Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsI am very impressed with this small tablet; here some recommendations (Sept 2016 manual update for Marshmallow available)
Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2015
I opted for the 32GB /2GB version based in a couple of factors.
It has the STD micro B USB, having invested a lot in micro B USB cables at home and in the cars, and having about 10 devices (between all family members)using this type of connection at home, I did not wanted to bring a new plug-in adapter incompatible with the rest that I have; don take me wrong a believe the new micro USB-C to be great, but I will wait a couple of years until becomes the true standard in the industry and I have no choice but to adopt it.
32/2GB it’s enough for me for the next couple of years, I do a lot of reading, and play few light games with it, and I considered the tablet to be fast and responsive for what I do with it. I do not have a tendency to overload my devices with useless applications, which I hardly use.
For any device phone or tablet that you buy today, seriously consider your minimum specs to be 16GB/2GB for a light user and a minimum of 16GB micro SD, or for a medium user 32GB/2GB with a micro SD 32GBif you need more storage. Avoid 8GB /1GB ram it’s already too small, and you are wasting your money.
The tablet screen aspect ratio is excellent for reading, and it is light weight, some reviewers have pointed out that the screen may be dim under certain conditions or the appearance of a yellowish color when the brightness is set too low. It took me a couple of days to get accustom to it, but I realized that the soft tone is great for reading white pages at night with the lights off.
Price, after buying several expensive ($400 +) tablets and phones during the past years, I came to the conclusion that it was better to buy devices in the $200-$250 range, may be $300 max in some cases; technology, firmware and apps are constantly changing, and after a couple of years I ended with an old expensive device that lagged in all aspects. It is better to keep the price difference in your pocket, and change more often the devices. (But definitely I stay away from cheap low specs unknown brands devices; it is just throwing away money, avoid $100-$150 Phones or tables)
ASUS apps, yes there are a lot of them in it, but I can easily turn them off, as some of the Google apps that I do not use. Since I have different brand name devices, I decided to use Google apps as much as possible, so there is a better synchronization and standardization across all devices that we own at home.
As for the launcher I am using the Nova Launcher in all devices, the main advantages of this launcher is that I can back up the screen/desktop settings , resize the icons, icons letter size, and I am able to lock the desktop so no one can move or delete the icons as they are set on the screen. I highly recommend you the Nova Launcher.
Asus launcher UI, there is something good for those who are not technically inclined, and a standard Android UI maybe overwhelming. Asus provides with the choice Asus Easy Mode which is a simplified UI / Launcher, it is built-in in new Asus phones and tablets, but is is also available as a standalone app [...]
The link for the manual is below, in case you want to read about it.
Speaker sound quality and microphone is good for a Skype or Viber conversation, clear no noises, good for watching a YouTube video, as for music get a decent pair of headphones.
Two cameras, front and back, no flash. I do not talk much about a cameras in any tablet, for me are just an emergency camera, I prefer to use the one on my phone, it is very uncomfortable to take a picture with a tablet, which may end on the floor. So how many mega pixels and so on, you can check the specs, the only thing relevant for me in that department, is that it has a decent front and back camera for web call Skype or Viber. In case you ask the back camera is good for web calls, for example during a web call you want to show someone an item that you just bought. That is the reason for the 2 MP Front Camera and the 5 MP Rear Camera, there is no need for a million MP camera on a tablet.
Recommended Accessories
64 GB Samsung Evo micro SD, the price was very good $24. Amazon ASIN: B00IVPU7AO
TPU Case, I needed to protect the tablet, but also I wanted to add a little thickness to the tablet, it makes it more comfortable to hold it while reading Amazon ASIN: B0159GPWDE
Screen Protector Film - JOTO Anti Glare. The anti glare film is great for reading Amazon ASIN: B0131JDSC8
Asus on the web
Asus web: [...]
Asus manual: [...]
Asus specs: [...]
Why not a Samsung?, I have bought over 7 Samsung devices, they are great quality devices, but I got tired of the physical home button, the touchwiz, and the lack of updates, if you check in Amazon you will see that most of the 8 Samsung tablets still running android 4.4, and in my personal experience, I doubt that they will ever get to android 5, while android 6 is already on the market. Also of those Samsung 8 tablets that compare in price to the Assus, the Samsung have lower memory specs (ram and storage).
Then Samsung has a million different SKU / models for the same device, to a point that it becomes hard work to find which is the most recent / newest product , and to compare specs, and prices. I believe that if a manufacturer wants to confuse me with their product offering, I better skip them. ( I may end with an older discontinued item, with little or none tech support)
So for those reasons, at the present time I decided to pass on Samsung devices.
I hope you find my review helpful, Do you have a questions? let me know.
Update October 16, 2015
Connecting to weak WiFi signals
If you are trying to connect to a weak WiFi (you are far from the router) here is 3 things that you need to do
The tablet has better reception in portrait and landscape with the power and volume buttons facing down
Turn off power saving
Settings>WiFi>3dots menu>advanced>keep WiFi on during sleep>always
The battery will last less, but you have good chances of getting that weak signal. Remember to change back the settings, if you no longer need it.
Update September, 2016
Marshmallow Android 6 is available as a manual update, which requires you to download the firmware, and install it to the root directory, no OTA available.
link Asus [...]
Updates are available for Z580C for the (Z580CA look for the appropiate support link)
Update October 29, 2015
The tablet received a minor OTA update, still 5.0 android (total of 2 OTA updates, since I bought it)
Pay attention to this, the right way of holding the tablet in Landscape mode is with the power and volume buttons facing down. (you will get full wifi bars)
Also, the volume display on the screen will move/agree according to pressing + or - volume buttons.
