The Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML is an inexpensive tablet that will teach you a lot about what you need to learn about it, as the standard iPads have scarcely improved over the last three years, so no tablets like this either.
Asus also created a somewhat close model in 2016 with the same name ‘Asus ZenPad 10.’ This one is hardly different, apart from an altered finish and USB-C charging port.
Asus Zenpad 10 tablet
It fits well enough, however, and costs even less than even an iPad at £159.99 (around $210/AU$285), so is it worth considering?
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Features
In one area, cheaper tablets such as the ZenPad 10 Z301ML consistently disappoint screen size. The result is obvious pixelation. Many features are equally low-end but less intrusive.
Design
As with all 10.1-inch widescreen tablets, the Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML is designed for landscape-keeping.
Asus’s last ZenPad 10 used a similar design. This tablet is plastic at the front of the computer, aside from the window. Even among its entry-level peers, it’s fairly tactile too.
The back of the Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML tablet almost feels like fabric. It’s acrylic textured, but a layer of thick, delicate nobbles tricks the fingertips into believing it’s something different.
But elsewhere, there is nothing quite so dynamic. The Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML weights an unremarkable 490 g, is an unremarkable 8.95 mm thick and is far more compact or harder to navigate than a traditional 10-inch tablet due to its relatively large glass borders.
It is most convenient to use in landscape orientation, ideally with one hand at either edge. For example, you should keep it upright too, which fits great for reading papers or streaming comics.
You are also getting only 16 GB of storage.
Display
The Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML has a 10.1-inch widescreen. This type of display really underlines the difference between tablets and phones.
It does have a serious issue, however. Screen size and pixel density are small so the articles’ Web design and text won’t appear as good as they do on your desktop.
We like a resolution of at least 1920 x 1200 pixels at this size but the Asus Tablet has only 1200 x 800. Text looks rather scratchy than smooth, and games based on the sprite appear compromised.
Many dimensions of the show are a little changed. Contrast is completely strong and is less recessed than the current iPad (2018), although the background remains somewhat recessed. Not too poor.
The output in colors is just perfect.
Using the Asus ZenPad 10’s Vibrant mode, you can attach some intensity to the color but it appears to make tones appear lighter rather than darker.
Don’t Miss: Asus Gaming Monitor
Battery
The Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML is fitted with a 4,680mAh battery which Asus claims will last for 13 hours. In reality, it isn’t quite playing out, though.
At a high brightness, 90 minutes of 720p video takes 20 percent off the PowerPoint, meaning you’ll only get about 7.5 hours off the price. Asus own states 10 hours of use and 13 hours of video replay.
Obviously using maximum brightness will have an impact here, but we are still quite a way off official figures.
The Asus ZenPad 10 is also sluggish to charge as it has a USB-C slot. It takes many hours because there is no ‘quick charging’ system on sale. This is not just a side-effect the 4,680mAh cell is far bigger than other tablets.
Camera
The Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML has cameras which are very basic. On the back is a 5MP sensor and front is a 2MP sensor.
The bulk of the developments we see in phone cameras are missing here. There is no Auto HDR, just a different HDR mode that sits next to certain bonuses such as ‘field width.’ This tries to blur the backdrop using several exposures to reveal from far-away items next to them. Actually it does not seem to work at all, though.
Standard images sometimes appear blotchy and often poor in quality. Instead, use your phone. The selfie frame, too, offers remedial, unnatural-looking skin tones, and minimal detail.
It’s not a horror to use though, and we coaxed one or two shots all right out. The camera display picture isn’t jerky and the shutter lag is small. Some low-end cameras have a soft, shaky look. It is not the Asus ZenPad 10’s.
With the phone, you can fire video up to Maximum HD quality, but the equipment is so low-end footage that it is only optimized if you fell to 720p. Stabilization provides a cleaner feel to the handheld video. You’ll want it unless you ‘re looking for a lo-fi feel.
Then the Asus tablet isn’t perfect to take pictures or photos, but dual cameras are a requirement for a tablet full-feel. Asus was not willing to manage to take them there.
User interface
The Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML is operating Android 7.0 with ZenUI from Asus at the end. That is a double dose of fatality.
Android 7.0 is already well past its peak, so this ZenUI iteration appears to be stiff too. It is also induced in part by the size of the screen: Pixelation makes even the slickest apps appear ancient.
Asus says the ZenPad 10 is not present in regular Android with ‘1,000 features,’ but this ZenUI design is simply easier and less bloat-filled than any earlier models.
It used to be riddled with Asus-made applications that mostly weren’t especially useful. Now you’re just having an app from MobileManager that lets you test stuff like protection and power use, and the cloud storage service from Asus.
You may select, for example, how large device icons are, what font the program uses, and the color of the text on the home screen. ZenUI embraces themes too, and with only a few taps have a full visual redesign.
You ‘d just want to change the wallpaper to maintain the design as tasteful as possible. But if you want to give the tablet a look that the kids love, there are plenty of cartoon themes on sale.
The overall performance of the ZenPad 10 is acceptable but it is consistent with a budget device. Lots of applications are sluggish than an Ios superpower so you’ll find any judge flicking through websites filled with more complex items easily.
