Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime review

The Transformer Prime puts Asus in an optimal position in the Android tablet race, as the first manufacturer to use the new Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset. As part of the Transformer line, the Prime can use a keyboard dock to become a makeshift laptop – in fact it’s not currently available without the dock. We had some issues with the original Asus Eee pad Transformer‘s dock, but we still loved the tablet on its own merits.

No Ice Cream Sandwich for the Transformer, yet

Disappointingly, the Prime comes with Android 3.2 (Honeycomb), rather than the new and much-improved Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system, which is now available on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone. You could speculate that the modifications to Android required to make the keyboard dock function are the problem, or maybe Asus was just rushing to be first to market with Tegra 3. Either way, an Android 4.0 update is promised, but as with the recent Motorola Xoom 2 no date has yet been confirmed for this.

Of course, we can only review the Prime as it stands today, and it’s this is still the most impressive Android tablet we’ve seen to date – thanks to the new chipset, an excellent screen and the flexibility the keyboard dock brings.

CHIP CHASE

The new Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset is promoted as quad-core, but the cleverest element is actually a fifth ‘companion core’. This additional low-power core runs most of the time and keeps power usage as low as possible when a task is running or the tablet is in standby, with the quad cores kicking in when more power is required.

For example, while the Prime is on standby only the companion core is used – to sync your email and other background tasks. As soon as you pick it up and start navigating the menus the quad cores kick in to provide the smoothest possible experience – and it’s very smooth indeed. If you then start playing a video or a photo slideshow, or launch the email app and are just typing, then the companion core will take back over. It all happens instantly and seamlessly with no apparent lag.

The quad cores have been reported as running at up 1.3GHz, but we couldn’t get Asus to confirm this figure by the time we went to press. We are also curious whether all four cores can, or have to, run at that speed simultaneously and how long they can keep it up before heat becomes an issue – if ever.

Shiny reflections and transparency effects and all at a silky-smooth frame rate – click to enlarge

All that said, when you need the power, such as in games, there’s plenty of it. It scored just 1,865ms in the SunSpider javascript benchmark, which is among the quickest scores we’ve seen. In games it provided silky-smooth frame rates in all the titles we tried. Nvidia provided some updated versions of current games, such as shooter Shadowgun which had impressive transparency effects, again with smooth frame rates. We also got it to play a 1080p version of the Hobbit trailer from Youtube, which it did without a hitch – a significant step up from any other tablet we’ve seen.

A gratuitous excuse for a Hobbit screenshot, captured from a 1080p Youtube video, here’s our editor’s favourite actor

The companion core helped provide some impressive battery life scores in our video playback test. The Prime tablet alone lasted for ten hours and 47 minutes, that’s over two hours more than the original Transformer and the best score we’ve seen from an Android tablet to date. Add the dock, which has its own built-in battery, and you get 16 hours and 45 minutes, again bettering the Transformer by about two hours. More importantly, with the dock attached we could get through a working day no problem. As with the original, the tablet’s battery is sensibly charged before the dock’s battery.

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Putting the dock to one side for the time being, the Transformer Prime is a simply gorgeous tablet. The brushed radial finish is akin to that on the Asus Zenbook, that and the available colours – one slightly purplish and one champagne – have split opinion in the office, possibly being a little too bling for those devoted to Apple’s simple aluminium sheen. Micro SD, Micro HDMI and the 3.5mm headphone socket are all neatly positioned around the beveled rear edge.

Colour aside, we all agreed that it was a great tablet to behold and handle. It’s a super-slinky 8.3mm thick, making it the thinnest tablet around, though only a fraction of a millimeter. Measuring 263x181mm across the front means it has a slightly bigger fascia than the Motorola Xoom 2 and its fairly plain design from the front can’t match that tablet’s stylish cut-off corners.

Once the screen is on though, then you quickly forget all that. The 10.1in, 1280×800 Super IPS screen is as bright, if not brighter, than any tablet panel we’ve seen. Viewing angles are excellent too, so you get the full benefit of its vibrant colours. it did pick up a lot of fingerprints, though, and so having a cloth to hand might be an idea if you ‘re going to use it for video playback.

Speaking of video, the camera shoots rather nice Full HD footage at 20Mbit/s, that’s more detail than the small lens can resolve, but at least compression isn’t causing additional issues. The 8-megapixel camera shoots great-looking pictures too, far better than any other tablet we’ve seen and finally brings such devices up to date with high-end smartphones.

This impromptu still life, shot in dull lighting conditions, shows just how capable the Prime’s camera is under even less than perfect conditions

The Prime weighs a fairly typical 586g, and though the addition of the 537g dock practically doubles this, it’s still lighter than most laptops at a touch over 1kg.

LAPTOP IN DISGUISE

The original Transformer had numerous issues with its dock – when we first saw it we couldn’t even persuade it to type into a google document via the website. Thankfully it has improved significantly since then, though you do still feel one small step removed from the text appearing onscreen, partly due to a touch of lag and partly because the keyboard itself has little feedback – as there’s not much travel or spring in the keys. All that said, it’s still far better than tyring to type on a touchscreen, plus you don’t have half your screen filled by a virtual keyboard.

There’s plenty of useful keys on the keyboard dock, an upper row of shortcuts includes a back key, wireless, Bluetooth and touchpad on/off controls, three keys for brightness (up,down and auto) plus a screenshot button. Then there’s volume controls, media playback and finally an unlock button. The latter saves you from touching the screen to unlock the Prime; you can bring it out of standby using the power key on top, or by simply opening it up from closed. There are also home and search keys to the left of the space bar.

The touchpad also has a slight lag, but it’s easily good enough for the kind of basic point and click navigation tasks you ‘ll want to make on a tablet – no one’s expecting you to undertake gaming or image manipulation on the Prime using it.

One of the best things about the dock is that it adds a full-sized SD card slot, for quick uploading of photos from your camera, plus a standard USB2 port, so you can plug in flash storage devices too – though not mice or keyboards.

We do have a couple of complaints about the physical design. The maximum tilt is about forty-five degrees backwards, which isn’t enough to view the screen square-on if the Prime is sat on your lap. The excellent display helps here, but another 20 degrees would be a big help. In a related issue, as the tilt the screen back the keyboard lifts off the desk at the back. this helps the typing position, but leaves it sitting on two small plastic lumps which aren’t rubbery enough to stop it sliding about your desk when accidentally knocked; it’s also a bit top heavy and prone to toppling over backwards.

… AND ROLL OUT

When we first saw the prime we presumed it was a tablet for home use, that became a laptop for work on the go; but having talked to some owners, many use it as a tablet for carrying about, and then a laptop at home. Either way, with the Prime currently only on sale with the keyboard dock, we reckon you’d have to want that aspect of it to be willing to part with £500 for the tablet.

The tablet itself is excellent, and if sold alone for £400, it would certainly be our top choice for an Android model. The dock still has some issues, and is only worth the extra £100 or so that you’ll be paying if you either type a lot of emails or really need the additional battery life.

For its excellent screen and impressive Tegra 3 chipset we’re giving the Transformer Prime an Ultimate award. However, those with no interest in the dock should hold off. Asus has refused to confirm that there will be a tablet-only offering, but we’d bet it will happen, and when it does the Prime should be the Android tablet to buy for everyone.

By then competing Nvidia Tegra 3 tablets may have emerged, and some of those could conceivably get Android 4.0 before the Prime does. Our advice to Asus is to get the Prime on sale without the dock as soon as possible, to keep us happy and before its technological advantage disappears.