While the traditional tablet may be on its way out, Asus isn't quite ready to give up. So to inject some life into the tablet market, the new ZenPad 3S 10 sports a gorgeous 9.7-inch high-res QXGA display in a compact aluminum body and one of the smallest bezels you can get on a tablet.
Billed as an entertainment-focused mobile device, the ZenPad sports other media enhancing features such as virtual 7.1 surround sound audio thanks to DTS Headphone X technology, and High-Res Audio (HRA) support for full 24-bit audio playback. And when you don't have headphones plugged in, the ZenPad 3S 10 packs a total of 5 speakers to pump out the sound.
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Inside, the ZenPad 3S 10's specs aren't too shabby either. It's got a hexacore MediaTek 8176 CPU with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, as well as a microSD expanion if you need some extra space. And with the ZenPad's 5900 mAh battery, Asus says you should get up to 10 hours of video playback on a charge or 12 hours of web surfing over Wi-Fi. And with a USB-C port with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 tech, it'll recharge fast too.
The ZenPad isn't just for media consumption either. For people who want to create their own content, the ZenPad also supports Asus' Z Stylus pen, which offers artists a precision tool for drawing and sketching.
When I got a chance to check out the ZenPad as Asus' launch event at IFA, I really liked the tablets svelte 0.22-inch thick body, although I wished it had a few more upscale features such as a built-in fingerprint reader or an AMOLED screen instead of the IPS LCD display.
While we're still waiting on official pricing and availability for North America, with a European price of $379, we'd expect the ZenPad 3S 10 to cost between $350 and $400 when it hits the U.S.
