Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA First Impressions
For the original German preview, see here.
At the time of writing, it's only been a few minutes since the introduction of the Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA – how it is officially called. However, we have already had our hands on the test model for a few hours longer and, thus, already got first impressions of the new flagship tablet of the Taiwanese at the official launch. Asus obviously aims at the established competition from Apple, Samsung, and Sony with the very slim 8-inch tablet. However, it cannot challenge the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact for the slimmest tablet of its size. We will discuss how the ZenPad S 8.0 performs compared to the competition in an in-depth review soon. In the following, we will describe our first impressions.
First Impressions
The front side of the Asus ZenPad S 8.0 looks like any other tablet's, at least almost. The frame on the long sides is quite small. Thus, the 8-inch tablet appears to be compact overall. In addition, it is very comfortable in the hand. The low weight of about 300 grams has a positive effect here. But, the Sony Xperia Tablet Z3 Compact is better in this aspect. However, the latter's case lacks stability. Unfortunately, the Asus flagship is not different. Despite flawless build quality and comfortable haptics of the plastic used, the stability is not convincing. Side-to-side twisting leads to creaking and image errors. Apparently, looks were more important than quality for Asus' engineers. The rear side of the ZenPad is really nice to look at. With its two different textures and a minimal gap between the rough and the smooth surface, it almost looks like a modern handbag. It remains to be seen whether the rear side is also handy in everyday use. We suspect that the minimal gap will attract smudges. In addition, a completely rough back side would certainly have been grippier. Overall, our first verdict on the case is: beautiful, yet not flawless.
Asus did not make compromises in features. The ZenPad S 8.0 is driven by an Intel Atom Z3580, i.e. a very powerful quad-core processor with a clock rate of up to 2.33 GHz. Probably the Moorefield-based chip no longer belongs to the absolute high-end elite in terms of performance. However, it should be sufficient for all possible demands. The processor is combined with a PowerVR G6430 from Imagination. At the time of its introduction, it was one of the fastest available GPUs. Currently, we classify it as upper mid-range. In terms of RAM capacity, the Asus ZenPad S 8.0 is unrivaled. No other tablet comes with as much as 4 GB so far. However, OnePlus was faster in the smartphone range with the OnePlus 2. The internal storage of our test model has a capacity of 64 GB. Variants with 16 and 32 GB are available, too. Regardless of the variant, the storage capacity can be expanded by up to 128 GB with a microSD card. Furthermore, 100 GB free storage at Google Drive for two years is included. The ZenPad is available in white and black. At the IFA press conference, Asus stayed tight-lipped about the price. The ZenPad S 8.0 might start from 270 Euros (~$300). This might hold true for the 16 GB model without LTE. Our 64 GB model will certainly be significantly more expensive. We are eagerly waiting for more information about the price.
The other features of the ZenPad are also nothing to sneeze at. For example, it comes with a high-res IPS display with a resolution of 2048x1536 pixels. In addition, there are fast ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1, quite high-res cameras, and stereo speakers with DTS HD. The tablet is charged via USB type C, which also supports USB 3.0. Android 5.0 Lollipop, which Asus enhanced with its Zen UI, is used as operating system.
Cameras & Multimedia
The Asus ZenPad S 8.0 brings impressive cameras for a tablet. While 8 MP at the rear is usual in the tablet upper class, the front camera sets a new standard in the tablet segment with 5 MP and an f/2.0 aperture. Our time with the device was too short to say much about the image quality. Just this: Focusing is pleasingly fast and reliable. Shots are also good when the sky is overcast. Colors are quite bright, probably almost a bit exaggerated. Sharpness and contrast are alright, too - even more for a tablet. However, slight noise is already visible in the image of the overcast sky.
Display
Asus did not go for the best possible display options. Nevertheless, IPS and Retina resolution (2048x1536 pixels) do not sound like a cost-cutting model. The Apple iPad Mini 3 has the same features and there were no big complaints about its display in our review. This mainly also holds true for the Asus ZenPad S 8.0, which uses a 4:3 aspect ratio. The display already left a good subjective impression. Colors appear natural and still vivid. The sharpness is quite high. Thus even fine structures are acceptably detailed. Asus allows configuring the color temperature according to your preferences and provides several presets. We only checked the display out-of-the-box for this preview.
