When Asus presented the new ZenPad S 8.0 at Computex in Taiwan we already brought you a comparative with the iPad mini 2, but since then something quite interesting has happened, and that is Asus has already launched a somewhat more modest version in the United States (The ZenPad S 8.0 Z580C) but still with many of its best features and with a much more affordable price, and this is the one that we are going to face this time with the tablet of Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), (Although from here on we will omit the reference “Z580C” for simplicity). As always, we remind you that if we choose to give all the prominence to the second generation of the iPad mini Instead of the third, it is because the only difference is the fingerprint reader and this simply raises the price by 100 euros, so we can only recommend taking advantage of the better price of its predecessor. And, without further ado, we leave you with the Technical specifications of these two tablets to help you decide which one might interest you the most.
Integrated
One of the strengths of iPad mini in front of its competitors Android It is usually to have a stylish metal casing, but this is a feature that the ZenPad S 8.0, although it is true that in this case it is combined with plastic, as it is easy to notice in the back cover. In return, precisely in the back cover we find one of the extras of the tablet Asus, which is to have interchangeable covers that allow us to provide the device with extra functionalities, such as a more powerful audio system or more hours of battery life.
Dimensions
The differences in size are practically negligible between these two tablets (20,32x13,45 inch against 20x13,47 inch). The differences in weight and thickness are somewhat greater, but not much more, although they give it an advantage, contrary to what might have been expected, since this is one of the strengths of the iPad mini, to the tablet Asus, which is a little finer (6,9 mm against 7,5 mm) and light (317 grams against 331 grams).
Screen
We still find more parity in the screen section, where the technical specifications of both tablets are practically identical, except for a minimal difference in size (8 inches against 7.9 inches) which makes the pixel density of the iPad mini 2 be very slightly olderPPI 320 against PPI 324), despite having the same resolution (X). The aspect ratio (4:3, optimized for reading) is also the same.
Performance
The figures for this cheaper version of the ZenPad S 8.0 are even better than the iPad mini 2, but you already know that the difference is usually compensated to a large extent with a better software / hardware integration: the tablet of Asus mount a processor Intel Atom Z3530 quad-core and with a maximum frequency of 1,33 GHz and offers us 2 GB of RAM memory, while that of Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), has a processor A7 dual core to 1,3 GHz and with 1 GB of RAM.
Storage capacity
Whoever has the advantage in the storage capacity section will depend fundamentally on what interests us the most: internal memory or having the possibility of expanding it externally. The tablet of Asus will only be available with a maximum of 32 GB, but it has a groove micro-SD, something that the Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC),, which however can be achieved with up to 128 GB.
Cameras
The top version of the ZenPad S 8.0 would have a clear advantage in this section, but the version that concerns us today is practically tied with the iPad mini 2: both have a main chamber of 5 MP, but the front of the tablet Asus is something better than that of Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), (2 MP against 1,2 MP).
Autonomy
If we limit ourselves to comparing the estimates of both companies for the autonomy of their tablets, the victory would be for the iPad mini 2 (8 hours against 10 hours). You already know, however, that the most reliable is the data from independent tests or at least, failing that, the battery capacity data, but at the moment we do not have any of those for the ZenPad S 8.0.
Price
Since Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), the price lowered after the arrival of the iPad mini 3, the truth is that the iPad mini 2 It has been sold for a very interesting and very competitive price: $289. Tablet Asus, however, it takes a huge advantage, since it has already been put on sale in the United States for only U.S. dollar 200. It is possible that the exchange rate will hurt us a bit when it arrives in Europe and that it ends up selling for just over 200 euros, but even so, the normal thing would be that it would continue to be much cheaper than the tablet of the apple company.