We go hands-on with the ASUS ZenPad 7!

Last night ASUS officially unveiled their three new tablets unto the PH market – the ZenPad C Z170CG, Z370CG and the 8-inch ZenPad S Z580CA. Today, we’re mainly focusing on the 7-inch, ZenPad Z170CG and Z370CG for this hands-on. Both 7-inch ZenPads are near identical, with the main differences being RAM, display and camera resolution.

ASUS Zenpad Z370CG specs

• Intel Atom x3-C3230 quad-core processor
• 2GB of RAM
• 7-inch, WXGA display with Gorilla Glass protection, 1280 x 800 resolution
• 16GB of internal storage
• 8-megapixel rear camera with AF
• 2-megapixel front camera
• 3G
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, GLONASS, Miracast
• Android 5.0 with ZenUI
• 13Wh Li-polymer battery

ASUS Zenpad C Z170CG specs

• Intel Atom x3 C3230 quad-core processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 7-inch WSVGA IPS display, 1024 x 620 resolution
• 16GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD
• 2-megapixel rear camera
• VGA front facing camera
• Dual-SIM
• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Miracast
• Android 5.0 Lollipop with ZenUI

First Impressions: impressive build quality and customization options despite the low price tag

It’s not hard to see what ASUS is trying to achieve with their ZenPad line of tablets. With a tagline “luxury at your own terms”, it’s obvious that the company is targeting the low end of the market with visually striking device with bottom of the barrel pricing. While the ZenPad 7 obviously possesses a 7-inch display, it’s more rectangular compared to an iPad, which tells you that it sports a 16:10 display ratio compared to the iPad’s 4:3.

While the front of the ZenPad 7 is unremarkable (with just the display and front facing camera on it, the tablet uses on-screen capacitive keys), the back of the tablet is where the magic is. The ZenPad 7 uses a textured, plastic back. The lower-end Zenpad 7 (Z170CG) gets a non-removable back cover while the cover of the higher end Z370CG can be removed and swapped out with other colors. The textured back looks and feels a little like faux leather, but is harder and slightly less elegant. Overall build quality is typical ASUS, which is to say superb.

Both tablets run on Android 5.0 Lollipop with ASUS’ ZenUI on top, though the display resolution of both tablets are different. The higher-end Z370CG has a resolution of 1280 x 800 and Gorilla Glass protection, while the lower-end Z170CG has a WSVGA 1024 x 620 panel and no GG protection that we could see. While both tablets are powered by Intel’s new SoFIA processor and sport dual-SIM and 3G capabilities, the higher end Z370CG has 2GB of RAM compared to the Z170CG’s 1GB.

Looking at the two variants side-by-side, the pixelation on the Z170CG’s lower resolution display is very apparent, something that’s not that much of a problem with the higher end Z370CG. If you’re choosing between the two we highly recommend just buying the higher end Z370CG, as you get a better display, more RAM, better camera and the option to change out the back cover to different colors – all missing from the lower-end Z170CG.

Both the Z170CG and the Z370CG are now available in stores, priced at Php 5,995 and Php 7,995 respectively.