The tuning is already quite good, as is proved by the first tests with our spectrophotometer. Deviation of gray levels and colors is already relatively low. The color temperature is slightly too high. Our review will show whether the panel can be further improved with manual settings. Certainly, the other measurement data will not change. The brightness is on par with the Apple iPad Mini 3's with a maximum of 377 cd/m2. While it is certainly not extremely high, it will be sufficient in most scenarios. This gives a great contrast of 997:1 together with the very good black value of 0.37 cd/m2. We did not like the brightness distribution of only 86% that much. The brightness significantly falls towards the corners. However, in practice this is only notable in very homogeneous images and does not have an impact on the overall good impression.
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Brightness Distribution: 86 %
Center on Battery: 369 cd/m²
Contrast: 997:1 (Black: 0.37 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 5.58 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 4.67 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
86% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
70% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
Gamma: 2.25
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA PowerVR G6430, Z3580, 64 GB SSD | Apple iPad Mini 3 PowerVR G6430, A7, 16 GB eMMC Flash | Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact Adreno 330, 801 MSM8974AC, 16 GB eMMC Flash | Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 Mali-T628 MP6, 5420 Octa, 16 GB eMMC Flash | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Screen | -5% | -7% | 12% | |
Brightness middle | 369 | 357 -3% | 531 44% | 258 -30% |
Brightness | 346 | 344 -1% | 518 50% | 261 -25% |
Brightness Distribution | 86 | 86 0% | 91 6% | 91 6% |
Black Level * | 0.37 | 0.61 -65% | 0.66 -78% | |
Contrast | 997 | 585 -41% | 805 -19% | |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.58 | 3.35 40% | 6.29 -13% | 3.66 34% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 4.67 | 2.09 55% | 7.04 -51% | 2.51 46% |
Gamma | 2.25 98% | 2.4 92% | 2.78 79% | 2.22 99% |
CCT | 7927 82% | 6851 95% | 8600 76% | 6450 101% |
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 70 | 55 -21% | 73.75 5% | 100 43% |
Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 86 |
* ... smaller is better
Performance
The technological basis of the Asus ZenPad S 8.0 is a modern quad-core processor from Intel. The Atom Z3580 clocks at up to 2.33 GHz and should deliver more than sufficient performance. This also holds true for the graphics unit. The PowerVR G6430 should also be able to handle all of today's tasks without problems. Due to the short time for this preview, we could only run a few tests. But, the results are remarkable. Asus definitely backs the right horse. The ZenPad S 8.0 can keep up with its strong competition or even best it in all disciplines. For example, it is on par with Sony and Samsung in Geekbench 3, only the Apple iPad Mini plays in a higher league here. But already in AnTuTu v5, the ZenPad strikes back impressively and outclasses all devices in its comparison group. The performance of the graphics unit is remarkable, too. While Apple, Samsung and Sony perform more or less better in 3DMark, the ZenPad is ahead in the off-screen evaluation of the Manhattan test in GFXBench 3.0.
In addition, it achieves very high results in the tests of the internal storage and the browser performance. Together with Google Chrome 44, the Asus ZenPad partly achieves absolute top results. This is also notable in practice.
Geekbench 3 | |
32 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Apple iPad Mini 3 | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
32 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Apple iPad Mini 3 | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 |
AnTuTu v5 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Apple iPad Mini 3 | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 |
3DMark - 1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Apple iPad Mini 3 | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 |
GFXBench 3.0 - 1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Apple iPad Mini 3 | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 |
AndroBench 3-5 | |
Sequential Read 256KB (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
Sequential Write 256KB (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
Random Read 4KB (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 | |
Random Write 4KB (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 |
Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Apple iPad Mini 3 | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 |
Browsermark - 2.1 (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 |
Sunspider - 1.0 Total Score (sort by value) | |
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 Z580CA | |
Apple iPad Mini 3 | |
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact | |
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 |
* ... smaller is better
Preliminary Verdict
The brand new Asus ZenPad S 8.0 went through a first short review - and was almost completely convincing. The features leave hardly anything to be desired, and the performance is partly excellent and overall definitely more than sufficient by all means. The cameras are impressive for a tablet and first shots were not disappointing. On top of that, the tablet looks elegant and is light and compact. Is everything fine? Not fully. The poor stability does not meet the premium claim. However, this should not be a decisive factor.
So far, the Asus ZenPad S 8.0 does more than well and puts the strong competition in its place in several aspects. If our in-depth review does not reveal blatant flaws, an attack on our tablet charts is possible.