Asus Transformer Book Flip TP200SA Convertible Review

The TP200SA looks quite stylish thanks to a brushed metal display lid in "Dark Blue" with "Crystal Silver" as the only other color option. According to Asus, the finish is both durable and scratch resistant. Of course we couldn't put that statement to the test, but we have to note here that the lid is an absolute magnet for fingerprints and thus very tough to keep smudge-free. Inside, the convertible can't deny its budget-origin with a plastic keyboard deck carrying over the design from the lid. The rather prominent bezel is covered by the protective glass screen. Having a larger bezel is not a drawback: in tablet mode there's enough room for the thumb to hold the unit without accidentally triggering inputs. The bottom of the convertible is black and smooth unfinished plastic. The hinge mechanism, which has been tested to 20K actuations according to Asus, is hidden by a long plastic cover which flexes a bit much when holding the convertible with its lid closed at the spine. Even though it opening the display requires both hands, we found the overall hinge stiffness lacking somewhat, as tapping at the display induces noticeable bouncing and even occasional angle changes.

While the lid is quite sturdy and resilient to pressure, the base unit is quite thin - according to our calipers it measures 11 mm at the thickest point - and twists rather easily while protesting with creaking sounds. Holding the convertible on the bottom left corner revealed one additional weakness: every time we handled the TP200SA that way, the first left click afterwards required more pressure and the pad emitted a more pronounced "click". A closer inspection revealed that the lower left edge of the touchpad-surface lifts up slightly when the case is twisted by holding it at the left corner and the mechanism catches somewhere internally, which in turn means that the more pressure is required to overcome the initial resistance. We don't know if all TP200-models are affected the same way nor do we know if that behavior is even a reason for concern, but we thought we should point it out. Overall build quality is very decent though with tight tolerances and smooth material transitions. At 1188 grams, the TP200SA is noticeably lighter than the budget-competition; only the Lenovo Yoga 3 11 - which costs about twice as much as our review convertible - weighs about 100 grams less. The HP Stream 11 X360 tips the scale at 1550 grams - a whopping 30 % more.

With its 360 degree hinge design, the Transformer Book Flip TP200SA supports four different modes: notebook, stand mode, tend mode and tablet. Asus FlipLock automatically disables the keyboard and the touchpad when the screen is tilted back beyond 180 degrees. Since there is no rubber bumper surrounding the bezel or the base unit, the TP200SA slides around quite easily on slick surfaces while in tent mode, so care needs to be taken to avoid costly accidents.

Thanks to the decent enough brightness, which fortunately does not decrease when the convertible is running on battery power and the fairly high contrast ratio, the Transformer Book Flip is suitable for outdoor use as well. Direct sunlight should be avoided, since the glare-type screen is highly reflective, but working in the shade or on overcast days is possible as long as the display is adjusted properly. 

Thanks to the superior IPS technology, the viewing angle stability of the Transformer Book Flip TP200SA is quite decent, although we did notice some dimming of the screen at more extreme angles. Still, the screen content remains visible and readable even if a user should venture way off to one side, so sharing the screen with friends to watch a movie is possible without restrictions. Convertibles with TN screens like the HP Stream 11 x360 don't work nearly as well in the above scenario.

To check the behavior under extreme conditions, we subject review notebooks to our stress test. With just Prime95 running, the CPU was able to maintain its maximum Turbo-speed of 2.16 GHz for extended periods of time with the CPU cores never exceeding 63 degrees C. With only Furmark active, the GPU generally maintained clock speeds of between 380 and 400 MHz - so shy of the maximum of 600 MHz. The temperature of the SoC stabilized at around 68 degrees after 10 minutes or so and did not change further.

With both Prime95 and Furmark running in parallel, we saw a drop of the CPU speed from about 1600 MHz down to 480 MHz after about 10 minutes with the GPU again at 400 MHz with dips to 380 MHz. The temperature rose briefly to 73 degrees C but stabilized at 68 degrees soon after. The bottom line here is that the SoC is subjected to fairly heavy CPU throttling when the CPU and the GPU are stressed simultaneously. Asus probably had to make that design choice to keep the temperatures of the fanless convertible in check.

The stereo speakers are located on the bottom on the left and right front corners The maximum volume is adequate and the sound quality actually better than expected with decent highs and lows - even the bass is not completely lacking. Responsible for the good sound is the Asus AudioWizard EQ software, which can't be customized, but offers various presets for Music, Movie, Recording, Gaming and Speech Mode.

Asus promises a battery life of "up to 8 hours". During our WLAN-test, a script calls up various websites every 40 seconds until the battery is depleted. With the balanced profile enabled and the screen set to 150 nits, the convertible kept running for about 8 hours and 45 minutes. With the screen dimmed even more, we think that 10 hours should be achievable - an excellent result which surpasses the manufacturer's claim. The downward spikes in the screenshot on the right occurred in different spots every time we ran our test. So far, we have no explanation for this behavior. The Acer Aspire R11 R3-131T lasted about 2 hours longer browsing the web - not surprising, since its battery is significantly larger (50 Wh vs. 38 Wh). Still, the TP200SA should last most users an entire work day.

The slim-and-light Asus Transformer Book Flip TP200SA differs in many ways from the predecessor Transformer Book 200TA Convertible. One thing hasn't changed though: Asus still uses an IPS display despite the low price of $350. Other budget 2-in-1 convertibles cost close to the same amount but come with inferior TN displays. The color accuracy is incredible given the price point and the screen brightness is very decent. With a USB 3.1 Type-C port, the TP200SA is future-ready as well. The Braswell Celeron SoC has enough power for basic tasks, but is of course not suitable for demanding applications or gaming. The battery life exceeds the manufacturer's claims and thanks to the fanless design, the Transformer Book Flip remains noiseless. Decent input devices round out the package. 

We do wish Asus would offer additional versions of the TP200SA with more storage space. While 64 GB might look sufficient initially, it doesn't take long for the drive to fill up. We also don't know as to why we weren't able to successfully run certain benchmark tests. The performance of the little convertible seems to be on par with similarly equipped competitors otherwise and we never experienced any problems during normal use. The stability of the base unit could also be improved, but for a budget-device, we can't complain too much here.

For the given price point, the Asus Transformer Book Flip TP200SA is hard to beat and definitely worth taking a look at.