ASUS ZenPad 7 is the newly born tablet series that ASUS introduced recently. We were given a review unit to test and provide honest opinion towards the tablet itself on how good it is and what are the pros and cons. There were two types of ZenPads that were introduced, the ZenPad 7.0 and Zenpad C 7.0. We got our hands on the higher end ASUS ZenPad 7.0. What we share here is 100% genuine and its based on a user’s point of view. This review is based on two weeks of usage as a daily driver.
Design Language & Build Quality
This is definitely the main point of purchase, extremely sleek and stylish. The very moment you start holding it in your hands, you can feel how classy it is and luxury on your terms. It feels like you’ve paid few thousand for a gadget that costs far below that price tag.
It is definitely premium on the back with leather like interchange-able back covers. There’s few to choose from other than the default ones that comes along with your ZenPad 7.0, in my case its the Black and Metallic color. Optional colors are available for purchase separately and to have a better idea on how it looks like, please check out my Unboxing of the ZenPad 7.0.
On the front, it is pretty simple with everything looking black. The earpiece/speaker is placed at the top front of the tablet while the ASUS branding is placed on the bottom front. You can see the characteristic of the ZenPad 7.0 remains low-profile which is finished with silver bezels.
The sides and back is fully plastic with matte finish with the indication of ” ASUS ZenPad ” and ” Intel Inside ” branding. The 3.5mm earphone jack is placed on the top right while the USB port is placed on the bottom right. The power button is pretty tactile and placed on the middle right side of the tablet which is the best in term of making it easier to reach it single-handed.
Display and Camera
The ZenPad has a great screen with great clarity. Thanks to the IPS display and ASUS Tru2Life technology. Photos are clearer and words are crispier to read as the software optimization seems to really make an impact.
Even though its not a Full HD display,the resolution of 800 x 1280 seem to fit perfectly with the added advantage of having a 7-inch display. The very moment you take a look at the screen, I can guarantee that the viewing quality is definitely above satisfaction.
The main camera on the ASUS ZenPad 7 comes in a resolution of 8-Megapixel with Autofocus. There’s no LED flash availale within this device, but fear not as ASUS LolliFlash is there to the rescue. It works perfectly and really helpful during low light conditions and also gives a little bit of lighting effect when you take selfies. Below are some phoros taken from the ZenPad 7.0 itself in various mode.
Call and Speaker Quality
Since the ZenPad 7.0 shares the same for both earpiece and speaker as one, some might wonder will that effect the call quality? Fret not! The call quality is pretty good with both parties having no noticeable issue. Even when the place is crowded, the noise cancellation works perfectly and ensures the call to remain decent. The advantage of having a front facing speaker is so that when you hold the device, it wouldn’t block the incoming sound from the speaker which our hands tend to block it accidentally.
This is definitely a plus point on the ZenPad 7.0 but the sound output from the speaker isn’t really loud especially during outdoors. Again, ASUS have a backup for everything as they have prepared the ASUS AudioCover specially designed only for the ZenPad 7.0!. It is a cover which you can use it as a stand for your ZenPad and 6 speakers firing right on the front. The sound is exteremly loud even when the place is crowded and noisy, the sound is still noticeable and clear for the user.
Both the ZenPad 7.0 and the AudioCover supports DTS-HD premium sound which gives the user to customize and tweak the bass and treble accordingly. This works via the tablet speaker and the AudioCover itself. However, to take great advantage of this sound amplifier, it is advised to try with earphones/headphones on and set to be amazed.
Battery Life, Connectivity and Storage
The ZenPad 7.0 comes with a non-removable 3500mAh battery and no fast charging capability. The battery life isn’t really great as I managed to get around 2.5 hours of Screen On Time only during my almost heavy usage as a daily driver. However, as I mentioned earlier, ASUS has backup for everything including on how to extend the battery life.
