.8), the MediaPad M3 (2.6) and the tablet average (2.3) were more accurate.
The ZenPad’s display emits up to 426 nits (a measure of brightness), which is similar to the Huawei MediaPad M3 (427 nits) and brighter than the G Pad F 8.0 (331 nits), the iPad Air 2 (368 nits) and the average for tablets (347).
Most impressive
Thanks to its strong speakers and support
for high-res audio, the ZenPad has sound fit for audiophiles. The tablet
pumped out enough volume to fill our large conference room with strong
renditions of a variety of songs, from Radiohead’s “Burn The Witch” to
D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli.” From D.R.A.M.’s vibrating bass to Thom Yorke’s
delicate vocals, the slate produced these songs clearly and
powerfully.
The ZenPad includes the AudioWizard sound-adjustment app, which offers several presets (Smart, Music, Movies, Gaming and Vocal). I recommend sticking with Smart for apps, video and podcasts, and then switching to Music when you’re ready to kick out the jams.
OS and Apps
The ZenPad runs a more or less stock version of
Android 6.0 Marshmallow that features its ZenUI 3.0. The lock and home
screens are slightly reorganized, icon edges appear rounded and there
are a handful of Asus apps. All of these changes are easily ignored,
especially Asus’ own apps. In comparison, the MediaPad M3 runs a much
less familiar version of Android, which is obscured by Huawei’s EMUI
skin.
The one stock feature we’d recommend you change out of the box is Asus’ on-screen keyboard. It’s too blocky and confusingly laid out in comparison to the stock keyboards on most devices. The Google Keyboard is a far cleaner input method.
Performance
The MediaTek MT8176 Turbo CPU packs both a dual-core 2.1-GHz processor and a quad-core 1.7-GHz processor, paired with 4GB of RAM, to deliver fantastic speeds. I experienced buttery-smooth scrolling through websites and snappy transitions between apps, even with a dozen Chrome tabs, Slack, Todoist and OkCupid open. Games also played well on the tablet; the infinite pinball game PinOut and racing game Asphalt 8 ran without any stutter.
Cameras
The ZenPad’s 8-megapixel rear and 5-MP front cameras
capture decent, but occasionally washed out, photos. In one landscape,
the tablet accurately captured blue skies and green shrubs, as well as
some nice architectural details of a pillar on our rooftop. However,
compositions fell apart when there was any strong light in the frame.
Video shot on the tablet suffered from the same contrast problems, as
well as some slight stuttering.
Bottom Line
The Asus ZenPad 3S 10 includes a stellar display, terrific performance and sweet sound that make it great for watching videos, multitasking and enjoying high-res audio. We also really like the sleek look and feel of this slate. However, the battery life could be better, and other tablets offer higher-quality cameras.