At times Wi-Fi is rather spotty. When the bandwidth of your home broadband is congested it has a tendency of disconnecting.
And even with the right Wi-Fi password in place, it has reported a ‘authentication question’ a few times.
See also: Asus ROG Gaming PC
Gaming experience
Because of its low-rescreen, the Asus ZenPad 10 is not suitable for movies and games but it is still a good media tablet with all its faults.
Given the reduced pixel density and color depth, the properly created 720p material looks fantastic on this screen.
The speakers are similarly strong. A thin band above the screen has two drivers, for stereo sound. They’re very noisy and the result is much greater than a single driver’s.
And there is no strong rhythm. Predictably the tone isn’t similar to the 10.5 iPad Pro. All the games we played were working perfectly. You need to use one graphics level below full in games like PUBG and Asphalt 8 to get the smoothest performance so you don’t lose the opportunity to play high-end games only because it’s a low-end computer.
That is attributable, in part, to the lower the resolution of the screen. If it had to make complex 3D graphics at 1200p, the ‘grade up’ resolution above the 800p used here, the ZenPad 10 Z301ML that well fail.
Yes, there’s always a tactile option. In 3D gaming, the lower screen size makes more ‘jaggies.’ Switching between Asphalt 8 on an iPad and ZenPad 10 seems like playing the game on two separate console generations, the Asus being clearly the older one.
When watching videos we consider this impact less, since a well-mastered 720p picture always looks fine. There are no advanced video player apps pre-loaded, but there’s plenty on Google Play and a fairly wide array of file types can still be handled by the system media player.
Table of Specification of Asus tablet Zenpad 10
| Specifications | Values |
|---|---|
| Display | 10.10-inch (1280×800) |
| Processor | MediaTek MT8735W |
| Ram | 2GB |
| OS | Android 7.0 |
| Storage | 16GB |
| Front Camera | 2MP |
| Rear Camera | 5MP |
| Battery | 4680mAh |
Performance
The ZenPad 10 Z301ML has a chipset called MediaTek MT8163. It is a quad-core relative low-end model, initially revealed back in 2015.
It uses Cortex-A53 cores and a Mali T720 dual-core GPU. It’s only marginally more powerful than the 2015 Snapdragon 410 chipset found in common phones like the Moto G (2015).
Asus only put in enough strength to help the ZenPad 10 get through, but no more.
The tablet scores 1,786 points inside Geekbench 4. Thanks to its Apple A10 Fusion chipset, the new iPad (2018) scores roughly 5,900: three times as much.
In 2018, the ZenPad 10 has control over 2015. But as it already has an at-best 2015 monitor and key 2016 applications, it doesn’t totally ruin day-to-day performance in the Android 7.0.
Disadvantage
Although we are happy that there are fresh, cheaper alternatives to the iPad, the ZenPad 10 Z301ML is just superficially distinct from the one it replaces in 2016. We had hoped for something better.
The ZenPad 10 clearly does not have the number of pixels required to make the photos and text appear smooth and tidy.
The Wi-Fi is likewise flaky. This is frustrating at the time of testing because the device isn’t completely new. It’s all a-ran, so for certain people, there are better options out there.
Who can buy the Asus tablet?
Many that can’t manage an iPad are led to the Asus ZenPad 10 Z301ML. It’s also an easy answer to the Amazon Fire HD 10 (2017), among those who aren’t crazy about the overbearing way Amazon switches Android.
Should it be called an absolute bargain?
In short, maybe not. The Amazon Fire HD 10 (2017) is a better choice if you want the most accomplished software for your money. The computer is much smaller, more room and heavier.
But first, check out our full review to ensure the software doesn’t get on your nerves. It relies very aggressively on Amazon’s web infrastructure.
Substitutes of Axus Tablet
There are far better tablets around, including the following three for example:
iPad 2018
The latest iPad (2018) isn’t really a direct competitor to this tablet at twice the size. It is better in every respect, though. The finer panel, the entry-level model has double the capacity, it is far more efficient and the aluminum frame is better.
Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1
The nearest existing tablet of Samsung is a little more costly than the one of Asus. It also has a higher screen size, a much bigger battery, more power, and a decent rear camera, however. If you are going to use a laptop quite a bit, if you can justify the additional cost, it seems like a worthy improvement.
Amazon Fire HD 10
Not everybody likes the take on Android from Amazon. Fire tablets don’t feel like normal Android tablets, with a big push to the services provided by Amazon. You’re getting pretty much hardware for your money though. That includes a sharper screen, a stronger CPU, and marginally less room for more data. At the absolute expense, Amazon’s products are hard to top.
Conclusion
This is all you need to know about Asus Zenpad 10 tablet. Make a better choice with better knowledge. I hope all your questions are answered here.Thank you.
A lover of science and technology to use that for creating art, with passion for poetry, photography, and travel. A BCA graduate with interest to solve problems of day to day life, innovating tools to make life a lot simpler. My favorite hobby is getting lost in the world of imagination. I’m waiting for robots to conquer the world. Just another person who loves to live life every day and having great joy to learn from younger people. Innovative minds attract me and new inventions distract me. Working on my dreams just like everyone else.