ASUS PowerCase acts a a replacement back cover which has a built in 3450mAh battery capable of doubling the battery life of ZenPad 7.0. Trust me it really does give me around 6 hours of Screen On Time with me using it as a daily driver. Just in case the PowerCase is not enough for you, there is ASUS ZenPower which charges your devices pretty fast compared to most of the power bank available in the market. The one we get in Malaysian market comes with a capacity of 9600mAh. (The black one is the best looking power bank I’ve ever seen)
In terms of connectivity, it has no LTE connectivity and limited to HSDPA+. The tablet comes with a Micro Sim slot. Storage wise, you get an internal storage of 16GB which you can expand with the built-in Micro SD slot up to 128GB. As the ZenPad 7.0 comes with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop OS, you will have storage space of 4.93GB reserved for the system.
Processing Power and ASUS UI
A lot of my friends tend to ask me ” How smooth is the device?”. Well it is definitely not super smooth, but at the same time not super laggy. Minimal lags noticed during my usage period and you can still do light gaming such as playing Clash of Clans on it. Thanks to the 2GB RAM which is present in this device and of course, one of the first devices to come out with Intel’s very own SOFIA processor.
The ASUS ZenPad 7.0 is powered by Intel Atom X3 Quad core processor paired with Mali 450 GPU both capable of providing decent processing performance and graphics. ASUS’s UI is pretty nice and eye candy as it is colorful and pretty snappy compared to some other UI’s.
However there’s some bloatware that I really wish didn’t exist within the device and since its a system application, you have no option to uninstall it. The best way for now is by heading over to the particular ” App Info” and disabling it. ASUS have heard of this problem and they’re working on a system update which will optimize the UI and overall performance of the ZenPad 7.0.
ASUS ZenPad 7.0 Full Specification
| ZENPAD 7.0 (Z370CG) | |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Android 5.0 (Lollipop) |
| Display | 7” LED IPS Backlight WSVGA Panel (1280 x 800) Corning Gorilla Glass with full lamination Anti-fingerprint coating 10-finger multi-touch ASUS Tru2Life |
| CPU | 64-bit quad-core Intel® Atom™ x3 processor |
| Graphics | Mali-450 MP4 |
| Memory & storage | 2 GB RAM, 16GB ROM 5GB of ASUS WebStorage space for life, with an additional 11GB for the first year |
| Connectivity | 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, Support Miracast |
| Network Standard | 2G : EDGE/GSM: 850MHz/900MHz/1800MHz/1900MHz 3G : WCDMA: 850MHz/900MHz/1900MHz/2100MHz |
| Camera | 2MP Front, 8MP Auto-Focus Rear |
| Audio | 1 x Front Speaker, ICE POWER Technology, DTS-HD Premium Sound |
| Interface | 1 x Micro USB 1 x 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Mic-in) 1 x Micro SD Card Reader, up to 128GB SDXC 1 x Micro SIM tray |
| Battery | 8 hours battery life, 13 Wh Li-polymer battery |
| Sensor | GPS, GLONASS, APGS, G-Sensor, E-compass, GPS, Light Sensor, Proximity/Hall Sensor |
| Color | Black, White, Aurora Metallic |
| Dimension | 189mm (L) x 110.9 mm (W) x 8.7mm (H) |
| Weight | 272g |
| Retail Price | RM 749 (inclusive of GST) |
Final Verdict
No doubt the ASUS ZenPad 7.0 is definitely a value for money 7-inch tablet from ASUS. It’s certainly one of the best 7-inch tablet out there having 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage with phone call capability. Priced at RM749, you will be satisfied with this tablet and if you have the extra bucks to spend please do get all of the accessories that I have in order to complete your Zensational experience with your very own ASUS ZenPad 7.0.
| ZenPad Accessories | Price |
|---|---|
| ZenPad 7.0 – Audio Cover | RM 249 |
| ZenPad 7.0 – Power Case | RM 109 |
| ZenPad 7.0 – Zen Clutch | RM 119 |
Just in case you missed our Unboxing of the ZenPad 7.0, please refer here.
For more info regarding the ZenPad 7.0, please refer to ASUS Malaysia official website by clicking here. Also, if you would like to get yourself a ZenPad 7.0 or any of the accessories above, you could grab it via ASUS Malaysia online store by clicking here without having to worry as it will be definitely authentic product.