ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700T) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 25, 2012 3:00 AM ESTFinal Words
The Transformer Pad Infinity addresses everything we didn't like about the Transformer Prime. Both WiFi and GPS performance are much improved, the latter to the point of actual usability. The display is also appreciably better thanks to its very high panel resolution and wonderful brightness/contrast. ASUS completes the package with an increase in SoC performance and memory bandwidth, ensuring the Infinity maintains the UI performance and behavior of the Prime despite the higher resolution display.
Portability and form factor are just as good as always. Despite moving to a higher resolution panel, device thickness increased by no more than 0.1mm. There's no increase in battery capacity as a result, which does hurt battery life. Video playback is still fine at over 10 hours, it's really the general use and 3D workloads that take the biggest hit. By keeping the form factor constant, however, ASUS guarantees the Infinity is just as easy to port around as its predecessors. Although the dock is nice, there's something about just carrying around an ultra thin, ultra light tablet that feels so comfortable.
While improved features and higher resolutions are nice, it's equally as important that ASUS delivers all of this without an increase in price. The Infinity was originally talked about as a $599+ device, but falling panel costs and increased competitive pressure dictated that $499 would be the actual starting point. Availability isn't scheduled until mid-July however, which actually brings us to our only issue with the Infinity: it doesn't run Windows 8.
Android does quite well as a tablet and smartphone OS, but it seems to fall short as a notebook OS. To really use the Infinity to its potential is to use it in combination with the Transformer Dock. While docked, the Infinity is good, but I suspect the overall experience with Windows 8 will just be better. Current estimates put Windows 8 based tablets out in early Q4, which isn't all that far away from the July 16th launch week for the Infinity.
If you're a fan of Android tablets, the Transformer Pad Infinity will likely be one of the best options when it arrives. You get a good, thin, tablet form factor with a nice high resolution display and functional WiFi/GPS. But if you're really interested in having a tablet that can really perform as a notebook, you may want to wait for the ASUS Tablet 600, 810 and Transformer Book. The hybrid tablet/notebook market is one that Windows 8 seems perfectly suited for, and ASUS now has a lot of experience under its belt in building devices for that market. When those two meet, I suspect only good things will happen.
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Screammit - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
sadly, "tinkering" for 90% of the public is to change their background picture.Belard - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
" I’m only afraid they will end up being too schizophrenic for that, trying to do it all and ending up doing nothing well enough for people to give a shit."BINGO!
andrewaggb - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
Personally I haven't been able to use either for work. The TF + dock is almost usable, but it doesn't have enough of the apps I use (I don't want lame substitutes) and ultimately the tf+dock is almost a netbook... so I just use my much more powerful laptop. The ipad is not work worthy. And apple doesn't try to market it that way, so I'm ok with that. I love the ipad for what it is, instant-on, relax on the couch.Surface may be suitable for light work, though I'm not sure how it will work in your lap, so the asus version will probably be better. But I suspect it'll take a good year for the apps to be available for ARM, so at launch I'd be looking at an x86 version... and it doesn't look like AMD or Intel has a tablet winner SOC for the fall. Ivy Bridge will do, but haswell would have been better. And an ultra low voltage trinity maybe?
I'm not certain that when the dust settles I'm going to want to work on a tablet with a keyboard anyways. I like the idea of one less device, but maybe it's a dream. I think phone,tablet,laptop,desktop,xbox/appletv, all play a somewhat different role and I'll probably keep buying all of them.
I like the concept of running windows 8 on everything, but I'm currently mixing android,apple,and lots of microsoft and I'm getting along just fine :-)
kmmatney - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
" BUT what disadvantages do you get? On Android I have none, except of voiding my warranty."I have my iPad 2 Jailbroken, and there are no disadvantages - at least none that I've ever come across. The advantage is being able to install RetinaPad, iFile, NES emulators with Wiimote support, and a few UI customization apps.
DeciusStrabo - Tuesday, June 26, 2012 - link
My iPad 2 slowed down a lot when I jailbroke it and installed some jailbroken software. It was rather annoying and the reason I went back into Apple's golden cage. No such issue with rooted/custom-ROM Android, where you rather see a stability and speed increase, not a decrease.BabelHuber - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
I miss tests of actual games on the TF Infinity.The TF Prime is a real joy in this regard. Shadowgun, GTA3, Max Payne, N:OV.A. 3, everything is running smooth like butter, but only at 720p.
How does the TF Infinity play these games? With its 1080p resolution the GPU has much more to do, especially the Pixel Shaders.
So, does the higher-clocked Tegra 3 with its enhanced bandwith compensate for the higher screen resolution?
XZerg - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
^^ when?bleh0 - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
I love the form factor of the Transformer series but it needs RT. With Nvidia being the ARM partner for Microsoft at the moment we might see better battery life and performance out of RT then under Android. As always I'll be waiting patiently for the Anandtech review when the device is released.jwcalla - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
Maybe slapping Ubuntu for Android would help seal the deal on this thing. You get the "hybrid device" feel that Windows is going for, plus you have the Android app ecosystem to work with.Quad-core Cortex A15s will be interesting as you could run two operating systems (like Ubuntu and Android) simultaneously. And Ubuntu is surprisingly mature and smooth on ARM w/ GPU acceleration.
riottime - Monday, June 25, 2012 - link
it's alright tablet but i'll wait for win8 surface. i own ep121 and it's still working great with i5 cpu. i might just upgrade the os on it to win8 when that comes out instead of buying a brand new 'surface' tablet. as for android, my samsung player 4 is sufficient. :)