The ASUS ZenPad S (Z580CA) Review
by Brandon Chester on August 31, 2015 8:00 AM ESTGPU Performance
Rather than using Intel’s HD series iGPUs, the Atom Z3530 and Z3580 SoCs in both versions of the ZenPad S use Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR G6430 GPU. Since this implementation is identical to the one in the ZenFone 2 it’s not likely we’ll see a large gap in absolute performance. However, the larger chassis of the ZenPad may allow it to dissipate heat more effectively, which could help performance in long-term sustained workloads. It’s also worth noting that the less expensive Atom Z3530 model of the ZenPad S will suffer from reduced performance in GPU heavy workloads due to the 1GHz reduction in max CPU clock compared to the $299 model, as well as the drop in GPU speed from 533MHz to 457MHz.
In 3DMark we actually see a noticeable gap between the ZenPad S and the ZenFone 2. The latter ends up scoring around 2000 points higher in both sub-tests, which leads to an overall score which is also around 2000 points higher. I would mostly attribute this to software differences rather than any issues with throttling, and the next tests will help to confirm that assumption.
The ZenPad S doesn’t perform as well as the ZenFone 2 in BaseMark X’s on screen tests, which isn’t surprising given that it’s pushing 1.6 million more pixels. In the off screen tests we see both devices perform roughly equally, and this is reflected in the overall score. In other reviews, such as my review of the Dell Venue 8 and Venue 10 I mentioned that G6430 is a bit slow compared to the competition at that price point. For a $299 it fits perfectly, and coincidentally a lower clocked version of it is what’s used in the iPad Mini 2 which is also $299.
In GFXBench we again see the ZenPad S performs worse than the ZenFone 2 at its native resolution, but the overall GPU power of the two devices is equal. Like the Venue 8 and Venue 10, the PowerVR G6430 implementation in Atom Z3580 outperforms Apple’s A7 by a significant degree in the T-Rex HD test, but not in any other.
It’s clear from our tests that the GPU performance of the ZenPad S Z580CA is roughly the same as Apple’s iPad Mini 2. Since both devices have the same price, the ZenPad S is right where it needs to be in this regard. Performance in programs running at a device’s native resolution will obviously be slower than the ZenFone 2 due to the ZenPad S’s higher resolution, but I think G6430 provides more than adequate performance to run the display, and is the best you’ll be able to find in a $299 device right now.
NAND Performance
The performance of a mobile device's internal storage can have a significant impact on performance. When any applications are performing reads or writes in the background, a low NAND solution can cause the tasks the user is currently performing to grind to a halt. On top of that, there are fairly obvious implications for the time it takes to move music, movies, pictures, and other media to and from the device.
Both random read and random write speeds on the ZenPad S are very good for a mobile device. In both cases it ends up being the fastest tablet on record.
The sequential read speed on the ZenPad S is good for a $299 device, and the sequential write speed is actually the fastest we've seen in an Android tablet. However, it's disappointing to see that Android devices can now adopt USB 3.0 without terrible connectors by using USB Type-C, yet they still have NAND that won't even saturate a USB 2.0 link in the best possible scenario. Relative to the NAND in other Android devices the ZenPad S performs well, but the speed of eMMC flash memory still leaves much to be desired.
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DanNeely - Tuesday, September 1, 2015 - link
They get enough loaners to keep the review queue in a constant backlog (see periodic comment rage about the review of X, Y, and Z being delayed). If ad revenue ever got to the point that they could hire enough reviewers that they didn't have anything to review at times a shopping trip might make sense; but they don't and probably never will.Even if that did happen, Sony probably wouldn't be the recipient because they've almost entirely abandoned the US market. If you're bound and determined to have one you can get it; but for 99% of the consumers who read the articles and let the ads load (aka the people who actually make the site money) Sony is irrelevant because it's not something they can find in the store.
MrSavage - Tuesday, September 1, 2015 - link
Interesting Dan. Thanks for the insight!Michael REMY - Thursday, September 3, 2015 - link
well, i can believe what i read. you wait for the brand to provide you the device that you review. it is a leak of independence, don't you think ? can't you just buy it on amazon, try it, write your review then get your refund and return the product ?Seriously, for your own knoewledge, you should have test for yourself the last model of sony tablet to win&earn another point of view (better) on samsung tablet or asus zenPad.
IanHagen - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
I'm really glad 4:3 aspect ratio won the battle. It's so much more useful in a tablet.911electronic - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Nice specification but still i dont know what about battery. It is important for most of the users.DanNeely - Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - link
Page 8 Battery Life and Charge Time. 7 hours on the wifi browsing test is a very poor result.aldenf - Friday, September 4, 2015 - link
Maybe I need to turn in my geek card. I see no benefit whatsoever of such resolutions in an 8" form-factor. The way I use tablets, I prefer the 4:3 ratio. So this is great. I spend far too many hours sitting 30" from my 24" 19x12 IPS, calibrated with a ColorMunki, working in Photoshop and Premiere. With an 8" display, at an 18" distance, I see no benefit above 1280x1024. On the contrary; brightness, performance and battery life suffer significantly. I've used most of what is currently available on the market and don't get the insistence of pushing higher resolutions at 8". I own two 8" tablets; an 800x600 Android and 1024x768 iPad Mini. 800x600 is borderline rough but 1024x768 is pretty good. 1280x1024 seems ideal. Why do we suck up all the marketing baloney? Bigger isn't always better. More isn't always more. It's not the resolution that we discern as better, it's simply that they're usually higher quality displays. Drop the Asus' resolution to 1280x1024, keep the high quality, do a reasonable calibration from the factory, drop the price to $250 and you have a darned nice Android tablet to last a couple of years. Really, what more do we want?nitram_tpr - Wednesday, September 9, 2015 - link
Another vote for widescreen tablets for me, it is all I've ever used (still using a transformer prime). I do watch a lot of medie on my device while I'm travelling / commuting. I tried it on the wife's iPad and got fed up with the huge black bars. Full screening it is like watching an old CRT, so I'm glad there are still the widescreen options out there.To all the people whining and bitching about this tablet, are you actually pissed off because you wanted to buy it, or are you just joining in with the bitch fest?
If it isn't 4:3 don't buy it, end of.
er0k - Monday, September 28, 2015 - link
Hello: My Zenpad 8.0 S is only two days old, out of the box. I cannot seem to charge it. I charged it for many hours yesterday only to find it with a dead battery. I moved it to several different outlets, tried different cables and chargers that work with other devices and worked with it previously, to no avail. It will show the battery charging icon, but does not appear to actually charge. Any ideas? Thanks.System Optimizer - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - link
er0k,Did you ever get your charging issue solved. Did you try connecting to charge off a computer (if you have USB ports that charge, and the appropriate wire)? Did you hold in the power button and one of the volume buttons to force a reset on the device? (I have an old Archos 80 Titanium tablet, and once I thought it wasn't charging, and was dead, but in reality it was charged and was reporting improper information and the forced reboot resolved the issue). I don't know the z580's reset process, but I expect its something similar.