Asus Transformer Pad Infinity 700 Review

Compared to the standard version of Asus Transformer Prime, the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity 700 has modified physical design and an improved screen. It comes in WiFi and 3G versions, which somewhat annoyingly have different processors; the WiFi version is quad core and the 3G dual-core. Prepare to shell out a fair amount of cash as the tablet may cost $600 or above.

Visually, the Infinity doesn’t deviate significantly from the original Transformer Prime, which managed to look really sleek while being sufficiently durable. The Infinity keeps the same physical characteristics, such as similar metal construction, which doesn’t creak like other plastic tablets.    You may notice one difference at the back of the Infinity, the outer chassis has been modified to fix Wi-Fi and GPS issues reported by users of Transformer Prime. One important area that has been improved is the screen. The 10” display of Transformer Prime has 1200 x 800 pixels resolution that was very vivid and extremely bright. With the Infinity, Asus has upped the stake with 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution (WUXGA), which is even more impressive.

The original Transformer Prime shipped with Honeycomb and with the Infinity, you don’t need to wait for an update because it already uses Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The Infinity will be released in three variants, Wi-Fi only, 3G and 4G; the 3G model has dual-core Snapdragon processor and the WiFi model Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor. When asked why they use different processors, Asus argued unconvincingly that dual-core processor works better with 3G capability. Overall, the Transformer Pad Infinity adds really nice tweaks to the already superb Transformer Prime, the modified chassis and a display with higher resolution. While it’s among the best Android tablets in the market, the bizarre processor difference may leave many frustrated.