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After a lengthy release delay in Australia, ASUS' flagship tablet for 2012, the Transformer Pad Infinity, has finally landed Down Under. The combination of an excellent display, a stylish design and impressive performance make the Transformer Pad Infinity one of the best Android tablets on the market, but is it worth a hefty $999?
ASUS is one manufacturer that has at least tried to offer something different in the tablet market. Where every other company seems to be releasing the same bland, slabs that clearly aren't appealing to consumers, the Taiwanese company's dockable Transformer range of tablets are a breath of fresh air.
It's easy to see why. For starters, the Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T measures just 8.5mm thick, is light and relatively comfortable to hold, and is constructed from an attractive, "spun finished" aluminium. Our review model was finished in a champagne gold colour, which is a little loud but attractive. Lined up against most other Android tablets on the market, the Transformer Pad Infinity immediately makes a positive impression.
The Infinity is almost identical in design to the Eee Pad Transformer Prime, the tablet that this model is based on. It has the same sturdy feeling aluminum and swirl design on the back, which is borrowed directly from the company's ZenBook ultrabook. The only real difference is a plastic strip along the top of the back cover, which ASUS was forced to add due to widely reported issues with Wi-Fi and GPS performance on the Transformer Prime. There is no such issues with wireless reception this time around, so the slight adjustment has obviously done its job.
Build quality is impressive. The Transformer Pad Infinity's case doesn't flex when force is applied. The bezel surrounding the screen is rather large and does quickly become a fingerprint magnet, however, and there are some slight creaks when the back cover is pressed. Our only other complaint with the design is the position of the speaker — when holding the tablet with two hands your right hand can often cover the speaker, effectively muffling the sound. The speaker itself is loud enough to comfortably watch a movie or listen to music in a quiet room, but the tinny sound lacks bass and can't be recommended for any serious entertainment.
On the left side of the Transformer Pad Infinity you'll find a micro-HDMI port, a microSD card slot, a standard 3.5mm headphone jack and a microphone, while the top edge houses a small power/lock button and a volume rocker. We aren't a fan of either of these buttons, which feel awkward to press and aren't raised enough. They also produce an unsatisfying, annoying clicking sound.
On the bottom of the tablet is a proprietary ASUS dock connection. This may be an annoyance but it offers two benefits: it connects the tablet to the keyboard dock, and charges the device much faster (around an hour and a half) than a regular micro USB charger would. On either side of the dock are two holes that attach to the dock. Disappointingly, after a few days of docking and undocking the tablet, the keyboard dock left visible scuff marks on the bottom of the tablet.
The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity has the same 8-megapixel rear camera as the Transformer Prime, but it gets an upgraded front camera. The 2-megapixel front facing camera enables "HD video chat" and works well for third-party video based applications like Skype and Tango. The rear camera takes passable photos if you're inclined, and we were impressed with the autofocus and ability to capture close objects with good detail.
Disappointingly, the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity sold in Australia doesn't come with 3G connectivity, so its a Wi-Fi-only tablet. Globally, ASUS will sell a 3G model and a 4G LTE model, both which use the 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Krait dual-core processor instead of the 1.6GHz quad-core Tegra 3 chip. However, these models won't be available in Australia and according to ASUS there are no plans to launch them Down Under.
ASUS claims the Transformer Pad Infinity's battery like Asus F8Sv battery, Asus A8F battery, Asus A8Sc battery, Asus A31-F9 battery, Asus A32-F9 battery, Asus F9F battery, Asus 90-NER1B2000Y battery, Asus C21-R2 battery, Asus A42-U5F battery, Asus U5F battery, Asus U6S battery, Asus 90-NPW1B3000Y battery will last for up to 10 hours on its own, or 15 hours when connected to a fully charged dock connector. During testing, we recorded best figures of just almost nine hours without the dock, and almost 13 hours with the keyboard dock connected. While this is less than ASUS claims it is still a fantastic result. Even if you don't use the keyboard dock extensively, using it as a reasonably lightweight charger isn't a bad idea.
Keep in mind that there are three "power profiles" available use on the Transformer Pad Infinity — power saving, balanced, and performance. We ran all our tests in balanced mode, which is the default setting. You should be able to push better battery life out of the Infinity using power saving mode, though this limits performance to do so.
The ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity is available in "champagne gold" and "amethyst grey" colours. The 64GB model retails for $999 while a smaller 32GB model sells for $799 at selected retail outlets.