The new tablet is called the ZenPad 3 8.0, and is basically a smaller version of the ZenPad 3S 10. It also acts as an alternative to the ZenPad Z8, which is only available to Verizon customers and has many of the same specs.
There are a few really cool features provided by this tablet — for example, it has multi-touch support through Asus’ Tru2Life+ technology, and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 chipset. And while it only has 2GB of RAM, a 4GB version of the tablet will reportedly be available at a later date. The device comes with either 16GB or 32GB of storage, however you’ll also get 5GB of Asus web storage, and 100GB of Google Drive storage. If you’re really into local storage, there’s also a microSD card slot.
When it comes to the camera, the new slate offers an 8MP rear-facing camera and a 2MP front-facing one. Sure, those cameras aren’t spectacular, but it’s a tablet, so you may not need a great camera anyway. Other specs include a USB-C port, Bluetooth 4.0, stereo speakers, a headphone jack, and support for 3G and 4G networks.
Unfortunately we don’t have any details about pricing and availability just yet, however the Verizon model costs $250 with many of the same specs, so it’s likely that the base version of the new tablet will be somewhere in that ballpark.
As mentioned, Asus has been trying to make a dent in the tablet market of late. The company traditionally hasn’t played a very big role in this space, but its new tablets have certainly been impressive, and if it keeps releasing devices of tis caliber and at this price point, it could certainly be a bigger player.
