Is the new Transformer Infinity from Asus the best tablet in the market? To even consider
this question, we need to pit the Infinity against its iOS rival, the new iPad from Apple.
Let’s start with thickness and weight. The Asus is 8.5 millimeters against the new iPad’s
9.4 millimeters, and weighs 586 grams compared to to the iPad at 652 grams. So on pure hardware
dimensions and weight, the Infinity is in front.
Display-wise, the Infinity has a new 1920 by 1200 resolution screen, vs the iPad’s
2048 by 1536. This results in a pixel density of 224 pixels per inch for Asus and 264 pixels
per inch for the iPad. At 224 pixels and at the correct reading distance, it’s almost
impossible to make out individual pixels, but iPad’s display is still the industry
benchmark and we’ve been praising it ever since it was released. The Infinity’s display
is the best we’ve seen for an Android tablet, and at 600 nits it’s way brighter than the
iPad. We will leave the benchmarking for a separate
review, but we will say this, the Infinity certainly gives it to the iPad it most tests
that we ran. Camera-wise, the Infinity has an 8 megapixel
camera vs the iPad’s 5 megapixel offering. Apple’s 5 stage lens setup is impressive
in good light, but does lack an LED, one thing that the Asus brings to the tablet. On the
front, it’s a no brainer with Apple’s point 3 megapixel camera falling way behind
the 2 megapixel camera offering on the Infinity. If we talk ports, then the Infinity is ahead
by a country mile with Micro-HDMI and Micro-SD slots available on the tablet itself, and
a USB and full size SD slot on the included keyboard dock. This means instant memory expansion,
file transfers and connection to larger TVs for gaming and entertainment out of the box
all you need is a micro HDMI cable. iPad has its proprietary connector. Google Play now
offers much of the same content available in the Apple App store, a benefit of the strength
of the Android Smartphone market. What is still lacking is a wider selection of tablet-specific
apps on Google Play, whereas Apple has hundreds of thousands for the iPad. And when it comes
to hi-res apps, the pressure is on to produce content to support this new screen resolution.
So with all these features, does the Transformer take over from the iPad? I think we can declare
the Infinity the best Android tablet in the market today, and it’s a real contender
against the iPad, but as for which is better, we’ll leave that for you to discuss.
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Until next time.
