Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 Review

Camera 
The Prime comes with a beefed up 8MP camera and an LED flash. Although it doesn’t have a BSI sensor, the quality is pretty close to or equal to the one on the new iPad. The interface hasn’t been touched which again, is fine since ICS has a pretty good camera software anyways. The shooter is able to capture very good indoor shots without the flash. Panorama mode works very well too. Pictures look even better outdoors under natural light. Touch to focus is present as well and the Prime was able to get some pretty good macro shots.

Slick camera interface

The camera also handles 1080p video recording and playback like a champ. The frame rate is solid at roughly 30fps and motion is rarely jerky or stuttery, unless and untill you’re moving around fast. 

Camera Samples

With flash and 'Indoor' scene mode

Outdoor shot

Captures very good detail

Battery Life 

Since this doesn’t have a 3G SIM slot, we just ran our video drain test. During this time, the brightness was set to medium and Wi-Fi was on. We managed to get about 7hrs of playback time from the tablet alone and once we plugged it into the dock, it charged the Prime to about 44 percent so we were able to get another 4hrs from this which gives us a grand total of 11hrs. Surprisingly, this is roughly the same time we got with the older Transformer as well which is really good since despite the increase in processing power, the battery life has remained more or less the same. 

Verdict 

The Transformer Prime TF201 is currently being sold for Rs.49,999, although you can find it in online store like Flipkart for Rs.46,000. While it’s expensive for a non-3G tablet, it’s a very good upgrade from the previous version but we still wouldn’t recommend buying this now, especially when the Transformer Pad 300 has launched. This is a very similar tablet to the Prime in features and specs plus, it’s also 3G ready and a bit cheaper as well. Asus has yet to launch this tablet in India so we’d recommend waiting for it if you’re on a tight budget and want 3G. Remember that the storage capacity will be lesser and it won’t have the IPS+ display but other than that, it’s going to be the same. Hopefully, once that launches the price of the Prime will drop, which will make it a better buy.

Specifications 

Specifications (Click for a larger Image)