Asus MeMO Pad 10 Review

The Asus MeMO Pad 10 is one of those tablets poised to be seen in the affordable price point. It packs a decent set of internals – from the 10-inch HD display to the software and the Rockchip CPU; does it have what it takes to be a must buy? Read on our review to find out.

Design and Construction

At first touch, the MeMO Pad feels very solid, light and well-constructed. It is made out of matte rubbery plastic material on the back and we really like it as it doesn’t feel cheap. However, the impression it left with us is quite uninspiring as it’s a design that doesn’t stand out compared with Asus’ other products with metallic finishes and circular patterns.

The usual elements are found on both the front and the back – the logos and the cameras. On the left side, you’ll find the micro USB port and the volume rocker near the power button while on the right side are the ports for the audio jack and the micro SD card slot.

One extra thing to note: it comes with a stand

Because it is made out of non-glossy material, it managed to hold itself against dirt. It feels far from premium but it does its job very well for something in the price point.

Display

The 10.1 inch display on the MeMO Pad 10 actually does well with a resolution of 1280 x 800. It’s decently sharp, it’s responsive and the colors are on the average side (deeper blacks would be appreciated). Viewing angles were wide too.

Overall, the screen passes our standards, but it’s far from great. In an era where affordable 7-inch tablets with 1080p displays are possible, a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 display can be quite underwhelming.

OS, Apps and UI

The Asus MeMO Pad 10 runs Android 4.2.2 Jellybean with the company’s software on top of it. I’ve used the software on the Asus Transformer Prime before and I have to say that the updates to the skinning are really incremental. The icons now look cleaner and more uniform, the notification system is cleaner, the camera UI is swift and many more. Quick shortcuts can also be found on the bottom left side along with the onscreen buttons which are nice to have.

As usual, you’ll find Asus’ other adjustments and additions – Audio Wizard, Cloud, SuperNote, App Locker and more. I can’t guarantee that you will use all, but you’ll find your way using most.

Multimedia & Camera

The speakers on the Asus MeMO Pad 10 are quite weak for a tablet since we’re bound to expect loud and rich sounds. It has been okay for the most part, but it’s not far compared to phones such as my Nexus 5. The good thing is, you can play around with Asus’ custom settings to find out which mode suits your experience most.

As for the camera, I want to cut it short. At 2 megapixels and as one mounted on a tablet, it’s there and it shoots photos and video. Is it good? Well, the new camera interface is good. The cameras are only there just in case.

Performance & Benchmarks

One of the things we don’t see very often here is the 1.6GHz quad-core Rockchip 3188 CPU paired with 1GB RAM and a Mali 400 GPU. In our testing, there was an obvious amount of lag especially when breezing through the intensive parts of Asus’ skin such as the floating apps.

• Antutu: 19,146
• Quadrant: 5,087
• 3DMark Ice Storm: 4,124

Based on the benchmark scores, I guess the stutters should be blamed equally on the CPU, the RAM and the GPU. Mali 400 is quite aged and based on our use, Rockchip doesn’t make much of a difference. It’s good though, but it’s not buttery smooth.

Battery Life

I’ve had a very short experience with the longevity of the Asus MeMO Pad 10 as I didn’t take much notice on the battery when I had it in hand. The only time I focused was when I was about to do the battery test and the results had my head scratching.

On our battery test of looping video on 50% brightness and 50% audio volume, we managed to drain around 35% in five hours. Scaled, that would equate to more than 10 hours of video watching from a full charge which is quite impressive.

Conclusion

For something priced at Php13,995, it’s really a good tablet especially if you compare it to other 10-inchers. Nothing spectacular, but it offers a decent mix of each and every element. However, look over smaller tablets and there might be more competition to consider. Asus has a very good portfolio of smaller tablets if you check them out and we’re guessing most of those can work just as well or even better. But then, if you need the extra inches in size, this will give you a good ride.

Asus MemoPad 10 (ME102A) specs:
10.1-inch IPS LCD display @ 1280×800 pixels
1.6GHz RockChip 3188 ARM Cortex A9 quad-core processor
Mali 400 MP4 Graphics
1GB RAM
8GB/16GB internal storage
up to 64GB microSD card
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 3.0
micro USB 2.0
A-GPS with GLONASS
2MP rear camera
1.2MP front-facing camera
Li-Ion 5,070mAh battery
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
256 x 174.6 x 10.5mm (dimensions)
522 grams (weight)

What we liked about it:

• Solid build and construction
• Good battery life
• Polished software

What we didn’t like about it:

• Occasional stutters
• Display can be better